China Light Industry Federation: From January to November, the country traded in more than 128 million units of high-end smart furniture products, becoming a new growth point for consumption upgrading

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on December 26, the State Administration of Market Supervision held a special press conference on the “Two New” Standards to Improve the Effectiveness of Actions. Liu Jiangyi, vice president of the China Light Industry Federation, said at the press conference that from January to November this year, the trade-in of home appliances exceeded 128 million units, driving sales of related products to exceed 2.5 trillion yuan. Standards such as furniture intelligence rating have boosted the intelligent upgrading of the industry. Leading companies have accelerated the launch of high-end smart furniture products. The market size has reached more than 10 billion yuan, becoming a new growth point for furniture consumption upgrades. In the next step, the China Light Industry Federation will continue to focus on core areas of people's livelihood, organize standards promotion, follow-up and evaluation, promote deep integration of standards and industries, allow more high-quality light industry products to enter thousands of households, and provide strong standard guarantees for expanding domestic demand and safeguarding people's livelihood.

The original text is as follows:

Record of the press conference on the General Administration of Market Regulation's “Two New” Standards to Improve the Effectiveness of Actions

On the morning of December 26, the General Administration of Market Regulation held a special press conference on the “Two New” Standards to Improve the Effectiveness of Actions. The following is a transcript of the press conference:

Sun Yanfeng, Deputy Director of the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

Ladies and gentlemen, media friends, welcome to the special press conference of the General Administration of Market Regulation. Since seven departments including the General Administration of Market Regulation issued the “Action Plan for Upgrading Traction Equipment with Standards and Trade-in of Consumer Goods” in 2024, the “Two New” important standards have achieved positive results in effectively supporting the expansion of market demand, promoting equipment renewal, and promoting consumer consumption. In order for everyone to better understand the relevant situation, today we invited Mr. Liu Hongsheng, Director of the Standards and Technology Department of the General Administration of Market Supervision; Ms. Yao Jia, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Mr. Liu Jiangyi, Vice President of the China Light Industry Federation; and Mr. Zhang Yiwen, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, to introduce relevant content and answer questions from reporters.

First, let's ask Mr. Liu Hongsheng to introduce the overall situation.

Liu Hongsheng, Director of the Standards and Technology Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

Good morning to all media friends! In order to implement the arrangements of the fourth meeting of the Central Committee on Finance and Economics and carry out the “Two New” actions, the General Administration of Market Regulation conducted in-depth research with industry associations and research institutes and issued the “Action Plan for Upgrading Traction Equipment with Standards and Upgrading of Traction Equipment and Consumer Goods Trade-in” with seven departments including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, focusing on the three key tasks of speeding up the upgrading of energy consumption and emission technology standards, strengthening the upgrading of product quality and safety standards, and increasing the supply of recycling standards. It deployed and revised 294 national standards in 13 key areas. After two years of work, various departments have strengthened coordination and vigorously promoted standard development. At present, all relevant standards have been approved and published, and the standard development task has come to a successful conclusion. Below, I will give a brief introduction to the situation relating to the “two new” standard upgrades.

The first is to highlight energy saving and carbon reduction restrictions and use standards to promote equipment transformation and upgrading. In order to guide enterprises to implement technological transformation and equipment upgrades, eliminate backward production capacity and products, organize and revise energy consumption quota standards for key industries such as thermal power, steel, and building materials, comprehensively tighten energy efficiency requirements for general equipment such as boilers, motors, transformers, etc., and issue 113 national standards to help accelerate the elimination of backward production capacity and continuously increase the proportion of advanced production capacity. For example, the new version of the mandatory national standard for energy consumption limits for coal-fired generator sets is expected to reduce average coal consumption to less than 302 grams of standard coal per kilowatt-hour by 2030, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 160 million tons. Improve the carbon emission accounting and product carbon footprint standard system, and issue 18 national standards for enterprise greenhouse gas emission accounting, providing uniform standards for solving the “what and how to calculate” carbon emissions, and guide enterprise systems to implement energy saving and carbon reduction transformation.

