Those living in the countryside have been hit hardest by China's economic slowdown. Yet the media show pictures of gleeful farmers buying televisions and fridges. Since February ist all China's more than 200m rural households have been eligible for a government-financed discount on such purchases. From next month they will be entitled to subsidised cars as well. Unfortunately, glee is very confined.rnThe government has expressed great hopes for rural spenders as a new engine of economic growth. Hence the subsidy scheme: get peasants to spend, goes the official thinking, and the country's ailing export industries will find a vast new market. The idea was to reduce the household-appliance industry's bloated capacity and reliance on exports for half its sales. It was also a way to help manufacturers as the yuan appreciated. In 2007 an experiment was launched in three provinces. Rural households could enjoy a 13% discount on a number of items from each category of goods on a list of designated models.
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