MITSUBISHI Heavy Industries has established a residential air conditioning sales joint venture with China's largest home appliance retail chain Suning Appliance.
The new company, MHI Residential Air-Conditioners (Shanghai), is to begin operation on 1 January 2012 with a view to developing the growing residential-use air-conditioning market in China. MHIRS is capitalised at around £3.1m, with MHI holding 85 per cent and Suning Appliance 15 per cent.

In China, annual demands for residential-use air-conditioners are more than 30 million units per year; however, with large shares of the market taken by Chinese manufacturers, Japanese manufacturers are facing tough times. The demand for ac units with inverter functions has been increasing rapidly due to enhanced energy-saving regulations which has resulted in Japanese manufacturers aiming to gain ground through product technology established in the Japanese market.