Rising demand for heating products showcases resilience of China's foreign trade

In late November, workers at Gengxin Appliance Industry Co., Ltd. in Cixi, a county-level city administered by Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province, were busy assembling heaters destined for overseas markets.

According to Li Qiang, the company's foreign trade manager, heater orders are booked through the end of December. In the first 11 months of this year, the company's heater exports totaled about 100 million yuan (about $14.12 million), nearly a 10 percent year-on-year increase.

Workers assemble heaters in a factory in Cixi, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo/CCTV News)

Demand for products such as home appliances, heaters, and holiday gifts is currently on the rise. Technological innovation is driving changes in the structure of foreign trade and pushing the upgrading of export-oriented products. With Black Friday arriving and the Christmas shopping season approaching, demand is set to remain strong. All of this underscores the resilience of China's foreign trade.

"There are now more than 100 companies in Cixi dedicated to producing and exporting heaters, including several major players with annual exports exceeding $10 million," said Huang Weiqun from the inspection division of Cixi Customs under Ningbo Customs.

Li noted that by building a smart vertical warehouse and developing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the company has increased its storage capacity by 2.5 times and boosted monthly output to 100,000 units, giving it both the confidence and capability to take on more orders.

The rise in heating demand is also benefiting the home textile sector. According to an executive from Alibaba.com, the peak season for heating products runs from September to January. During this September, daily searches for down comforters jumped 155 percent, electric blanket sales rose 224 percent, and transactions for Raschel blankets increased 132 percent, compared with the previous month.

The increase in overseas orders comes from identifying shifting consumer needs. Relying on technological innovation to create customized products has become a consensus among foreign trade firms seeking to upgrade their offerings and expand their markets.

An executive from China's home appliance manufacturer Midea Group said the commercial heating products of Midea Building Technologies, a major business segment under Midea Group, have posted strong export growth this year, with export volume up 31.6 percent year on year. Growth has been led by Europe and emerging markets.

According to Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of the Economics Research Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, China's export products are moving upmarket, providing a boost to the development of foreign trade. This shift is raising the global value-chain position of "Made in China" products and encouraging domestic companies to invest more in R&D and cultivate new quality productive forces.

TikTok Shop data shows that during its Black Friday promotion, items such as portable power stations, heated earmuffs and gloves, hand warmer power banks, and USB keyboard heating pads saw particularly strong sales.