China’s home appliance industry well weathered market pressures in 2025 and maintained a stable and high-level industrial scale, according to official data.

Data of the National Bureau of Statistics show that in 2025, the sector's annual main business revenue reached 1.97 trillion yuan (nearly 286.7 billion U.S. dollars). China's home appliance exports totaled 111.41 billion U.S. dollars, with exports to the United States declining year on year due to high tariffs, while exports to the European Union and the United Kingdom continued to grow.

In an interview with China Central Television at the 2026 Appliance and Electronics World Expo (AWE2026) which kicked off in Shanghai on Thursday, Jiang Feng, president of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said China will follow through on the path of globalization.

"The future of China's home appliance market will be driven, on the one hand, by replacement demand bolstered by the government's trade-in policies aimed at stimulating new consumption, and on the other hand, by new product categories. Therefore, our focus extends beyond product exports to global manufacturing. Currently, 40 percent of China's products serve international markets, and we will steadfastly pursue this path of globalization," she said.

The year 2026 marks a pivotal year for the home appliance industry as artificial intelligence (AI) transitions from concept popularization to large-scale implementation.

AI technologies centering on large models are fundamentally reshaping the form and value of home appliances.

China's AI competitiveness in this sector is shifting from isolated technological breakthroughs to coordinated evolution across the entire industrial chain and ecosystem.

He Yaqiong, director of the Department of Consumer Goods Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the country will draw on its advantages to tap the full potential of AI to better serve the people's life.

"Leveraging China's unique advantages in data and application scenarios, we should harness the rich troves of data resources across 666 specialized industrial sectors. Focusing on emerging scenarios like smart homes, smart travel and smart health, we will transform AI from a showcase of technical prowess into a form of tangible, perceptible, and unobtrusive companion which delivers emotional value. Accelerating the transition of AI technology from functional overlaying to deep empowerment will better meet people's aspirations for better life," he said when speaking at the opening ceremony of the AWE2026.