The National Development and Reform Commission File Photo: VCG

The fourth batch of ultra-long special treasury bond funds to support the country's consumer goods trade-in program - totaling 69 billion yuan ($9.58 billion) - will be allocated in October, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Friday.

Joint efforts from the NDRC, the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) will ensure funds be used in an orderly and balanced fashion to the end of the year, according to the NDRC.

In July, the third batch of such funds, also totaling 69 billion yuan, was allocated to support local authorities in advancing the trade-in program, the MOF said at the time.

The MOF, together with the NDRC, has this year earmarked 300 billion yuan in such funds to back the program.

The first two batches of these funds - totaling 162 billion yuan - were allocated in January and April this year, according to MOF.

Zhou Chen, an official with the NDRC, noted at a press conference on Friday the contribution of domestic demand to the resilient economic growth in the first half of the year, and said the top economic planning agency will continue its work on optimizing the policy toolkit for expanding domestic demand and bolstering employment.

Sun Chuanwang, a professor at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Friday that the consumer goods trade-in policy implemented in the first half of the year has achieved certain results and the scheduled rollout of the fourth and last batch of ultra-long-term government bonds is a continuation of the current proactive fiscal policy and is set to inject momentum into economic growth in the fourth quarter.

"It is beneficial for activating the existing consumer market, releasing the potential for residents and effectively stimulating major purchases such as automobiles and home appliances and boosting market confidence," Sun said. "Also, it helps to compel the optimization of industrial structure, accelerates the elimination of high-energy-consuming old products, and guides the entire manufacturing chain toward high-end, intelligent and green transformation and upgrading." 

This creates a virtuous cycle where demand drives supply and industry stimulates consumption, further enhancing the quality and efficiency of China's manufacturing development, Sun said.

In response to external challenges, China has made boosting domestic demand a key priority, implementing a range of measures to stimulate consumption in the first half of 2025.

The data from the National Bureau of Statistics on July 15 showed that domestic demand contributed 68.8 percent to GDP growth during the period, with final consumption expenditure accounting for 52 percent, making it the main driver of growth. 

China's consumer goods trade-in program has spurred purchases of more than 109 million home appliances so far this year, engaging more than 66 million consumers, the Xinhua News Agency reported on July 22, citing data from the MOFCOM.

The program has driven sales of more than 74 million digital devices and nearly 9.06 million electric bicycles, MOFCOM data showed.

Previous statistics from the ministry showed that in the first five months of this year, the trade-in program generated 1.1 trillion yuan in sales.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's retail sales reached 24.55 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, up 5.0 percent year-on-year, accelerating by 1.5 percentage points. 

A State Council executive meeting on Thursday called for consolidating and boosting the momentum of economic recovery in the second half of the year.

Targeting annual development goals and tasks, more efforts should be made to boost the effectiveness of macro policies, stimulate the endogenous power of economic development, and better coordinate development and security, the meeting said.