496The 2024 Paris Olympics, although plagued with controversy from the opening ceremony to the competitions, still cannot dampen athletes’ enthusiasm for the games. Even the spectators flock to the venues every day in an endless stream.
The huge influx of visitors has made the already hot French weather even more unbearably scorching. To cope with the high temperatures, the Paris region has launched a series of heat prevention and cooling measures, but they seem to have had little effect.
According to reports from Cailian Press, temperatures in most parts of France have approached 40 degrees Celsius.
Amid the ongoing heatwave, various cooling products have become extremely popular in Paris, among which,Chinese cooling mats have instantly become a hit in overseas markets, with sales surging.
According to data from ochama, JD.com's European e-commerce platform, sales of Chinese ice silk cooling mats in Europe have soared, increasing by 288% compared to the first three weeks of July!
Chinese e-commerce platforms have even given cooling mats to Olympic volunteers to help them cope with the intense heat. Many netizens joked:“It should be declared a cultural heritage! This is the wisdom of our ancestors, a mysterious power from the East.”
In fact, this is not the first time Chinese cooling mats have become a sensation overseas. Previously, Ningbo Net reported thatin the first five months of this year, the export scale of cooling mats from Ningbo alone exceeded 100 million yuan.
Moreover, these mats were not exported to Europe at that time, but mainly to places like Japan and the United States. This shows that China’s summer cooling products have long been warmly welcomed overseas.
Searching #summer sleeping mat on TikTok, you can find a large number of videos about Chinese cooling mats. Some showcase traditional Chinese weaving techniques, while others demonstrate the practical use of cooling mats in daily life.
The types of mats range from traditional rush grass mats to modern ice silk mats, and all of them have impressive view counts. Some overseas netizens even explicitly state in the comments that theywant to own such mats.
This clearly shows the appeal of cooling mats to overseas audiences.
Image source: TikTok
On Amazon, we can see that cooling mats which usually cost only a few dozen yuan in China are sold for dozens of dollars overseas, and special mats like mahjong mats are priced at over a hundred US dollars.
Image source: Amazon
Looking at it this way, Ningbo’s cooling mat exports reaching 100 million yuan in the first five months of this year doesn’t seem so surprising.
But on the other hand, this is in the US and Japan, where air conditioning penetration is about 90%.
If it were in Europe and Southeast Asia, where air conditioning penetration is only in single digits, how huge would the market for such cooling products be?
It’s worth noting that in previous years, Europe’s climate was pleasant, with summer temperatures rarely exceeding the 20s Celsius. Coupled with Europeans’ general preference for natural and eco-friendly lifestyles, air conditioning penetration in Europe is very low.
But with extreme weather becoming more frequent in recent years, European summers have repeatedly broken historical high temperature records,Europeans can no longer adapt to such high temperatures, so the demand for cooling products is bound to surge.
Just like this Paris Olympics, which has directly made Chinese cooling mats the new favorite of athletes and tourists in summer.
So why doesn’t France install air conditioning despite the heat?
In reality, most French homes are old, and the building structures do not allow for installation. Moreover, the installation fees for air conditioning are much higher than the product itself, deterring many people.
This has led people to urgently seek alternative cooling products, and affordable, high-quality Chinese cooling mats have become the first choice for French people in summer.
Europe is not alone in facing this situation; Southeast Asia is similar. However, in Southeast Asia, it’s not because of a preference for nature, but due to economic underdevelopment. The year-round hot weather makes cooling products a necessity in Southeast Asia.
For example, special paper-woven cooling mats produced in Taizhou, Zhejiang, have been selling like crazy in the Vietnamese market, with orders even scheduled through October.
Besides Chinese cooling mats, as the high temperatures persist, many other Chinese summer products have also become new favorites in overseas markets.
For example, energy storage fans that charge with solar power during the day and provide both lighting and cooling at night, as well as various sun protection products like “facekinis,” ice sleeves, and sun protection masks.
On TikTok, many overseas bloggers have posted videos featuring “facekinis” and other sun protection products, attracting a lot of attention and comments. Ice sleeves, with their diverse designs and convenience, are especially popular among consumers.
Image source: TikTok
Moreover, many Chinese-made products are seen by foreigners as imbued with mysterious Eastern power.
For example, the mosquito nets that were popular during the Rio Olympics. Many foreigners said they had never seen such “magical” products, and foreign media reported extensively on Chinese mosquito nets, calling them“national treasures”. Mosquito nets were even sold for thousands of yuan on overseas e-commerce platforms at the time.Countless netizens exclaimed that business opportunities had arrived.
In fact, as long as you pay attention to the market, there are business opportunities everywhere overseas.
Just like the recent boom of three-wheeled vehicles in the US, the Guowei electric tricycle, which took center stage in viral TikTok videos, not only tripled its own sales in the US but also drove the entire industry’s development overseas.
Although a US investigation order has put the “three-wheeler” on par with Huawei and DJI, it is only subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.
The reasoning is even more absurd: the US manufacturers’ alliance claims that the cost of Chinese-made electric vehicles is much higher than the selling price, which is due to massive subsidies.
In reality, this is just infringing on the interests of certain pickup truck manufacturers—no need to name names. Anyway, it can’t stop Americans’ love for three-wheelers.
Overall, many Chinese-made products are currently gaining popularity overseas, greatly boosting the development of the cross-border e-commerce market. As overseas consumer demand becomes increasingly diverse, sellers can conduct market research in advance to launch more high-quality products that meet consumer needs.
