From sun protection clothing to ice makers, China-made cooling products have witnessed explosive growth of export as heatwaves have scorched the northern hemisphere.
Recently, Zhejiang Xinyang Customs Brokerage, which is based in eastern Chinese export hub Yiwu City, has handled more than 400 customs declarations for cooling products, which will be shipped to countries such as Germany and France.
"These are summer sun protection products which we exported in the first half of this year, such as swimsuits, sun protection clothing, and sun protection hats. As for sun protection clothing and hats, we exported about 100,000 pieces in the first half of the year, with a value of about seven million yuan (about 980,000 U.S. dollars), which is five times that of the same period last year," said Cheng Liang, a customs broker of Zhejiang Xinyang Customs Brokerage.
To attract overseas consumers, many sun protection clothing manufacturers intensify innovation efforts.
High Hope Zhongtian Corporation, which is based in Nanjing City, east China's Jiangsu Province, has shipped more than 200,000 pieces of cool fabrics they developed since the beginning of summer.
One of the new products the firm has launched is a temperature-sensitive fabric, bringing in orders worth 200,000 U.S. dollars, though it has not yet been mass-produced.
"There is no color on the fabric at room temperature. When we place an ice cube here and the temperature drops, the color appears," said Wang Yile, the business manager of High Hope Zhongtian Corporation.
The company's research and development efforts have paid off. Since the beginning of this year, it has exported nearly six million pieces of cooling products, generating a total value of 520 million yuan.
In addition, China-manufactured electric appliances designed to keep people cool become popular at overseas markets too.
The latest data show that from January to June this year, China exported a total of 38.42 million air conditioners, a year-on-year increase of 21.4 percent. During the same period, it exported 39.8 million refrigerators, up 25.6 percent from one year ago.
The overseas popularity of Chinese electric appliance is largely attributed to innovation efforts as well.
Ningbo Kadeer Electrical Appliances, which is based in Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province, recently launched a movable cooling fan, which can be used in camping, warehousing and other activities.
"In the first half of this year, the weather became hot earlier and faster than previously in Southeast Asia, so our sales suddenly picked up. In the first half of the year, our export to Southeast Asia alone exceeded eight million U.S. dollars. Throughout the first half of the year, our cumulative (export) sales exceeded 15 million U.S. dollars, a 30-percent increase (year on year)," said Shen Ze, general manager of Ningbo Kadeer Electrical Appliances.
In the same city, Ningbo Hicon Industry Technology launched an ice makers targeted at the U.S. and European and American markets. The manufacturer reduces the product's size and weight by a quarter, and halves the ice-making time to six minutes, driving up its sales overseas.
"In the first half of this year, our self-operated export reached about 1.1 billion yuan, an increase of about 30 percent. The growth is mainly due to the development of our new products and the investment in new markets," said Chen Yuepeng, chairman of Ningbo Hicon Industry Technology.
Another driving force behind China's cooling product exports is fast delivery.
Chinese ports have optimized services to speed up the shipping of cooling products to consumers all around the world.
"For ships transporting cool products, we customize berthing arrangements to ensure that the vessels can dock in time and goods are shipped as scheduled. Efforts are made to increase the entire logistics turnover efficiency," said Ban Zhengqi, planning director of Qingdao Qianwan New United Container Terminal, which is based in Qingdao City, east China's Shandong Province.
China's cooling product export heating up
China's cooling product export heating up