The second is to be close to people's livelihood and actual consumption needs, and use standards to promote the quality and expansion of consumption. In order to meet the needs of the masses for a high quality of life, green safety, etc., 115 national standards have been organized and revised in the fields of automobiles, household appliances, and emerging consumption, etc., to continuously improve the level of product quality and safety standards, help more high-quality durable consumer goods enter residents' lives, and meet the needs of the masses to improve their lives. For example, a major breakthrough has been achieved in electric vehicle power battery safety standards. For the first time, “no fire, no explosion” was made a mandatory requirement, driving car companies to optimize battery structures and thermal management systems, significantly improving the safety level of new energy vehicles, and enhancing consumer confidence. National standards for age-appropriate environmental assessment were issued, providing a scientific basis for government subsidies for age-appropriate rehabilitation. According to relevant statistics, by 2025, sales of related products have been driven to nearly 5.7 billion yuan.

The third is to establish a recycling standard system to ensure the efficient and smooth circulation of resources with standards. Organize and revise 66 national standards for recycling resources, such as household appliances, furniture, electronic products, photovoltaics, wind power, and power batteries, around key aspects such as recycling, and recycling of waste products, to guide product design to consider easy recycling and easy regeneration. Standardize product recycling to be scientifically dismantled and reused, and open up blockages in the smooth circulation of the entire chain. For example, mandatory national standards have been introduced to remove electronic product information, clarify technical requirements and the responsibilities of all parties, and ensure the safety and privacy protection of second-hand product circulation. Issued 12 national standards for recycling power batteries, and established a national standard system covering dismantling, surplus energy testing, and recycling to promote the efficient recycling of strategic resources such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium.

In the next step, the General Administration of Market Regulation will continue to consolidate the “two new” standards to improve the effectiveness of action work, step up efforts to promote and implement standards, and continue to use high standards to drive industrial innovation, promote consumption growth, and high-quality service development. Let me introduce these first, thank you all!

Sun Yanfeng, Deputy Director of the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

Thanks to Mr. Liu Hongsheng for his introduction. Now let's move on to the questioning session. Please let us know your news agency before asking questions.

The Economic Daily reporter asked:

The “Two New” initiative covers all aspects, focusing on key tasks such as equipment renewal, consumer goods trade-in, and resource recycling. How can we accurately grasp standard requirements and deploy and propose 294 important national standards?

Liu Hongsheng, Director of the Standards and Technology Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

The General Administration of Market Regulation has implemented the “Action Plan to Promote Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in”, carried out in-depth standard upgrading actions, carried out research for 15 departments, 8 industry associations, and 73 national professional standardization technical committees, insisted on urgent use and precise efforts, focused on key areas for high-quality industrial development and people's needs for a better life, and selected key standards to speed up development and revision work.

First, in terms of promoting equipment upgrades, research has found that although China has issued more than 140 energy efficiency standards and more than 170 pollutant emission standards, with technological upgrades, related energy efficiency indicators need to be further improved, pollutant emission requirements need to be further strengthened, and corporate carbon emission accounting and product carbon footprint standards need to be improved and improved as soon as possible. To this end, we are focusing on speeding up the upgrading of energy consumption and emission technology standards, deploying and revising 113 national standards, guiding enterprises to implement technological transformation and equipment upgrades, and helping eliminate backward production capacity.

Second, in terms of promoting trade-in of consumer goods, research shows that China has issued more than 4,500 standards in the fields of automobiles, home appliances, electronic products, household products, etc., and the consumer experience and safety guarantee have been continuously improved. However, with the intelligent, networked, and high-end development of consumer goods, it is necessary to further improve the level of quality and safety standards for traditional consumer goods, promote the upgrading of traditional consumption, and also speed up the supply of emerging consumer goods standards and lead the creation of new types of consumption. To this end, we are focusing on deploying and revising 115 national standards in the fields of automobiles, home appliances, and emerging consumption, etc., to help improve the quality and expansion of consumption through standard upgrades, and continuously stimulate the potential of domestic demand.

Third, in terms of promoting smooth industrial circulation, we consider that equipment updates and consumer goods will bring in a large number of end-of-life and decommissioned products. We will inevitably require speeding up the development of the circular economy. By making up for the shortcomings of the circular economy, we guide the product design side to pay more attention to easy recycling and easy regeneration, and standardize the dismantling and reuse of the product recycling side. To this end, we are focusing on deploying and revising 66 national standards in the fields of green product design, second-hand product trading, recycling of waste products, and use of recycled materials to help smooth resource recycling.

