Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT

On Thursday, a statistic circulating on Chinese news platform Toutiao drew attention and discussion online: Chinese households now own an average of 1.5 air conditioners each. The figure comes from a report released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in September 2025, which showed that in 2024 there were 150.6 air conditioners per 100 households, up 28 percent from 2020.

Against the backdrop of heatwaves in many parts of the world and rising demand for cooling equipment, the data has resonated on Chinese social media, where it has become an unexpected point of interest.

Heatwaves have made air conditioning one of the focal points of international coverage in recent weeks, with reports highlighting strong demand for Chinese-made cooling equipment in overseas markets. Amid these developments, a more straightforward question follows: In China itself, where this equipment is produced, what does demand and usage look like?

It may be a long story, but it starts with one simple figure: 28 percent. Behind it lies a gradual process over the past decades in which air conditioning has shifted from an expensive household appliance to a broadly accessible one. This change reflects the greater affordability made possible by Chinese manufacturing, alongside steady technological progress. Chinese manufacturers have developed air conditioners with higher cooling efficiency, lower energy consumption, reduced noise levels and improved overall performance, in response to increasingly sophisticated consumer expectations. 

According to a recent report by Chinese media outlet gmw.cn, some Chinese manufacturers have designed air conditioners that can be installed in as little as 10 minutes, addressing one of the industry's longstanding pain points.

As Chinese-made air conditioners are exported abroad, the same gains in affordability are also being passed on to overseas consumers. This is, in itself, a positive development. It does not fit narratives that portray China's export as a "shock." Rather, it points to a process in which improvements in cost and performance are more widely shared across different markets.

This process is not a one-way flow. The "28 percent" figure, seen from another angle, reflects the steady expansion of consumption in China. Chinese consumers also buy imported cooling products. Foreign-invested companies, meanwhile, remain active in China's cooling appliances market, serving domestic demand and competing alongside local producers.

According to data released by the NBS in May, China has 514.65 million households. Any form of consumption, when scaled against that figure, translates into a sizable market. It is also one that remains widely open to overseas firms. Taken together, these dynamics point to opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Beyond exports and imports, there is a third angle worth noting in relation to air conditioning: electricity. A reliable and sufficient power supply is a key precondition for the widespread use of cooling appliances. 

In recent years, as China's installed solar and wind power capacity has continued to expand and cross-regional power transmission networks have become more integrated, renewable energy has played an increasingly important role in meeting surging electricity demand for summer cooling.

According to a recent report by People.cn, citing the latest data from the National Energy Administration, China's installed renewable power generation capacity exceeded 2.4 billion kilowatts by the end of April, accounting for 60.5 percent of the country's total installed electricity generation capacity. 

A single air conditioner may be a small appliance, but the supply chain behind it is extensive. It links China's industrial development, the upgrading of domestic consumption and the growing role of renewable energy into a long and increasingly interconnected chain. Along this chain, there are multiple points of cooperation among different markets. These forms of cooperation are mutually beneficial. In practice, they improve efficiency across the system, raise living standards and the quality of consumption, and support a continued shift toward a greener, lower-carbon economy.

At present, some Western commentaries tend to focus disproportionately on China's exports, advancing a narrative of a so-called China shock that does not sit well with the broader facts. It overlooks, for instance, that China is already one of the world's largest import markets, as well as the scale and potential of its domestic consumption. In reality, China's development has not been a shock to absorb, but is a set of opportunities to engage with. Beyond air conditioning, there are many more areas in which cooperation is both possible and already taking shape, across a wide range of sectors.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn