China's stimulus program for home appliance purchases in rural areas continued to boost sales in the first 11 months of 2010, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on December 6.

The subsidy program, aimed at spurring domestic consumption, fueled rural purchases of home appliances, which hit 67.3 million units in the January-November period, an increase of 140 percent year on year, said MOFCOM.

Sales of subsidized home appliances in rural areas soared 180 percent to 150.4 billion yuan ($22.6 billion).

Of the three top selling items in rural areas, sales of refrigerators hit 51 billion yuan ($7.98 billion), TV sets 41.6 billion yuan ($6.25 billion) and air conditioners 16.2 billion yuan ($2.43 billion).