A staff member introduced consumers to a trade-in program for smart home appliances at a home appliance store located in Chongqing's Shapingba district on July 11, 2024. Photo: VCG

As persistent heat waves sweep across China, the cooling economy is booming, with sales of summer appliances soaring. This not only brings a windfall to home appliance brands but also triggers a chain reaction across industries. Policy support, such as the consumer goods trade-in program, further fuels this growth, making the cooling economy a significant driver of the consumer market and industrial upgrading, experts said.

Leading home appliance brands are reaping the benefits of this seasonal boom. BSH Home Appliances China, a major player in the sector, told the Global Times on Sunday that sales and revenues of its premium cooling products. Sales and revenues for its ice-water dispensers grew more than 200 percent year-on-year during the second quarter, aligning with consumers' growing focus on healthy, instantly chilled drinking water.  

JD.com data showed that refrigeration appliances have seen explosive growth in July. Physical stores reported air conditioner sales surging more than 200 percent year-on-year, with particularly strong demand in markets such as Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Beijing, Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province and Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province. Sales of fans jumped more than 300 percent in East China's Shandong Province as well as in Northeast China's Liaoning and Jilin provinces, the Economic Information Daily reported.

Statistics from Suning.com also indicate a robust performance. Since late June, sales of first-class energy efficiency air conditioners increased 82 percent year-on-year, while orders for air conditioner cleaning services rose 188 percent. Energy-efficient and health-focused products were particularly popular, with new first-class energy efficiency models accounting for 92 percent of air conditioner sales, according to the report.

To meet upgraded consumer demand for high-efficiency products, Du Hongwei, marketing general manager of Haier Smart Home's air-conditioner business unit, told the Global Times on Sunday that the company has launched new models focusing on energy efficiency and health, which use innovative AI energy-saving technology to ease consumers' concerns about high summer electricity bills.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the cooling economy has emerged as a powerful driver for the consumer market at a macro level, with its effect extending far beyond direct sales.  

Fueled by prolonged heat waves, the entire industrial chain of cooling home appliances—from raw material supply and component production to end-user sales and after-sales services—is creating substantial consumption growth. Moreover, evolving consumer demand for energy efficiency, smart features, and health-focused functions are driving product upgrades, with high-end and scenario-specific products becoming mainstream, further expanding market capacity.

He added that consumer goods trade-in policies, as a key part of the country's broader strategy to stimulate domestic consumption, play a pivotal role in boosting home appliance consumption and elevating both industrial and economic quality by encouraging consumers to replace outdated products with newer, more efficient models.

"By incentivizing upgrades to energy-efficient and smart appliances, these policies push enterprises to boost research and development, shifting competition from scale to technological innovation. In the long run, it will not only stimulate immediate consumption but also drive sustainable growth for high-quality economic development," Wang said.

China has reaffirmed its support for the national consumer goods trade-in program, ensuring continued funding to sustain the government subsidy payments throughout 2025, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The central government has earmarked 300 billion yuan ($41.84 billion) in treasury bonds to support local authorities in implementing the program in 2025, doubling that of last year. Two tranches of the central funding, totaling 162 billion yuan, were issued in January and April to support first-half implementation, with further allocations planned for July and October to cover the third and fourth quarters of the year, according to Xinhua.

By the first half of the year, trade-in programs had driven sales of 2.9 trillion yuan., data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. 

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday showed that domestic demand contributed 68.8 percent to GDP growth during the first half of this year, with final consumption expenditure accounting for 52 percent, making it the main driver of growth.