Orders for cooling and water-saving products from China's Zhejiang province are booked out into 2027 as European buyers respond to sustained heat and drought. Wall-mounted air coolers, micro-spray drip irrigation kits, water-saving shower heads and ice-and-drink makers are among the products in heavy demand.
At Yiwu International Trade City, a wall-mounted air cooler became an instant hit. One long-standing British customer placed a sample order and then added 1,500 units, air-freighting 200 units ahead of sea freight because of the urgency. One merchant, Chen Jianping, noted that cooling product shipments used to be wrapping up at this point in the year, whereas this year European buyers have extended the sales window, with volumes up 20%. Merchants selling general merchandise and accessories have started carrying cooling goods to sell alongside their usual lines.
European customers have also shifted their selection criteria, with energy efficiency and water-saving performance becoming hard requirements. A kitchen and bathroom hardware merchant, Liu Junming, explained that European buyers used to specify 30mm valve cores but now request 25mm, which reduces flow and improves water efficiency. His monthly export volume rose from one or two thousand units to nearly 10,000 last month.
Elsewhere, a home micro-spray irrigation kit from a Cixi manufacturer cuts water use for garden watering from 7-10 litres per session to 1-2 litres, roughly a 70% saving. The company sells more than half its output to Europe, with orders from the UK, France, Germany and Spain booked through January 2027.
Ningbo customs data showed that in the first seven months of the year, Cixi's exports to Europe reached 20.37 billion yuan. Cooling and heating appliance exports from the city totalled 930 million yuan, of which ice maker exports reached 130 million yuan, up 45.2%, and water purifier exports reached 32.459 million yuan, up 79.9%.
Yiwu merchants are also benefiting from the trend. Folding fans printed with the Eiffel Tower have been air-freighted to Paris, handheld fans have become the most photographed item on European streets, and pet water toys have seen monthly export volumes exceed 30,000 units, up more than 20% year on year.
Source:大众网 / Yiwu Business Daily / CCTV News
