Jiangmen air conditioner exports surge amid European heatwave

Europe’s demand for cooling appliances from the Greater Bay Area (GBA) city of Jiangmen has been on a rise recently due to the ongoing European heatwave, which has resulted in temperatures of over 40°C across the continent and more than 10,000 excess deaths, as of late June. 

According to Jiangmen Customs data cited by Nanfang Daily, the city exported around 880 million yuan (US$129.78 million) in air conditioners to Europe during the first five months of 2026, up 15.4 percent year-on-year. 

Jiangmen’s export of home appliances reached a value of roughly 8.52 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion) over this period, with air conditioners, electric fans, fridges and other cooling devices accounting for 45 percent of the total. 

“This year, the European market has seen a considerable increase in demand and we’ve experienced a noticeable surge in orders during this period,” Shi Chunbo, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Jiangmen POSI Refrigeration Appliance Co., said in a Jiangmen Customs report. He added that the company’s workforce has had to work overtime and fasttrack production of its portable air conditioners in order to meet orders on time. 

Shi noted that European exports to key markets such as France, Germany and Spain accounted for around 70 percent of POSI’s international market. Meanwhile, the portable air conditioner manufacturer said it had sold over 900,000 units in the first five months of this year and projects orders for the entire year to jump by 30 percent. 

Why are Jiangmen air conditioners booming in Europe?

The convenience of Jiangmen air conditioning units is one of the key reasons for their popularity among European consumers. According to Shi, POSI’s portable air conditioners require neither an outdoor condenser unit nor drilling, allowing them to overcome Europe’s building preservation codes, stringent installation guidelines and high installation fees. 

Jiangmen-based company, Hisense (Guangdong) Air Conditioner Co., also prioritises installation convenience, although its main exports to Europe are split air conditioners. 

Liu Pei, the general manager of Hisense (Guangdong) Air Conditioner told Nanfang Daily his firm manufactures products that are easy to install, quiet and energy efficient. 

The company’s U6 Uni series of air conditioners improves installation efficiency by 35 percent through the use of a removable wall mount and a multifunctional hanging design. In the past six months, it has sold around 113,000 units in the European market, up 117 percent year-on-year. 

[See more: European heatwave intensifies in the east as death toll climbs]

Jiangmen is not the only GBA city to benefit from Europe’s rising demand for cooling appliances. Other Guangdong manufacturers such as the Foshan-based Midea Group, the Zhuhai-based Gree Electric Appliances and the Huizhou-based TCL Technology have also reported an increase in their sales.

Midea Group told Chinese media yesterday that it had received an additional 200,000 air conditioning orders over the past month, and would be coordinating with its factories in Guangzhou’s Nansha District and Anhui province’s Wuhu city to deliver the orders to the European market. 

Other non-GBA cities in China have also seen a spike in orders. In Ningbo, the local customs said that exports of cooling appliances had reached a value of 2.73 billion yuan (US$403 million) between January and May. 

Ningbo’s Electric fan exports soared by 29.3 percent year-on-year, hitting a value of 950 million yuan (US$140 million). Similarly, the city’s export of ice makers grew 36.8 percent to 290 million (US$43 million).