At the 2025 China Household Appliances Technology Annual Conference this week, the China Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry Association released a group standard titled "Construction Specifications for Aluminum Tube-Fin Heat Exchanger Production Lines in Room Air Conditioners." Two additional standards—covering technical requirements for aluminum heat exchanger materials and production line specifications for finned heat exchangers—are currently under development. Meanwhile, the national standard "Heat Exchangers for Room Air Conditioners," which includes provisions for substituting copper with aluminum, is also being revised.
With copper futures prices exceeding $10,000 per ton (approximately ¥70,730), China—the world’s largest consumer and producer of air conditioners—is accelerating efforts to replace copper with aluminum in air conditioner manufacturing and establish related standards to safeguard its multi-billion-dollar industry supply chain.
Major industry players, including Gree Electric Appliances, Midea Group, Haier Smart Home, Xiaomi, Hisense, TCL, AUX, Beijing University of Technology, China Household Electric Appliance Research Institute, Changhong, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Sanhua, and Xinrui, are participating in the revision of the national standard for heat exchangers. The next round of discussions is scheduled for January 2026.
On the same day, leading air conditioner manufacturers such as Haier, Midea, Hisense, TCL, AUX, Xiaomi, and MBO jointly announced their participation in a self-regulatory pact under the Aluminum-Enhanced Air Conditioner Research Working Group. The agreement prohibits malicious competition, mandates scientific promotion of aluminum heat exchanger features, and bans exaggerated or false claims to enhance consumer trust in industry products and technologies.
Tang Junjie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and honorary chairman of the Beijing Refrigeration Society, noted that household air conditioners consume vast amounts of copper, primarily for condensers and evaporators (collectively termed "heat exchangers"). In 2023, China’s household air conditioner sector accounted for 10.7% of the country’s total copper consumption—approximately 1.723 million metric tons—with 80% relying on imports. In contrast, China produced 60% of the world’s electrolytic aluminum the same year. Aluminum heat exchangers are already widely used in automotive air conditioners and refrigerators, with Japan’s Daikin achieving over 50% aluminum substitution in its 2024 air conditioner models.
In March 2025, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and nine other departments jointly issued the "Aluminum Industry High-Quality Development Implementation Plan (2025–2027)," identifying "substituting aluminum for copper" as a key initiative to expand aluminum consumption, particularly in power and household appliance sectors.
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