Foreign consumers snap up Chinese robotic vacuum cleaners in 2023

Photo taken on April 1, 2021 shows a workshop of a microwave oven factory of Midea Group, a Chinese home appliance giant, in Foshan City, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Li Jiale)

Since the beginning of 2023, the cross-border e-commerce has seen recovery, said a staff of Midea store on the AliExpress platform, adding that the store has sold thousands of robotic vacuum cleaners to the overseas market, including Spain, France and Russia, since January.

According to Chinese home appliance giant Midea, the brand's robotic vacuum cleaners were a hit in the European market during the Singles' Day shopping spree of 2022, with sales volume 10 times larger than the preliminary sales target.

In less than a year since it settled on the AliExpress platform, Midea has seen a turnover of over 10 million yuan (about 1.46 million U.S. dollars).

Other than Midea, many renowned Chinese home appliance makers including Haier Smart Home (600690.SH) and Little Bear Electric Appliance (002959.SZ) have set up stores on AliExpress platform to explore overseas market. More emerging intelligent cleaning products manufacturers, such as Tineco, Dreame and Roborock are also expanding their overseas presence.

In recent years, China-made products are trending among foreign consumers. Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as AliExpress, Shein, Temu and Tiktok, have made these products available to foreign consumers.