Hot weather drives air conditioner boom in Shenyang

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02:05

Record high temperatures plagued China’s northeastern city of Shenyang this summer, which has cranked up local air conditioner (AC) sales.

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 home appliance retailer Suning saw AC sales rise by 80 percent. During the hottest week, sales in fact jumped 40 fold year-on-year.

Liu Yang [R], home appliance retailer Suning’s air conditioner purchasing manager in Shenyang speaks to CGTN in a Suning store in the city. /CGTN Photo

“Local summer temperatures have been rising since 2016, and air conditioners are becoming more popular. We hope people can plan their purchases in advance,” said Liu Yang, the air conditioner purchasing manager of Suning Shenyang.

Suning sold over 50,000 units during the two hottest weeks — about the same number sold during all of last summer.

Retailer Gome saw a similarly huge increase in demand. The 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. Some buyers even had to wait for days.

During the past two weeks, the city saw a 30 percent increase in units installed per day.

A worker is installing an AC unit. Due to the huge jump in demand, Suning needs to move some 600 workers from other regions on top of its 800 local workers. During the hottest two weeks, some 3,000 units were installed daily. /CGTN Photo

However, the hot summer also caused many complaints about weak ACs. In an apartment in downtown Shenyang, 60 percent of the residents said their ACs were not cool enough during the thick, sweltering heat of Shenyang’s hottest summer in decades.

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

“We should first check to see if the air conditioner's external unit has stopped working due to a cooling agent shortage or a high temperature protection,” Said Wang Huayu, a supervisor for an AC maintenance team.

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.