UNIDO When WANG Lei graduated from university, her first job was an engineer in an air-conditioner factory. At that time, there were less than 20 air-conditioner factories in China, each producing a few thousand units a year. Some thirty years on, China is the global leader in the production of air-conditioning appliances, producing around 70% of the nearly two billion room air-conditioners installed worldwide each year. Today, China has one of the world’s fastest growing domestic markets for air-conditioners. From 2000 to 2020, energy demand for space cooling in Chinese buildings increased on average by 13% each year – the fastest recorded growth in world history.