China heating product exports to Europe surge

Despite it still being summer in Europe, China's exports of heating appliances, including electric heaters, electric blankets and air source heat pumps, have witnessed explosive growth this year as the continent is in the grip of its biggest energy crisis in decades, with natural gas supplies from Russia becoming volatile, industry experts said.

The European Union's statistics bureau showed that the annual inflation rate of energy prices in the EU reached 38.3 percent as of July, among which natural gas and electricity prices jumped 52.2 percent and 31.1 percent, respectively. Many European countries have hastened efforts to push forward the transition of their energy structures.

China's General Administration of Customs said the country's exports of electric blankets and electric heaters skyrocketed 97 percent and 23 percent year-on-year, respectively, in the first seven months, given that European consumers are expanding their purchases of heating appliances ahead of the coming winter.

The European market has been a major growth engine for China's home appliance exports. There is surging demand for imported electric heaters, especially in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, while demand for electric blanket imports more than doubled in Greece, Italy, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

Currently, China is the main supplier of air source heat pumps－a common heating technology that sources heat energy from ambient air outdoors for indoor heating－to Europe, taking up about 60 percent of global market share, said the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.

In the first half, China's exports of air source heat pumps to Bulgaria, Poland, Italy and Spain soared 614 percent, 373 percent, 198 percent and 71 percent year-on-year, respectively.