QINGDAO -- Chinese home appliance companies are now climbing the value chain globally as the country's industrial connectivity grows stronger, allowing brands to target higher-end markets.

Chinese home appliance giant Haier has responded to the rapid growth of appliance exports by expanding its manufacturing capacity.
A new production line was added in its factory in Qingdao City of east China's Shandong Province right after the Chinese New Year to meet increasing demand. The factory now has a daily production plan of 36,000 units, equivalent to over 120 standard containers of goods every day.
At Haier's headquarters in the city, a global customer service team, representing over 50 countries across Europe, the Americas, and beyond, is engaged in discussions about digital transformation to help the company tap into overseas markets more effectively.
In the new year, home appliance exports are becoming increasingly busy, with significant activity in Haier's key overseas manufacturing base in Thailand.
Due to high orders, staff at the base did not return to China during the Spring Festival holiday.
A batch of air conditioners tailored to overseas demand, which would typically take two to three months to complete, was produced in just over a month through global collaboration. The headquarters handled research and development, while the Thai plant focused on key components and assembly, achieving mass production in the first week after the holiday.
The Thai plant now features Haier's largest overseas integrated unit production line, where an air conditioner is produced every 12 seconds on average. The plant recently began mass production of the industry's first heat pump inverter window unit, which caters to the cooling and heating needs of North American customers while also providing energy efficiency.
Haier's global footprint includes over 30 industrial parks and 160 manufacturing centers in the Americas, Europe, and Southeast Asia. The Thai plant, for instance, can handle everything from raw material procurement to processing key components locally, with many of its suppliers hailing from China.