Sales of home appliances under a rural subsidy program for farmers jumped 42 percent in May from April, a government official said on Monday.

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 20 billion yuan (about US$2.9 billion) for the subsidy program this year, which would help increase household appliance sales by more than 100 billion yuan.

The State Council, or Cabinet, approved a home appliance replacement plan on June 1, which allocated 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.

Buyers would receive a subsidy equivalent to 10 percent of the retail price of new appliances including TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers, according to the plan.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2009)