Home appliance subsidies won't continue  

家电节能补贴明日收官 民众期待长效机制促消费

明日，实施了近一年时间的家电节能补贴政策就将结束。尽管此前政策也遭到了补贴力度有限、优惠额度难落实等质疑，但连日来各地家电市场的火爆场面，就足以证明该政策的实施对家电市场影响不可小觑。并且众多消费者赶搭节能补贴的“末班车”纷纷提前消费计划，这也让业内人士开始担心，在补贴政策结束后的6、7月份，家电市场会不会迎来一个难熬的“疲软期”。

(ECNS) -- The one-year home appliances subsidy program, launched on June 1 last year and designed to boost domestic demand and spur green consumption, will not be extended, and no new program has been confirmed, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.

The subsidies program stimulated consumption through lower pricing of home appliances, a report in Economic Information Daily said, as the average price of TV sets was lowered by 115 yuan ($18.55). It also cited figures from a market research organization, saying 32.7 million energy-saving appliances were sold, with sales of 115.4 billion yuan.

Sales of subsidized products rose sharply this month as customers flocked to home appliance retailers to seize the last opportunity to enjoy the subsidy program. Suning Home Appliance Co, one of the largest home appliance retailers, said sales grew three times from the same period last year.

But insiders worried that the market would become tepid in the following months, as demands were met in the past year.

Home appliance producers should put more efforts into improving product quality and after-sale services, not just rely on government support, according to a report by the Securities Daily.

The government should enforce stricter efficiency requirements to raise the bar for a more sustainable development of the industry, instead of introducing subsidy policies to boost the popularity of energy-saving home appliances, said the Economic Information Daily.