In short, by speeding up the upgrading and implementation of key standards such as energy saving and carbon reduction, environmental protection, safety, and recycling, it will effectively support the upgrading of various types of production equipment and consumer goods. Coupled with the concerted efforts of supporting policies, it will strongly drive industrial transformation and upgrading and the release of consumption potential.

Beijing Daily reporter asked:

Implementing the “two new” actions to promote large-scale equipment upgrades in the industrial sector is conducive to expanding effective investment, promoting a continuous increase in the share of advanced production capacity, and speeding up the construction of a modern industrial system. Please describe the work carried out in this regard and the development of important standards?

Yao Jia, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology:

Thank you for your continued interest in upgrading equipment in the industrial sector. Large-scale equipment upgrades are major decisions and arrangements made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. They are an important gripper for promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the manufacturing industry and developing new quality productivity. As the “two new” policies continue to gain strength, large-scale equipment upgrades in China's industrial sector have been implemented at an accelerated pace, which has not only boosted investment growth and promoted industrial development, but also played an important role in unleashing the potential of domestic demand and helping green transformation. Standards play a fundamental and leading key role in advancing this systematic project.

In March 2024, seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the “Implementation Plan for Promoting Equipment Renewal in the Industrial Field”, which requires adhering to standardization leadership. Strengthen the formulation and implementation of standards for technology, quality, energy consumption, emissions, etc., guide enterprises to eliminate outdated equipment and use advanced equipment according to law and regulations, and improve production efficiency and technical standards. In the “Two New” Standards Campaign, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology took the lead in completing the formulation and revision of 44 important national standards. These include 24 mandatory national standards, such as “Steel Wire Ropes for Elevators”, “Specification for the Design, Selection, and Installation of Electrical Devices in Explosive Environments”, and 20 recommended national standards such as the “General Specification for the Gradual Use of Retired Photovoltaic Modules” and “General Requirements for Vehicle Power Battery Recycling”. By strengthening the upgrading of product quality and safety standards, speeding up the upgrading of technical standards for energy consumption and emission, and increasing the supply of recycling standards, they drive large-scale equipment updates and consumer goods trade-in with high standards.

In the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will continue to work with relevant departments to continuously improve the industrial standard system, strengthen the implementation and application of standards, and focus on publicizing and interpreting published standards. At the same time, we closely follow industry development trends and international frontiers, revise and update standards in due course, continue to strengthen the driving role of standards in equipment updates, and make greater contributions to speeding up the construction of a modern industrial system supported by the real economy. Thank you all!

A question from the China Market Supervision News reporter:

What are the standards in the field of light industry covered in the “Action Plan for Upgrading Towing Equipment with Standards and Trade-in of Consumer Goods”. What are the effects and results of the publication and implementation of these standards in promoting the high-quality development of the light industry?

Liu Jiangyi, Vice President of China Light Industry Federation:

Light industry is a traditional dominant industry in China's national economy and an important civilian production industry. In 2025, the light industry economy was running steadily and improving, showing strong development resilience. From January to October of this year, the light industry achieved cumulative revenue of 19 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.9% over the previous year; realized profit of 1.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.6% over the previous year. By accounting for 13% of the country's industrial assets, the light industry achieved 16.7% of the country's industrial revenue and 19.2% profit, making a positive contribution to the steady growth of the national economy.

The “Action Plan for Upgrading Towing Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in with Standards” accurately anchors the pain points and consumer consumption upgrading needs of the light industry, and deploys and revises 52 key recommended national standards in the field of light industry, including 38 consumer goods trade-in standards, 9 recycling standards, and 5 equipment renewal standards. With the concerted support of the country's steady growth and a series of policies to promote consumption, the publication and implementation of the standards not only provided solid support for the implementation of the consumer goods trade-in policy, but also effectively drove the transformation and upgrading of the light industry.

