As heatwaves strike, Europeans turn to Chinese air-conditioners
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Steven Scholtysek, 36, is no stranger to Europe’s heatwaves. The German engineer has lived through sweltering summers since his childhood.
But this year the heat has been especially unbearable. Western Europe has experiencedits hottest June on record, and cities across Germany saw temperatures rise above 40C (104F). The region is bracing for more heatwaves before the summer ends.
To make things worse, a few months ago Scholtysek moved into an attic apartment – the kind that’s notorious for overheating.
“It’s not possible to live a normal life in those flats, below the roof, in summer heat,” says Scholtysek, who lives in the town of Hamelin, north-central Germany.
He soon stumbled upon a portable split air-conditioner made by Chinese home appliance giant Midea, which was specifically designed to meet European regulations.
His experience is one that is becoming increasingly common across Europe – a region with typically low air-conditioner ownership rates.
While air-conditioners exist in many households from the US to Asia, most of them are not compatible with European homes as they require drilling for installation. But some of these newer Chinese models don’t, which means they meet Europe’s strict historic-preservation rules.
Now, as heatwaves grow more intense, more and more Europeans are turning to air-conditioners. And Chinese brands are meeting that surging demand.
Denis Yurchak, a Vienna resident, tells the BBC that he first came across one such Chinese air-conditioner a few weeks ago, while researching his options.
During the worst of the heatwave, Yurchak said he “basically had it on 24/7”.
Cooling measures
In countries like France, Spain, Germany and the UK, Midea sales surged more than 70% year-on-year, the company told Chinese state media the Global Times – though its Europe office has declined to confirm these figures to the BBC.
Ralph Kobsik, the general manager of the firm’s Europe operation, told the BBC in a statement that they “see considerable long-term growth potential in Europe”.
Chinese company TCL Technology told the Global Times that its air-conditioner sales have also jumped more than 300% in France alone.
Chinese manufacturer Gree, one of the world’s biggest air-conditioner makers, told the BBC that their air-conditioners had seen “noticeably stronger demand this summer”.
“Many of our customers are first-time buyers,” Gree said in a statement. “The increasingly frequent and prolonged summer heatwaves have clearly changed consumer attitudes.”
Denis Yurchak
But the use of air-conditioners isn’t without its drawbacks.
Air conditioning accounts for 7% of the world’s electricity use, and releases 2.7% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and industry, according to one 2024 report.
Environmental advocates and politicians across Europe have long opposed air-conditioners for their consumption of electricity. Some argue that the air-conditioners, which expel hot air outside, could exacerbate outdoor temperatures in densely populated areas.
Some residents simply see air-conditioners as a wasteful purchase for what is usually a week or two of uncomfortable heat – though for others, it is a necessary purchase.
In late June, hundreds of schools were forced to close as France recorded its hottest day on record. France’s power utility announced days later that it would commit €80m (£68m; $91m) to installing cooling systems – including fans and air-conditioners – in schools and community leisure centres.
The World Health Organization’s Europe office has recommended a “nuanced approach towards the use of AC”, saying that while it is not a sustainable solution to dealing with extreme heat, it “remains crucial to protect populations at increased risk from high temperatures”.
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Shaking off a ‘Made in China’ stigma?
All of this has been hailed by Chinese media as a win for Made in China goods – a label that is commonly associated with more low-quality, often cheaply made products.
“The fact that Chinese air conditioners have become a necessity for Europeans is not merely a trade phenomenon, but a microcosm of ‘Chinese-style empowerment’,” reads a commentary by state media outlet People’s Daily.
In fact, Europeans who have bought Chinese air-conditioners tell the BBC that they were surprised to find out where they came from.
“The marketing and design, it was not typical to what I was used to of older Chinese products. It was more modern,” says Scholtysek in Germany. “Also, when I got it, the quality was comparable to what I was used to from Europe or somewhere else.”
This is part of a “general shift” in the image of Chinese tech products, Scholtysek says, from drone maker DJI to electric vehicle brands.
Adrien Olar in France is one of those new consumers who recently bought not just his first air-conditioner, but “maybe my first Chinese product”.
Before that, he had been squirting water on his face to keep cool at home.
But those days are behind Olar now: “It’s like going into a fridge when I go into my room. It’s a very, very good difference.”
