Heatwaves a boon for China’s ‘cooling economy’

GUANGZHOU – As scorching heatwaves grip the globe this summer, air-conditioners are fast becoming essential household appliances, fuelling a boom in sales both domestically in China and abroad.

A local resident of Panjin in north-east China’s Liaoning province, surnamed Dong, described the summer as a relentless “sweat bath”, despite it already being August.

“This summer is just too hot. Even electric fans can’t provide enough relief,” Mr Dong said, noting that he held out all summer but finally gave in and ordered air-conditioners a few days ago.

This sentiment is shared across coastal cities in north-east China and Shandong province in East China, where temperatures have climbed above 35 deg C, turning air-conditioners from an optional comfort for northerners into an almost essential refuge from the heat.

Data from Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com reveals a telling trend. Starting from June, overall transactions for air-conditioners on the platform increased by over 60 per cent year on year, with the number of customers placing orders surging by nearly 90 per cent.

In the first half of July, purchases of air-conditioners in north-east China’s Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang – provinces renowned for ice and snow tourism – soared by 25 times, 10 times and eight times, respectively.

Notably, the number of first-time buyers in these north-eastern provinces has jumped by over 800 per cent year on year. Similar spikes are evident across north, central, north-west and south-west China.

At the Ouya Shopping Centre in Changchun, capital of north-east China’s Jilin province, customers flocked to the home appliance section to learn about the various air-conditioner models and inquire about prices.

To meet the high demand, Hisense’s production bases in Shandong, Zhejiang and Guangdong are operating at full capacity. Some popular air-conditioner models have even sold out in physical stores in north and north-east China.

As regions that once relied on fans switch to air-conditioners, the industry is responding with innovative solutions and strategic supply chains to keep up with the escalating demand.

To ensure timely installations, companies have launched a “south-to-north workforce transfer”, dispatching after-sales service teams to the northern regions for emergency support.

The “cooling economy” is also powering air-conditioner exports at a pace that has exceeded expectations. In July, temperatures soared above 40 deg C across much of Europe, upending the long-held belief that summers could be endured without air-conditioning.

Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that in the first seven months of 2025, China’s air-conditioner exports amounted to 46.81 billion yuan ($8.4 billion), up 4.9 per cent year on year, with exports to Europe surging 28.9 per cent to 12.92 billion yuan.

In 2025, Hisense air-conditioners have seen strong demand in many key overseas markets, such as South-east Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. “With our continuous optimisation in local marketing, product adaptation and channel layout, Hisense’s air-conditioner export growth rate reached 17 per cent in the first half of 2025,” said Hisense’s brand director of the air-conditioning division Yang Xiangxi.

In the first half of 2025, Midea’s air-conditioner sales in Europe increased by 35 per cent year on year. The company’s European air-conditioner division director Zhu Zhou explained that Midea’s Solstice model, featuring artificial intelligence-powered Ecomaster technology, cuts unnecessary energy use by over 30 per cent, and has seen strong sales in Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Italy.

To tackle high installation costs in Europe, Midea developed the innovative PortaSplit air-conditioner, designed for easy self-installation. This summer, Google searches for “Midea/PortaSplit” in Germany surged twentyfold year on year, with cumulative sales exceeding 80,000 units.

China accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the world’s air-conditioning production capacity, supplying energy-saving, efficient and low-carbon products globally.

With climate extremes worsening and demand rising in developing countries, China’s air-conditioning export potential looks strong for the future, said secretary-general Zhou Nan of the home appliances branch at the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products. CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK