China: MOF/MOFCOM launch new consumption formats/models/scenarios pilot-city subsidy scheme

Mechanism

Issued the same day (2025-09-28) as the related but distinct MOF/MOFCOM notice on "international consumption environment" pilot cities (Cai Jian [2025] No. 342, filed separately as 2025-09-28-china-mof-mofcom-international-consumption-environment-pilot-cities), this notice (No. 341) targets domestic-demand innovation rather than inbound/foreign-visitor consumption specifically. Roughly 50 cities — more than double the ~15 cities in the sibling international-consumption scheme — will compete for selection, with central-fiscal transfers scaled by city tier (RMB 200m–400m per city over two years). The three programme tracks (first-launch economy, AI/metaverse service scenarios, IP cross-branding) are squarely aimed at boosting discretionary consumer spending across retail, hospitality, culture and tourism amid the property-led growth slowdown.

Severity is set at 2 (quant basis) reflecting the scheme's real but modest per-city fiscal scale (RMB 200-400m, ~$28-56m) relative to the umbrella "Two New" equipment-renewal/trade-in programme (CNY 300bn, severity 5) that anchors this theme; aggregate scheme size across ~50 cities is on the order of CNY 10-15bn (~$1.4-2.1bn).

Downstream implications

• Adds a second, larger (50-city vs ~15-city) demand-stimulus channel

alongside the international-consumption-environment scheme filed the same day — together they signal a coordinated MOF/MOFCOM push to broaden domestic consumption support beyond the original "Two New" equipment/trade-in programme.

• Sectors likely to see near-term capex/marketing spend: retail

concept-store operators, IP licensors, AI/AR "metaverse" service vendors, and hospitality/tourism operators in the selected cities.

• Provincial implementation plans and the list of selected pilot

cities were expected to follow through Q4 2025 — watch for a follow-on MOF/MOFCOM announcement naming the winning cities.

Open questions

• Which ~50 cities were ultimately selected, and does the list overlap

with the ~15 cities chosen for the international-consumption-environment scheme (No. 342)?

• Total confirmed disbursement once both funding batches are released.