Local govts try to whet buying appetite

As China looks to refine its consumer trade-in program, a growing number of local governments are extending subsidy plans into housing, issuing vouchers that can be used to offset house payments, furnishings, appliances and even daily consumption expenses.

Analysts said the shift merits close attention, as it could pave the way for broader and more sizable housing and rental subsidy programs to both invigorate consumer spending and stabilize the property market -two policy priorities high on the central government's agenda for 2026.

For example, Nanyang, Henan province, rolled out a housing-linked consumption voucher program late last month. Homebuyers who purchase residential properties in the city's central urban area and pay deed taxes in full between Jan 31 and March 31 are eligible for digital consumption vouchers worth 10 percent of the deed taxes paid.

The vouchers can be used for offline spending such as retail, catering and fuel purchases, with one voucher worth 100 yuan ($14.4) applicable for every 200 yuan spent per transaction.

Similar measures were introduced earlier in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Buyers of newly built commercial housing in designated areas between Oct 27 and Dec 31 last year were eligible for consumption vouchers totaling 100,000 yuan per home.

Valid from Jan 20 to March 31, 2026, the vouchers can be used at more than 4,000 designated merchants citywide, covering automobiles, home appliances, furnishings, dining, groceries and fuel products.

Elsewhere, prefectural-level cities such as Yibin, Sichuan province and Wuhu, Anhui province have launched comparable programs since the second half of 2025.

"How to better unlock the potential of services consumption and support its growth should become a policy priority," said Wang Wei, senior researcher and former director of the Institute of Market Economy at the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Wang said support for young people's housing needs should be enhanced — potentially through housing vouchers similar to those used overseas — covering housing, decor and renovations.

"Based on renovation contracts, support could be provided through a combination of fiscal subsidies and housing provident fund withdrawals, which would better unlock the housing consumption potential," she added.

The Central Economic Work Conference in December called for unlocking the potential of services consumption while optimizing the consumer goods trade-in program.

A report from Deloitte also suggested expanding the use of housing-related consumption vouchers, arguing that renovation coupons could deliver a stronger multiplier effect than traditional consumer goods trade-in programs.

Still, economists cautioned that vouchers alone are unlikely to stabilize the property market in a sustained way.

Betty Wang, head of Northeast Asia Research at Oxford Economics, said further policy innovation is required to expand financing channels for both homebuyers and developers, as the property sector is undergoing a fundamental shift toward a more sustainable, affordability-oriented and government-supported structure.