5 departments including the Ministry of Commerce: In 2026, the subsidy for each piece of household appliances will not exceed 1,500 yuan, and the subsidy for each piece of digital and smart products will not exceed 500 yuan

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on December 31, the general offices (offices) of 5 departments including the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice on completing the 2026 subsidies for the trade-in of home appliances and the purchase of new digital and smart products. Starting January 1, 2026, in accordance with unified categories and standards across the country, individual consumers will be subsidized for purchasing 6 types of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air conditioners, water heaters, and computers with a single sales price of no more than 6,000 yuan, as well as 4 types of digital and smart products with a single sales price of no more than 6,000 yuan. The subsidy standard is 15% of the final sales price of the above products after deducting various discounts. Each person can be subsidized for 1 item of each category. Of these, the subsidy for each item of household appliances shall not exceed 1,500 yuan, and the subsidy for each piece of digital and smart products shall not exceed 500 yuan.

The notice suggests that all regions should scientifically formulate plans for the use and payment of subsidy funds, use them in a balanced manner on a monthly basis, and make a smooth connection between each week during the month and across months and quarters. Coordination has been strengthened at the provincial level, and unified and clear requirements such as a list of materials, application methods, processing procedures, and review procedures are put forward for business entities to apply for specific matters such as subsidy policies and payment of funds. On the premise of risk prevention and control, it is possible to simplify the fund review process, speed up the disbursement process, reduce the pressure on business entities participating in the policy to advance funds, and ensure that all eligible subsidy funds are paid in a timely manner, taking into account local realities.

The full text is as follows:

Notice from the General Office (Office) of 5 departments including the Ministry of Commerce on completing the 2026 subsidies for the trade-in of home appliances and the purchase of new digital and smart products

Commercial, development, reform, finance, market supervision, and postal departments of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

In order to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, give better play to the positive role of the consumer goods trade-in policy in benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, and focus economic development on the real economy. In accordance with the requirements of the “Notice of the Ministry of Finance of the National Development and Reform Commission on Implementing Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in Policies in 2026” (Development and Reform Environmental Capital (2025) No. 1745), the notice on matters relating to the 2026 purchase subsidy for home appliances trade-in, digital and smart products is now announced as follows:

1. Clarify the categories, scope and criteria for receiving subsidies

Starting January 1, 2026, in accordance with unified categories and standards across the country, individual consumers will be subsidized for purchasing 6 types of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air conditioners, water heaters, and computers with a single sales price of no more than 6,000 yuan, as well as 4 types of digital and smart products with a single sales price of no more than 6,000 yuan. The subsidy standard is 15% of the final sales price of the above products after deducting various discounts. Each person can be subsidized for 1 item of each category. Of these, the subsidy for each item of household appliances shall not exceed 1,500 yuan, and the subsidy for each piece of digital and smart products shall not exceed 500 yuan.

II. Support the development of physical retail

All regions should do a good job of organizing and implementing subsidies for home appliance trade-in, digital and smart product purchases, give full play to the advantages of different sales channels, coordinate the implementation of subsidy policies through online and offline channels, strengthen work guidance and technical support for business entities participating in the policy, encourage offline stores to create diversified consumption scenarios, dig deeper into the retail potential of physical retail such as brand stores and specialty stores, further support the development of offline entities, and enhance the driving role of surrounding consumption.

III. Policies to ensure that rural residents enjoy subsidies

All regions should ensure that residents in rural areas, especially rural residents in remote areas participate in subsidy policies by increasing the number of offline operators in rural areas and guiding online channels to favor rural areas, etc., so as to improve the convenience of consumption in rural areas. Platform players participating in subsidies through online channels must effectively guarantee the online subsidy consumption needs of residents in rural areas. Support the participation of various commercial entities in the county area, such as county comprehensive commercial and trade service centers and township commercial and trade centers, in the subsidy policy. Encourage operators that have sunk into rural markets, such as large supermarkets, brand specialty stores, etc., and extend the service network to remote rural areas by moving “caravans” to the countryside, rural markets, and on-site exhibitions.

IV. Optimizing policy implementation methods

All regions should promptly announce, supplement, and dynamically adjust the list of business entities participating in the policy, and disqualify them from participating in activities if illegal acts are discovered. Business entities found to have committed illegal acts during the implementation of the 2024 and 2025 consumer goods trade-in policies, or placed on the punishment list for loss of trust within the past 2 years are not allowed to participate in the 2026 subsidy policy. Eligible subsidy claimants, payers, and recipients must be consistent, support diversified payment methods such as mobile payments, bank cards, and cash, and guarantee consumers' right to make independent payment choices. In the event of a return situation, the subsidy eligibility that has already been written off shall be promptly restored and unbound; for those that have already received the subsidy eligibility and are bound to the online platform, if not in use, the consumer can voluntarily unbind and then switch back to another channel of use, and the online platform shall not lock in the subsidy eligibility for no reason.

5. Regulate sales of subsidized products

All regions should urge business entities participating in the policy to abide by the principles of fairness, impartiality, honesty and trustworthiness, and abide by relevant laws, regulations and policy requirements. Business entities participating in the policy must file the sales price of subsidized products, publicly promise that the final sales price will not be higher than the registered price, and indicate each product's initial sales price, merchant concession amount, amount of subsidized funds, and final sales price in prominent places such as the business site, website, or app. Business entities participating in the policy must not “raise prices first and then subsidize”, must not be forced to sell unsubsidized products or value-added services in bundles, and must strictly implement the commodity transaction invoice system, issue formal real-name invoices to consumers, and the names of consumers indicated on the invoice must be consistent with those eligible for the subsidy. A single invoice can only correspond to a single subsidized product, and specify necessary information such as the initial sales price of the subsidized product, the amount of funds received from the subsidy, and the actual payment amount.

