China’s Digital and Smart Products Consumption Booms with Policy Support

China’s consumption of digital and smart products has made a strong start in 2026, driven by optimized subsidy policies guided by the Ministry of Commerce, with robust growth momentum across related sectors, according to information released by the Ministry of Commerce on April 19.

Since the start of 2026, the Ministry of Commerce has guided local authorities to refine the implementation of policies for trade-in of home appliances and subsidies for the purchase of new digital and smart products. These policy adjustments have effectively stimulated market demand, leading to a sound overall start of the year.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that from January to March, retail sales of communication equipment by designated-size units reached 284 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.8%. This growth rate was 18.4 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the total retail sales of consumer goods in the same period, ranking first among 16 commodity categories.

Digital and smart products have emerged as the focus of the consumer goods trade-in program, with remarkable growth in both sales volume and value. By April 16, the number of new digital and smart products purchased stood at 42.433 million units, a year-on-year increase of 31.7%, while the sales volume reached 126.153 billion yuan, up 36.4% year-on-year.

A key policy optimization this year has been the upgrading and expansion of subsidies for new digital product purchases, previously focused on mobile phones, to cover a broader range of digital and smart products. Notably, smart glasses have been included in the subsidy scope for the first time, which has played a crucial role in driving the rapid growth of retail sales of communication equipment.

As of mid-April, 16 domestic smart glasses brands have participated in the new purchase subsidy policy. This participation has effectively boosted the market performance of key enterprises, with their sales volume and sales value increasing by 42.4% and 46.8% year-on-year respectively, reflecting strong market acceptance of domestic smart products.

Industry insiders noted that the Ministry of Commerce’s policy guidance has effectively lowered the purchase threshold for consumers, stimulated their willingness to upgrade digital and smart products, and promoted the upgrading of the consumer market. The inclusion of smart glasses in subsidies also reflects the policy’s focus on emerging smart product categories, helping to foster new growth points in consumption.

The Ministry of Commerce provided all the data and policy information for this report. The strong growth of digital and smart products consumption not only enriches people’s daily lives but also injects strong impetus into China’s consumer market recovery and high-quality economic development.