China’s cooling, e-commerce giants reap windfall as a scorched Europe scrambles for relief

A heatwave sweeping across Europe has triggered a massive surge in sales for Chinese home appliances, with e-commerce giant Alibaba recording triple-digit growth for air conditioners and fans on its overseas platforms.

On AliExpress, Alibaba’s international retail site, the June debut of air conditioners in Germany saw warehouse inventory for a 2.35-kilowatt Midea model completely wiped out by Thursday, according to data from Alibaba.

The trend was also stark in southern Europe. Fan sales in Spain soared by 94 per cent from June 17 to 23, compared with the same period in May, while Italy recorded a 100 per cent month-on-month jump in cooling appliances and sun-protection apparel in June.

After baking France, Belgium and the Netherlands, extreme temperatures are now reaching Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, and the human toll is mounting. French authorities on Sunday reported that there had been about 1,000 additional deaths since Wednesday, including a 40 per cent increase in at-home fatalities.

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The scramble among European consumers was mirrored on Alibaba.com, the e-commerce giant’s business-to-business platform, reflecting urgent procurement by local merchants. In June, air conditioner orders in Spain nearly doubled, year on year, while wholesale orders for fans skyrocketed by 378 per cent in Sweden and 114 per cent in Belgium, according to Alibaba data.