Beating the Heat: Northeastern Chinese city sees spike in demand for air conditioners

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02:29

This summer is also seeing record high temperatures. And in China's northeastern city of Shenyang, the unmerciful heat has cranked up local demand for air conditioners. Buying a new AC unit is one thing. But are there enough workers there to install the new orders? And will the units run properly as they're constantly switched on? Xu Xinchen has more.

An electric fan? Not useful right now in China's northeast, an area used to cooler summers than the rest of the country. In late July and early August, the city of Shenyang saw temperatures soar to their highest levels in 60 years — higher than Beijing and Shanghai. Demand for air conditioners surged, and some stores saw their usual sales double.

LIU YANG AC PURCHASING MANAGER, SUNING SHENYANG "Temperatures in summer have been rising since 2016, and air conditioners are becoming more popular. We hope people can plan their purchases in advance."

Liu's store sold over 50,000 units during the two hottest weeks — about the same number sold during all of last summer. That big order in such a short time forced the company to get more installers from outside the city to deliver and set up the units. Yet some buyers needed to wait for days.

CUSTOMER "It is too hot to sleep without an AC. But we couldn't get one until yesterday."

During the past two weeks, the city saw 30% more units installed on a daily basis.

XU XINCHEN SHENYANG "I'm lucky to have an air conditioner installed in my apartment. But a week ago, it stopped working after having been on for so long. Not good in the thick, sweltering heat of Shenyang's hottest summer in decades! And in my complex, more than half the residents have complained of weak AC."

Maintenance workers say due to the extreme heat, some units have mechanisms to prevent overheating.

WANG HUAYU SUPERVISOR, AC MAINTENANCE TEAM "We should first check to see if the air conditioner's external unit stopped working due to a freon shortage or high temperatures."

Recent rainfall cooled the city off a bit, but high temperatures are still hovering above 30 degrees Celsius — definitely on the warmer side for summer in Northeastern China. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Shenyang, Liaoning Province.