BEIJING - Sales of home appliances in rural China jumped 83.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2011, to 124.58 billion yuan ($19.28 billion), driven by a government subsidy, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

Home appliances sold in the first six months increased 56.7 percent year on year to 50.94 million units, the MOC said in a statement on its website.

In June alone, 5.7 million subsidized home appliance units were sold to rural consumers, down 4.4 percent from the same period last year, with sales in the month up 11 percent year on year to 15.05 billion yuan.

Refrigerators, televisions and air conditioners were the most popular appliances farmers bought in June, as their sales accounted for 73.7 percent of all home appliances sold, according to the MOC statement.

China introduced the subsidy program in February 2009 to spur rural consumption amid the global economic slowdown.

Under the program, farmers can receive subsidies equal to 13 percent of the prices of designated types of refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, computers, air conditioners, mobile phones, water heaters, microwave ovens and traditional ovens.

Another six types of home appliances, including electric bikes, smoke exhaust ventilators, gas stoves, pressure cookers, electric cookers and DVD players, were added to the list of subsidized appliances last year.

As of June 2011, the government had handed out 42.5 billion yuan in subsidies to rural home appliance buyers, boosting the sales of home appliances in rural China to 366.37 billion yuan, or 165 million units.