China is already prodding penny-pinching farmers to buy home appliances and IT devices by offering 13% subsidies. And now it’s sweetening the pot by subsidizing consumers who sell their cars and home appliances for new ones, in an effort to spur domestic consumption and curb pollution.

China will boost subsidies for auto replacements from RMB1bn to RMB5bn this year, and allocate RMB2bn to encourage home appliance upgrades. The government will set up test runs for the home appliance replacement program in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Fuzhou and Changsha and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Guangdong. No specific date was given.

It looks like environmentally altruistic buyers will get a subsidy worth 10% of the price on five kinds of new appliances: TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners and computers.

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