6. Expedite the review and disbursement of funds

All regions should scientifically formulate plans for the use and payment of subsidy funds, use them in a balanced manner on a monthly basis, and make a smooth connection between each week within the month and across months and quarters. Coordination has been strengthened at the provincial level, and unified and clear requirements such as a list of materials, application methods, processing procedures, and review procedures are put forward for business entities to apply for specific matters such as subsidy policies and payment of funds. On the premise of risk prevention and control, it is possible to simplify the fund review process, speed up the disbursement process, reduce the pressure on business entities participating in the policy to advance funds, and ensure that all eligible subsidy funds are paid in a timely manner, taking into account local realities.

7. Strengthen digital monitoring and early warning

All regions should strengthen the collection of necessary information on subsidized products, improve information databases such as the subsidized product filing price database, product serial number (S/N code) database, and international mobile device identification code (IMEI code) database, and cross-check and compare all aspects of information such as subsidy eligibility, filing prices, and fund write-off with central platforms to ensure the authenticity of consumer identity information and the authenticity of transaction information, so that every transaction can be traced in a closed loop. Make good use of big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies to strengthen monitoring, early warning, and timely and effective interception of abnormal orders such as false transactions, multiple sales on one machine, non-return and non-business hours transactions. Build a database of illegal information, and share information such as illegal accounts, abnormal delivery patterns, and illegal device IDs throughout the chain to enhance risk prevention capabilities in all aspects.

8. Business entities regulate participation in subsidy policies

Business entities participating in the policy must abide by the law in good faith, standardize operations, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Subsidized product data must be uploaded to provincial platforms in a timely manner, and reporting must not be stopped or delayed, offline data packages must be used, or large intermittent supplementary transmission of data to ensure the continuity, stability and regularity of the collection of subsidy data. Consumers' delivery addresses, contact details, app accounts, or other personal information must not be illegally used, disclosed, or tampered with. You must not make up a fictitious order, recharge an old one, sell it at a lower price, split the distribution of tickets, etc., and you must not fraudulently use the name of government subsidies to carry out false publicity.

9. Strengthen logistics delivery and distribution management

In order to prevent lawbreakers from evading the verification of information on subsidized products, all regions should urge delivery companies to strengthen the management of the distribution process of subsidized products, do a good job of controlling abnormal delivery addresses, focus on monitoring situations where the same delivery address receives large numbers of subsidized products within a short period of time, and deal with problems in a timely manner. Delivery companies should strengthen work reminders and education management for delivery personnel, verify and collect receipt information in a timely manner, and effectively prevent acts such as false signatures.

10. Improve the recycling system for used household appliances

All regions should make good use of existing funding channels and strengthen the construction of renewable resource recycling systems. Business entities participating in the policy must have the ability to recycle used household appliances, take into account the sale of new and used household appliances, and take the initiative to provide a one-stop service for the delivery of new and used household appliances. Home appliance sales enterprises are encouraged to jointly carry out trade-in promotion activities with production and recycling companies, and appropriate concessions are given to consumers to buy new ones and hand them over. Based on the actual needs of the people, develop recycling models for waste household appliances such as “integration of the two networks,” “Internet+ recycling,” and “using cars for storage” according to local conditions.

11. Strengthen supervision and management

All regions should strengthen departmental coordination, form joint supervisory efforts, and establish mechanisms to monitor and dispatch the use of subsidy funds for write-off. For regions that do not meet the relevant requirements, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to take measures such as sending reminders and in-person interviews to urge the implementation of rectification and reform. For business entities participating in policies that present safety risks in the management of subsidy funds, break through subsidy policy categories and standards, violate subsidy data upload requirements, or have other irregularities, all regions should conduct interviews as soon as possible, suspend eligibility to participate in the policy, order rectification within a limited period of time, disqualify them from participating in the policy and publicly notify them, and recover the subsidy funds that have already been distributed. Illegal and irregularities involving subsidy policies are dealt with seriously according to law and regulations, and discovered, investigated and punished together, and exposed. Strengthen the link between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, step up the investigation and crackdown on suspected criminal offenses during the implementation of subsidy policies, and promptly hand over relevant case leads to judicial authorities for legal responsibility. Strengthen online and offline integrated supervision, strengthen product quality supervision and spot checks, and strictly crack down on counterfeiting and shoddy behavior. Guide brand companies such as home appliances and mobile phones to improve and reasonable price systems, prevent “internal rolling” competition, and build a healthy and sustainable industrial ecosystem.

12. Create a good atmosphere

All regions should widely publicize subsidy policies, enrich forms of consumption promotion activities, raise policy awareness and coverage, and create a good public opinion atmosphere. Financial institutions should be encouraged to increase their credit support for business entities participating in the policy and provide financial services through multiple channels and methods. Relying on the 12345 government service convenience hotline, official website, and platforms and windows in the region, we have established and unblocked channels for reporting issues and complaints, promptly check and respond to social concerns, and do a good job of answering questions about subsidy policies and investigating and punishing illegal acts. Regions that are in a position to do so can carry out rewarded reports, actively solicit clues about various types of illegal violations such as concessions, price fraud, and violation of policy regulations, and encourage the whole society to jointly monitor the implementation of subsidy policies.

General Office of the Ministry of Commerce

General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission

General Office of the Ministry of Finance

General Office of the General Administration of Market Regulation

National Post Office

December 31, 2025

This article was selected from the “Ministry of Commerce Official Website”; Zhitong Finance Editor: Huang Xiaodong.