Chinese Give Guarded Welcome To Spending Subsidies

China has introduced incentives to get the country's consumers back into shops, with subsidies for a range of goods including smartphones and microwave ovens (Credit: AFP)

Beijing is hoping subsidies for rice cookers, microwave ovens and smartphones can boost sluggish spending and help the country weather an economic storm from incoming US president Donald Trump.

Policymakers have struggled to get China's billion-strong army of consumers to inject cash into the economy as a prolonged real estate crisis weighs on confidence.