SICHUAN Changhong Electric Co, China's second-biggest TV maker, has grabbed the lion's share of government-financed home appliance sales in rural areas.
China promised to give farmers subsidies, about 13 percent, for buying household electrical appliances, in a bid to stimulate sluggish rural consumption and reduce the rising trade surplus, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce said over the weekend.
"We are a major player in the deal and we occupy at least 50 percent shares of the TV sales (in the subsided sales in the rural areas)," Chen Ning, Changhong's vice president, told Shanghai Daily yesterday.
Changhong will provide TVs, which costs less than 1,500 yuan (US$202) each, and some mobile phones for the subsidized purchase program. The pilot program will be launched in Shandong, Henan and Sichuan, the three major agricultural provinces, according to Chen.
Farmers in the provinces can buy color TV sets, refrigerators and mobile phones with subsidies worth 13 percent of the prices, according to the government statement.
A total of 197 types in three categories, especially produced for the rural markets, will be available from this month through May next year, and air conditioners and washing machines would be included in the future, Zeng Xiao'an, an official with the finance ministry, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
So far, the government has signed cooperative deals with 15 household appliance makers and 21 dealers.
"The move is meant to give farmers more benefits and divert more government expenditure into the consumer sector from fixed asset investment and exports," Zeng said.