Tourists visit the Summer Palace in Beijing on July 1, 2023. Photo: VCG

As the sweltering heat waves linger in large swaths of China, sales of sun protective clothing and other products have kept spiking, including the facekini, a full-face cotton mask that covers the entire head to block sun light, in addition to other types of sun protective sleeves and jackets, China Media Group (CMG) said on Saturday. 

In the world's largest small-commodities hub in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province, the classic sun-blocking facekini has been upgraded with brim and larger face coverage area to protect skin from scalding sun, with nearly 300,000 units being sold so far in this year, according to one vendor in Yiwu.

Another vendor said the upgraded facekini was one of the best-sellers this year, and the sales volume of the product at his store increased by 30 percent year-on-year.

Data from e-commerce platforms showed that consumers from South China's Guangdong Province, Beijing and East China's Jiangsu Province had purchased the largest volume of sun protective equipment. Sun-blocking jackets, face masks and sleeves saw a 50 percent jump in sales. While the transaction value of sun protective clothing surged by 180 percent year-on-year. 

For the overseas market, demand for cooling appliances has soared recently. An electronic product company in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province received about 200 to 300 queries from foreign clients, CMG reported.

Zhao Xiping, representative of the company said that summer orders are rapidly rising, and the company is currently booked up till the end of August. 

"Current capacity is really tight. We are able to delivery our products in 7-15 days, but now the longest delivery time is prolonged by around 60 days," Zhao said.

Shenzhen customs data showed that exports value of electric fans from Shenzhen reached 13.55 billion yuan, up 27 percent year-on-year so far this year. Exports to the European Union market alone has reached 2.14 billion yuan, up 64 percent year-on-year, the report said.

Global Times