Sales of home appliances under a rural subsidy program for farmers jumped 42% in May compared to April.
Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), said 2.23 million appliances were sold in May.
The MOC said in March that the central government had allocated RMB 20 billion (about $2.9 billion) for the subsidy program this year, which would help increase household appliance sales by more than RMB 100 billion.
The State Council, or Cabinet, approved a home appliance replacement plan on June 1, which allocated RMB 2 billion yuan to encourage home appliance upgrades in nine pilot cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Changsha. This was intended as a fresh move to spur domestic consumption.
China View reported that buyers receive a subsidy equivalent to 10% of the retail price of new appliances including TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers.