Heat-relief products fly off shelves amid scorching heatwaves in China

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- As China is scorched by its hottest summer in decades, heat-relief products have become best-sellers among Chinese people.

From home appliances like air conditioners to cold drinks and ice creams, the demand for cooling products has lit up this summer's consumption.

According to the e-commerce platform Meituan, since the beginning of June, ice cream sales have increased by about 70 percent from a year earlier, and sales of iced beverages have doubled.

Sales of cooling appliances have also increased significantly, and sales of electric fans have skyrocketed over the same period of last year, data from Meituan shows.

Demand for air conditioning products have also seen a significant surge. Home appliance retailer Suning's data shows that from June 22 to 24, sales of air conditioners surged 280 percent from the three days prior in Beijing, as most parts of the city saw temperatures above 39 degrees Celsius.

Orders for trade-in and replacement home appliance services have also seen a sharp spike, with air conditioner trade-in orders accounting for over 40 percent of the total new orders, according to Suning. Over 60 percent of those trade-in orders were recorded in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

"The consumption of products such as air conditioners, cold beer and tourism will benefit from the summer," said Pan Helin, a researcher at the International Business School of Zhejiang University, adding that the current consumption situation is generally stable, and tourism consumption will continue to maintain its sound trend.

Ultraviolet tinted hats, jackets and arm protectors, as well as other sun protection gear, have gained increased popularity.

From June 12 to 25, the sales volume of sunscreen products in first-tier cities increased 64 percent from the previous month, data from e-commerce giant JD.com shows.

As people tend to stay indoors when heatwaves hit, instant delivery services are playing a significant part in meeting consumer demand.

"It's too hot now. I want to do nothing but order takeout with the air conditioning on and wait for my cold drinks to come to my doorstep," a Beijing resident surnamed Zhang said.

Suning's air conditioner trade-in service can complete intra-city deliveries in as short a time as 30 minutes, the platform said.

China's online retail sales of home appliances accounted for 58.2 percent of all home appliance retail sales last year amid the country's e-commerce boom, according to a report from the China Center for Information Industry Development under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Internet platforms have shown great potential and resilience in promoting consumption, said Liu Yi, a researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

To boost summer consumption further, Wu Liyun, an associate professor at the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at the Beijing International Studies University, suggested that merchants enhance their publicity and marketing of heat-relief products while launching new products and services.