In late June, seven ministries including the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Measures for the Implementation of Home Appliances Trade-ins (revised version) which stipulates that, during the implementation period of the “old-for-new” policy, an individual is entitled to buy a maximum of five subsidised home appliances.

According to the Measures, the implementation period of the policy is tentatively scheduled from June 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011. During this period, an individual can buy no more than five home appliances and an institutional buyer can at most purchase 50. The type of new appliance to be purchased is not required to correspond with the type being traded-in.

The Measures also provide that consumers can enjoy a subsidy equivalent to 10% of the price of the new appliance purchased, and the subsidy ceiling is Rmb400 for TV, Rmb300 for refrigerator (including freezer), Rmb250 for washing machine, Rmb350 for air-conditioner and Rmb400 for computer.

In addition, fixed freight subsidies will be offered according to the type, specifications and hauling distance of the old appliances brought in for recycling. Fixed dismantling and disposal subsidies will also be paid according to the actual number of old appliances being dismantled and disposed of by operators concerned; the specific subsidy rates are as follows: Rmb15 for TV, Rmb20 for refrigerator (including freezer), Rmb5 for washing machine and Rmb15 for computer. No subsidy will be given for air conditioners.

To make it easy for consumers to trade in their old appliances, the Measures allow for the adoption of diverse channels for recycling old appliances: home appliance producers (after-sales agencies), retailers and professional recycling companies can all participate in the home appliance recycling tenders to be organised by local authorities. Consumers can place their trade-in request with any of the designated recycling companies over the Internet, by phone or other methods. The recycling company will then make a timely house call to collect the old appliance. Alternatively, consumers can first buy the new appliances and the designated recycling company will collect the old appliances at the time of delivering the new ones. The recycling company will then issue the state unified old-for-new vouchers.

The Measures also stress that the old-for-new vouchers cannot be transferred or resold for cash.