The first is in terms of trade-in. By the end of 2024, China had more than 3 billion units of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. Standards such as the performance quality and innovative categories of household appliances effectively supported the implementation of the trade-in policy. From January to November of this year, more than 128 million units of home appliances were traded in, driving sales of related products to exceed 2.5 trillion yuan. Standards such as furniture intelligence rating have boosted the intelligent upgrading of the industry. Leading companies have accelerated the launch of high-end smart furniture products. The market size has reached more than 10 billion yuan, becoming a new growth point for furniture consumption upgrades.

Second, in terms of low-carbon transition. Carbon footprint accounting standards for household ceramics, lighting appliances, plastic products, etc., help enterprises accurately identify high-carbon links, scientifically optimize emission reduction paths, and promote low-carbon transformation at the source. Take Jingdezhen's concentrated porcelain production area as an example. Relying on standards to accurately locate key aspects and core issues of emission reduction, the concentrated porcelain production area in Jingdezhen is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 84,000 tons per year.

The third is in terms of recycling. From January to October of this year, China regulated the dismantling of about 86 million units (sets) of televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and computers, etc., and produced about 1.9 million tons of renewable resources. Standards such as household appliance recycling services standardize recycling and disposal processes, and improve the recycling efficiency and resource utilization rate of waste household appliances. Standards such as green furniture design and green products guide enterprises to optimize the selection of raw materials, improve production processes, and reduce resource and energy consumption. At present, more than 2,200 products from over 700 companies have obtained green furniture product certification, effectively supporting the green circular development of the furniture industry.

In the next step, the China Light Industry Federation will continue to focus on core areas of people's livelihood, organize standards promotion, follow-up and evaluation, promote deep integration of standards and industries, allow more high-quality light industry products to enter thousands of households, and provide strong standard guarantees for expanding domestic demand and safeguarding people's livelihood. Thank you all!

A question from a reporter from China News Network:

As a major economic province, how can Zhejiang play a good leading role in implementing the standardization of the “Two New” actions, and what are the key initiatives?

Zhang Yiwen, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Bureau:

Zhejiang earnestly implements the country's “two new” standardization work requirements, gives full play to the leading role of standards, and integrates standard upgrading actions throughout the “three major actions” of equipment renewal, consumer goods trade-in, and recycling.

The first is to strengthen the quality of standard supply. Participated in the formulation of 99 “two new” national standards, accounting for 33% of the total number of national tasks. Focusing on the requirements of “stronger” standards, leading by “higher” standards, and supported by “greener” standards, 114 “two new” and “Made in Zhejiang” standards were issued to lead high-quality development with high standards. For example, the national standard “General Technical Requirements for School Desks and Chairs for Primary and Secondary School Students” was formulated to solve the problem of primary and secondary school students lying down during lunch breaks, and it has become a key recommended standard for use in the Ministry of Education's “School Health Action Plan”. Currently, many elementary and middle school students can lie down and rest at noon because of the implementation of this standard.

The second is to strengthen the effectiveness of implementation and supervision. Using various media, 373 professional, authoritative and easy-to-understand standard interpretation texts were published, making it easy for enterprises to obtain quickly and accurately apply them. Focusing on energy consumption and emissions, key areas of safety and fire protection, and key products such as electric bicycles, gas appliances, household appliances, etc., the implementation of mandatory national standards, supervision, inspection, and performance evaluation are promoted in a comprehensive manner, forcing industrial upgrading through rigid restrictions. For example, in the process of promoting international certification for green ship repair, the organization implemented 14 national standards, such as energy saving and consumption reduction, clean production, and recycling, and promoted technological transformation and equipment updates for 20 shipbuilding companies. The investment amount was more than 400 million yuan, and the initial average annual savings of more than 6,600 tons of standard coal and 18,000 tons of carbon emissions were achieved.

The third is to strengthen the position of business entities. Enterprises across the province have declared 410,000 disclosure standards, effectively promoting enterprises to organize production, management and service according to standards. Support enterprises to transform key core technologies, advanced processes, etc. into advanced domestic and foreign standards in a timely manner. In 2025, the province took the lead in formulating 338 international standards and national standards, the highest level in history, with enterprises as the main body accounting for more than 80%. For example, leading the formulation of the national standard “Marine Mooring and Towing Low Rebound Cable”, successfully breaking foreign technology blockades and replacing imports with domestic production, related enterprises have become important partners in the localization industry chain of CNOOC's deep-sea oil and gas platform “Daguo Heavy Equipment”.

