Experts said the latest subsidy programmes will play a pivotal role in stimulating investment and boosting consumption. — China Daily
BEIJING: With the imbalance between strong supply and lukewarm domestic demand still existing, China’s renewed push for large-scale equipment upgrades in 2026 is expected to reinforce domestic demand, stimulate productive investment and advance greener, smarter industrial upgrading.
This is expected to add fresh momentum to consumption and broader economic growth, according to experts.
The country will broaden its equipment renewal push, targeting a wider range of sectors, said a joint notice released recently by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Finance Ministry.
It said speeding up the retirement and replacement of aging commercial vehicles, expanding the deployment of new-energy city buses and upgrading outdated farm machinery were part of the plan.
Experts said the latest subsidy programmes will play a pivotal role in stimulating investment and boosting consumption, reinforcing China’s top economic priority for 2026, expanding domestic demand as highlighted at the recently concluded annual Central Economic Work Conference.
“Subsidies for equipment renewals will be expanded and improved,” Li Chao, spokeswoman for the NDRC, said.
Li added that the expansion will cover elevators in older residential buildings, equipment for eldercare facilities, firefighting systems, rescue and testing purposes, as well as upgrades at brick-and-mortar consumer venues such as shopping malls and commercial complexes.
Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, said broader policy coverage in public welfare and safety-related areas would drive demand for equipment manufacturing, while supporting capacity expansion and quality upgrading in sectors such as eldercare and firefighting.
“In particular, it will boost demand for the manufacture and installation of equipment such as elevators and firefighting systems, thereby generating new momentum for investment growth,” Zhu said.
Notably, subsidy criteria will be fine-tuned to better target real needs, with tiered support for replacing aging residential elevators based on the number of floors, and preferential backing for upgrading old commercial trucks into electric equivalents, said the NDRC.
Zhu said the more targeted and efficient subsidies will encourage households to replace outdated equipment and purchase greener and smarter products, helping upgrade residential consumption.
Highlighting green development as a priority, Zhu added that the optimisation will boost consumption of new-energy and energy-efficient equipment and strengthen coordination along the industrial chain, thereby reinforcing momentum for the expansion of domestic demand.
In addition, Li added that the NDRC will streamline project application mechanisms and review procedures, further reduce investment thresholds, and strengthen support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Yuan Jianqin, a researcher at the State Information Centre, said SMEs account for a large share of economic activity and are an important source of innovation and employment, meaning that lowering investment thresholds for equipment renewal projects will help reinforce the momentum of effective investment.
Bai Wenxi, vice-chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Union, shared this optimism.
“Our estimates suggest that equipment renewals in 2026 could generate about 1.1 trillion yuan (US$150bil) in fixed-asset investment and add roughly 0.7 to 0.8 percentage point to gross domestic product growth,” Bai said. — China Daily/ANN
