Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, president of the People's Republic of China (PRC), chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and head of the Central Commission for Finance and Economics (CFEC), chaired the fourth meeting of the CFEC in the afternoon of Feb. 23, to study the issues of large-scale equipment upgrading and consumer goods trade-in, as well as effective reduction of logistics costs for the whole society.

Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the meeting, emphasizing that accelerating product renewal is an important initiative to promote high-quality development, and to encourage and guide a new round of large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in. Logistics is the "sinews" of the real economy, connecting production and consumption, domestic and foreign trade, and must effectively reduce the logistics costs of society as a whole, enhance the core competitiveness of industry, and improve the efficiency of economic operation.

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Main elements of the meeting

The Conference heard reports from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in, as well as from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Commerce on effective reduction of logistics costs for the whole society. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the State Administration of Market Supervision and the State Railway Group made written reports.

The meeting emphasized that the implementation of large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in will strongly promote investment and consumption, which will benefit both the present and the long term. We should play a good policy combination to promote the proportion of advanced production capacity to continue to increase, more high-quality consumer durables into the lives of residents, recycling of waste resources, and significantly improve the quality and level of national economic cycle. We should adhere to market-oriented and government-guided, encourage advanced and eliminate backwardness, and adhere to standard-led and orderly upgrading.

The meeting noted the need to promote the renewal and technological transformation of various types of production and service equipment, encourage the trade-in of traditional consumer goods such as automobiles and home appliances, and promote the trade-in of durable consumer goods. It will also promote large-scale recovery and recycling, and strengthen the development of the logistics system and new model of "trade-in + recycling". With regard to the trade-in of consumer goods, it is necessary to adhere to the linkage between the central financial authorities and local governments, and to coordinate support for all links in the entire chain, so as to benefit consumers even more.

The meeting emphasized that reducing the logistics cost of the whole society is an important initiative to improve the efficiency of economic operation. The starting and ending point of logistics cost reduction is to serve the real economy and the people, the basic premise is to maintain the basic stability of the proportion of the manufacturing industry, the main way is to adjust the structure, promote reform, and effectively reduce the cost of transportation, warehousing costs, management costs. Optimize the transportation structure, strengthen the "public to iron" and "public to water", deepen the reform of the comprehensive transportation system, and form a unified, efficient and competitive logistics market. Optimize major trunk routes, open up congestion points, improve the modern commerce and circulation system, and encourage the development of new logistics modes combined with the platform economy, low-altitude economy, and unmanned vehicles. Coordinate the planning of logistics hubs, optimize the construction of transportation infrastructure and the layout of major productive forces, and vigorously develop the airside economy and port economy.

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Heavy positive signals!

The Central Financial and Economic Commission is the highest deliberative and coordinating body of the Central Government in the economic field. The Committee generally meets once in the first half of the year and once in the second half of the year to discuss national economic development strategies, macroeconomic policies, industrial development, scientific and technological innovation, regional development, livelihood protection and other important topics.

As the first meeting since the Central Economic Work Conference at the end of 2023, this meeting will decide which tasks will be the first priority of this year's work and the first to be initiated to influence the macroeconomy.

Compared with the previous sessions, which focused on production and investment, the program submitted by the various parts of the country has, for the first time, shifted to consumption.

Where there is consumption, there is recycling! This is a heavy positive signal for the recycling and recovery industry, especially for home appliances and automobiles as mentioned in the fourth meeting of the Central Finance Commission.

In less than two months since 2024, relevant state departments have issued two policies to promote the recycling of resources, the Circular on Improving the Recycling System of Used Household Appliances, Furniture and Other Renewable Resources and the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Waste Recycling System.

In the current context of increasingly serious global environmental problems, the development of circular economy has been the general trend.