China to revive cash-for-clunkers program

The State Council, China's cabinet, agreed to revive financial incentives for consumers to trade in their passenger cars to help increase demand in the world's biggest vehicle market, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing a government official.

The cabinet approved the plan last week and relevant ministries are working on details, such as the types of vehicles covered and amount of state funding, according to the official, who asked not to be identified because the matter hasn't been made public. The government is also conducting feasibility studies on funding of new car purchases in rural areas, the official said.

Chinese total vehicle sales declined 1.3 percent in the January-to-April period, the worst showing since 1998 when deliveries fell 1.6 percent, according to data compiled by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

China in 2009 rolled out a cash-for-clunkers program to counter the global financial crisis, spurring 49.6 billion yuan ($7.8 billion) in new car purchases the following year.