Fourth, strengthen work system integration. We have deployed “two new” standards of work according to the provincial committee and provincial government topics to establish a provincial coordination, departmental collaboration, and vertical linkage work system. An action plan to raise standards across the province was issued. Eleven districts and cities refined implementation measures in line with actual practice, and relevant industry departments such as industry, energy, transportation and other related industry departments planned and promoted the “two new” business tasks and the implementation of standards. Simultaneously strengthen market supervision and enforcement, include 27 types of products such as industrial equipment, home appliances, and furniture in our province's product quality supervision priorities, organize special supervision and spot checks of 500 batches; carry out centralized rectification of the consumer goods trade-in price order; file, investigate and punish 123 cases of price violations, and effectively maintain a fair competitive market environment and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. I'll introduce these first, thank you all!

A question from a reporter from China Quality News:

The publication and implementation of the “two new” standards have achieved positive results. What are the main measures taken to promote the application of the standards? The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed that we should adhere to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand. Please explain what new work arrangements and arrangements will be made by the General Administration of Market Supervision in 2026 to support the expansion of domestic demand?

Liu Hongsheng, Director of the Standards and Technology Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

The life of standards lies in implementation. As standards are released, we are actively taking steps to promote implementation and application of the standards. The first is to disclose the standard text in a timely manner. Accelerate standard editing and publication, and publish standard texts at the same time as standard announcements, so that all members of society can read and download them for free. The second is to comprehensively promote standards. The “One-Picture Reading” and “Standard Cloud Course” were prepared and published, and various forms such as thematic interpretations and on-site lectures were used comprehensively to facilitate the understanding of the core content of the standard by all sectors of society. The third is to strengthen collaborative implementation of policies and standards. Promote departments in various regions to increase the use of national standards in policy formulation and system design, and use more standards as a basis to promote equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods.

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee put forward new requirements for standardization work. The General Administration of Market Supervision is focusing on key efforts such as optimizing and upgrading traditional industries, promoting high-quality and efficient development of the service industry, and vigorously boosting consumption. It is planning and carrying out a number of new special actions to continuously improve the national standard system to better promote high-quality economic development through standard upgrades. In 2026, work will mainly be carried out in four areas: the first is to continue to promote the updating of traditional industry standards. Focusing on the high-quality development needs of the top ten traditional industries, such as petrochemicals, machinery, light industry, steel, non-ferrous, building materials, textiles, ships, automobiles, and electricity, we adhere to the direction of intelligence, greening, and integration, promote the completion of more than 1,800 standard revisions, and help the transformation and development of the industry. The second is to accelerate the upgrading of consumer goods standards. Focus on consumers' new demand for safety, quality, green, intelligence, health, etc., research and formulate work plans to accelerate the upgrading of national consumer goods standards, and focus on constructing a new consumer goods standard system compatible with high-quality development to provide solid support for increasing the adaptability of consumer goods supply and demand and stimulating consumption potential. The third is to strengthen the construction of service standards. Research and issue guidance to strengthen the construction of service standards, focus on urgent needs in key areas such as productive services, lifestyle services, and public services, strengthen the construction of standards in traditional and emerging service fields, and promote the high-quality and efficient development of the service industry. Fourth, step up efforts to develop mandatory standards. Promote the implementation of special actions to update and upgrade mandatory national standards, increase the supply of mandatory standards relating to life and property safety, work with relevant departments to speed up the development of standards in the fields of insulation materials, hazardous chemicals, special equipment, power battery recycling, etc., promptly transform recommended national standards in related important fields into mandatory national standards, and effectively establish a line of defense involving safety.

Sun Yanfeng, Deputy Director of the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

Thank you to our reporters and friends for their questions. That's all for today's questioning session. If you have any other questions you would like to know, please contact the Press and Communications Department after the meeting. This concludes the press conference. Thank you!

This article was edited from the WeChat account “The City Speaks New Words”, Zhitong Finance Editor: Xu Wenqiang.