BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- As unprecedented heatwaves scorch Europe this summer, causing deaths and seriously disrupting people's lives, a once niche household item has turned into a life-saving necessity for millions: air-conditioners.
For a continent where only 20 percent of households are equipped with cooling systems, the rush to buy air-conditioners has left store shelves empty and second-hand unit prices rocketing. What has flown under the radar, however, is a critical lesson from this air-conditioner supply crunch: pragmatic China-EU trade cooperation is not a "risk" to be mitigated, but a lifeline for European households facing growing climate shocks.
Constrained by architectural heritage protection rules, exorbitant installation costs and industrial planning based on the assumptions of a relatively mild climate, local supply falls far behind the surging demand for affordable, easy-to-install and energy-efficient cooling solutions.
Against this backdrop, Chinese manufacturers, such as Midea and Haier, have registered robust export growth for air-conditioners to Europe this year. Models like Midea's PortaSplit have been a runaway hit precisely because they solve European consumers' most pressing pain points.
Integrating engineering expertise from Midea's research and development center in Germany's Stuttgart, design input from its European design center in Italy's Milan, and advanced manufacturing capabilities in China's Guangdong Province, the PortaSplit model is tailor-made for the European market. It does not require drilling holes and is energy efficient. As the model has been out of stock in several European countries, a website was even created for local consumers to track product restocks.
This booming trade in cooling equipment is far more than a temporary commercial phenomenon. It is a vivid illustration of the mutually complementary, win-win nature of China-EU economic and trade cooperation, which has long been overshadowed by narrow discussions of trade deficits in some EU political circles.
Trade is never merely a game of cold statistics or industrial competition; its core value lies in whether it can improve the well-being of ordinary people. The fact that European consumers are voting with their wallets for Chinese cooling products, new energy vehicles, and a wide range of affordable high-quality goods proves that China-EU trade delivers tangible benefits to European households, rather than posing a so-called "threat."
The air-conditioner crunch has actually opened up vast new areas of complementary cooperation, not zero-sum competition. China has the world's most complete manufacturing chain and fast innovation capacity, while Europe has world-leading environmental standards and climate policy design expertise. Deeper bilateral cooperation is expected to deliver a wider range of innovative products tailored to European market demand, support the EU in achieving its green transition targets, and create high-quality jobs for both sides.
This synergy has already delivered much-needed coolness and relief in the ongoing battle against scorching heatwaves, and there is still huge untapped potential for both sides in fields including green technology, climate adaptation and digital economy.
As climate change becomes an increasingly pressing shared challenge for all humanity, decoupling or protectionism will only hurt ordinary consumers on both sides. Stable, open China-EU trade ties can act as a buffer against external shocks, improve the quality of life for people in both regions, and help both sides jointly tackle more challenges.
In this sense, trade and cooperation between China and the EU go far beyond trade volumes. They are about boosting household resilience and living standards, empowering people to keep a pleasant life in the face of natural disruptions while sharing the benefits of tech-driven development, industrial collaboration, and globalization.
Rather than fixating solely on trade balance figures, the two sides can unlock robust growth in bilateral cooperation by adopting a people-centered approach. It is these understated, tangible daily benefits that deliver real value to ordinary households, while laying a solid foundation for both sides to forge a greener, more resilient shared future. ■