Beijing's top air-conditioner brand stopped production in peak summer

Beijing Guqiao Electric entered air conditioning in the late 1970s and built a Japanese-imported production line in the mid-1980s. By 1988 it produced over 300,000 units a year and held more than half the Beijing market. Its 60,000-square-metre site ran over ten assembly lines across five product series, and its repair outlets reached into the city's hutongs. For a generation of Beijing residents, 'Guqiao' was synonymous with air conditioning.

In 1995 management attempted to bring in foreign capital and restructure. Employee placement and union coordination stalled the process for three years, and the window closed. Private competitors — Gree, Midea, Chunlan — invested in inverter technology and energy-efficient models while Guqiao kept its ageing lines. China's AC industry produced 30 million units a year against domestic demand of 13 to 15 million; in the resulting price war, a high-cost state enterprise could not compete.

A May 2003 joint venture with a Thai partner, planned at $5.24 million to rebuild capacity to 500,000 then one million units, ended without result. By 2002 the company carried tens of millions of yuan in debt and its factories were idle. In July 2004, in the peak cooling season, parent company Beijing Longda Holdings confirmed that Guqiao had fully stopped production. Of 19 models in the catalogue, 18 were out of stock. The brand disappeared after Longda's overall restructuring.