BEIJING — Trade tensions between China and Europe are heating up, even as Europeans turn to China for help cooling down.
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Air conditioners had become a hot commodity in Europe even before a deadly heat wave in recent weeks that is the continent’s worst on record — for now. Scientists say it was “unequivocally” caused by climate change, with Europe warming at twice the global average according to the World Meteorological Organization.
The record temperatures have set off a frenzy for air conditioners in Europe, where only 20% of the population has them, compared with about 90% of Americans, according to the International Energy Agency.
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European heat wave turns AC into a political debate
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Many of the air conditioners being snapped up by long lines of sweaty European customers are made in China, which accounts for about 40% of global air conditioner exports, underscoring the challenges the European Union faces amid a growing trade deficit with Beijing.
Europe is “very dependent” on Chinese products, said Alicia García-Herrero, the Hong Kong-based chief economist for Asia-Pacific at French investment bank Natixis, with the run on air conditioners being just one example.
“Every time we have a shock, it’s China kind of ‘saving us,’ or that’s China’s narrative,” said García-Herrero, who is from Spain. “So our position is very weak.”
Europe’s predicament is not lost on China, where air conditioning is widely used. Social media videos about the European heat wave have pointedly drawn comparisons to animals in China basking in refrigerated air in barns and pig stalls.
“If China stopped selling air conditioners, would European gentlemen still be so keen on the ‘overcapacity’ narrative?” Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account associated with state media, asked in a commentary published this week.
The E.U. accuses China of flooding its markets with low-cost goods and has threatened protectionist measures, while China says it is not the “root cause” of Europe’s economic problems. E.U. trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, vowed in a joint statement on Monday to balance the relationship and address market access issues.
“China’s exports to the E.U. keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking. This trend is not sustainable,” Sefcovic said after talks with Wang in Brussels, adding that he wanted “tangible results” on narrowing the $412 billion trade gap by the time he visits Beijing in October. The E.U. has meanwhile stepped up barriers to trade, imposing a flat 3 euro customs duty this month in a measure targeting low-cost Chinese goods from platforms like Temu and AliExpress.
Chinese companies such as Midea have adapted their air conditioners to suit conditions in Europe, where high installation costs, a lack of qualified technicians and strict regulations for historic buildings have hindered their use.
Midea says it has seen “robust sales growth” in Western Europe, with air conditioner sales in France, Spain, Germany and Britain up more than 70% compared with a year earlier.
Factories in China are working around the clock to ramp up production of Midea’s PortaSplit model, which the company says is easy to install and “accommodates a wide range of European window types.” It says it has shipped 200,000 units to Europe this year, double the number it did last year.
The PortaSplit is so popular that a German software developer created a website to help users track the availability of units across the country as they fly off the shelves.
According to Joybuy, the European and British arm of the Chinese online retail giant JD.com, sales of air conditioner products have surged almost 40-fold compared with the first week of June, Chinese financial publication Yicai reported, citing data released by the platform on Tuesday.
Chang Pudong, a salesperson at a Hisense store in Beijing, said his company’s air conditioners were “selling extremely well in Europe.”
“Hisense has been developing overseas production lines and expanded into overseas markets quite early on,” Chang, 22, told NBC News in an interview Thursday. “And throughout its process — from R&D to manufacturing and sales — it has adapted both its technology and design to suit both the European climate conditions and their aesthetic preferences.”
“I think overseas consumers can also see that our prices are relatively lower, and they have a wider range of choices available to them,” he added.
Yanchao Shipping, a Chinese company sending products mainly to Chinese nationals overseas including international students, opened a dedicated “AC Hotline” to try to keep up with the surge in orders.
“They usually use us to ship snacks, clothes and shoes,” said Wang Zairong, a manager at the Shenzhen-based firm, “but right now, everyone’s focused on solving the heat wave problem.”
Wang said the company had seen a sharp increase in orders for portable air conditioners, receiving more than 1,000 inquiries since last week from countries including Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
“As of now, we have received about 100 units in our warehouse, and that number is growing by about 40 to 50 units every day,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Compared with last year, when Wang said the company shipped about 10 units, “this year we are seeing 10 to 20 times growth.”
He said there had also been an increase in shipments of other products such as portable fans, car shades and cooling mats for pets.
It’s also been a sweltering summer in Beijing, where there was a severe heat warning on Friday as temperatures reached as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
A Beijing resident surnamed Li said her Xiaomi and Gree air conditioning units had been “running almost all day.”
Li, 40, said she was surprised about the lack of air conditioners in Europe.
“My impression is that they’re very advanced over there,” she said. “I can’t really imagine a situation where people don’t have air conditioning.”
Janis Mackey Frayer, Dawn Liu and Erin Tan reported from Beijing, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
