In the wave of economic globalization, Thailand, as a core ASEAN market and "bridgehead" to the global market, has become a key strategic location for Chinese brands' overseas expansion in recent years. Recently, two major home appliance giants, Haier and Hisense, simultaneously announced major developments by making crucial investments in Thailand, bringing new momentum to Chinese home appliance overseas expansion.

**Haier Thailand Chonburi Air Conditioning Industrial Park Commences Production**

On September 23, Haier Thailand Chonburi Air Conditioning Industrial Park officially commenced production. The industrial park has an annual planned capacity of 6 million units, covering multiple categories of air conditioning products, making it the largest air conditioning manufacturing base by Chinese brands in Southeast Asia.

According to Haier, the Haier Thailand Chonburi Air Conditioning Industrial Park achieves comprehensive leadership in scale, capacity, and digitalization. Located in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor, the industrial park covers approximately 324,000 square meters, with planned construction of multiple intelligent production lines and a super-large warehousing and logistics center, forming the largest air conditioning full-chain manufacturing system by Chinese brands in Southeast Asia.

Leveraging Thailand's geographical advantages, the industrial park has the capability to directly supply North American, European, Japanese, and Korean markets, becoming Haier's global air conditioning production capacity and export hub. To date, Haier has established 35 industrial parks and 163 manufacturing centers globally.

The commencement of Haier Thailand Chonburi Air Conditioning Industrial Park represents not only an export of Haier's manufacturing capabilities, but also a comprehensive implementation of technical standards, management models, and brand value, filling regional capacity gaps while providing support for Haier's global growth.

In Southeast Asia, Haier holds the largest overall market share. In Thailand, it ranks first in white goods, freezers, and air conditioners; in Vietnam, first in refrigerators and washing machines; and in Malaysia, first in home air conditioning and freezers.

Zhou Yunjie, Chairman and CEO of Haier Group, stated at the industrial park opening ceremony: "This park is not only an advanced smart factory, but also a globally leading home appliance industrial cluster. We have partnered with 110 suppliers to establish operations here, aiming to create a 'lighthouse' for the Southeast Asian home appliance supply chain."

According to records, Haier entered the Thai market with its own brand in 2002. In 2007, Haier acquired Sanyo Global Home Appliances' refrigerator manufacturing facility in Thailand, establishing its own sales entity Haier Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd., building an integrated base for manufacturing, R&D, and sales, achieving localized development and manufacturing, and accelerating development in Thailand. Data shows that one year later, Haier achieved a 20% market share in Thailand, with order acquisition capabilities surpassing Japanese and Korean refrigerator companies with longer manufacturing histories.

**Hisense Thailand HHA Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park Groundbreaking**

Coincidentally, another home appliance giant from Qingdao recently made a crucial move in the Thai market. The groundbreaking ceremony for Hisense HHA Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park was held at Amata Spring Chonburi Industrial Park in Thailand, marking Hisense's largest overseas industrial park.

Jia Shaoqian, Chairman of Hisense Group, stated in his address that the groundbreaking of HHA Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park marks a new starting point for Hisense's deep cultivation of the ASEAN market and an important milestone in Hisense's globalization journey, carrying the deep friendship of China-Thailand economic and trade cooperation.

Hisense will use HHA Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park as a fulcrum, working with all sectors in Thailand to empower industrial upgrading through technological innovation, deepen cultural integration through localized operations, and promote China-Thailand economic and trade cooperation to new heights through win-win cooperation.

Jia Shaoqian noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic relations, with "China-Thailand family" building a solid bridge for enterprise cooperation. Hisense's choice to establish operations in Thailand's Chonburi Prefecture reflects both appreciation for China-Thailand friendship and recognition of Thailand's geographical advantages. As an ASEAN core, Thailand is backed by a market of nearly 700 million people and, leveraging the Eastern Economic Corridor, can rapidly respond to ASEAN demand and access global market "express lanes."

Since deepening its involvement in the Thai market in 2016, Hisense has not only brought comprehensive product categories but also built production bases and R&D centers, driving local employment and industrial development.

According to information, the HHA Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park project is planned in three phases, scheduled for completion by 2030, with annual production capacity reaching 12 million units and annual output value of 100 billion Thai baht. The first phase involves an investment of 4.7 billion Thai baht, building 110,000 square meters of refrigerator, freezer, and washing machine factories. After full production, annual capacity is expected to reach 2.6 million units with annual output value of 8 billion Thai baht, creating approximately 1,200 local jobs.

**Thailand Becomes Preferred Overseas Destination**

With enormous market potential, superior geographical location, relatively complete industrial supporting facilities, and policy support, Thailand has become a key component of overseas expansion for industry giants represented by Chinese home appliance companies.

Recently, Midea Cooling Equipment Co., Ltd.'s Thailand Ratchaburi factory was selected for the new batch of "Lighthouse Factory" list. Midea's Thailand air conditioning factory, located in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor, covers an area equivalent to 45 standard football fields, with 2025 capacity exceeding 5 million air conditioning units.

In March last year, Midea Smart Manufacturing Thailand Technology Industrial Park broke ground in Thailand's Rayong Province. In Q4 2024, Midea launched its Thailand regional spare parts center in Bangkok.

According to information, Midea currently operates seven major manufacturing bases in Thailand, covering home air conditioning, washing machines, refrigerators, household appliances, microwaves and cleaning appliances, industrial technology and home appliance compressor components, and smart building technology.

The President of Midea Group Asia-Pacific stated that Thailand has become an important manufacturing center in Southeast Asia, and Midea's continued investment in Thailand has made positive contributions to local economic development. Midea has not only created numerous employment opportunities but also established close partnerships locally.

In June this year, TCL Zhijia announced plans to invest 680 million to build a factory in Thailand's Chonburi Prefecture, constructing freezer and refrigerator production lines in two phases. Vanward Electric's Thailand factory Phase I has entered mass production, Phase II began trial production in April, and Phase III is planned to commence production before April 2026.

Analysts believe that Thailand's location in the core of Southeast Asia, as ASEAN's central region, provides unique geographical advantages, efficiently covering the entire Southeast Asian market of over 600 million people, and further extending to South Asia, Oceania, Middle East, and African markets. Establishing production bases and sales centers in Thailand can effectively reduce logistics costs, improve market response speed, and enhance competitiveness in international markets.

Thai official data shows that approximately 2,700 companies invested in Thailand in 2024. As one of the earlier developed and higher-level countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand itself is also an important consumer market. Euromonitor data shows Thailand's 2024 GDP was approximately $526.4 billion, accounting for 13% of ASEAN's GDP weight. Thai statistics indicate that cumulative 2024 Thailand's home appliance market total value reached approximately $2 billion, growing about 5.4% compared to the same period in 2023.

Haier Smart Home's 2025 half-year report shows overseas market revenue grew 11.66% in the first half. Among these, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Middle East & Africa regions grew 32.47%, 18.29%, and 65.42% respectively, becoming important drivers of overseas growth.

Hisense Home Appliances' 2025 half-year report similarly shows overseas revenue grew 12.34% year-over-year in the first half, with revenue growth exceeding 22.7% in Europe, Middle East & Africa regions.

Industry analysts believe that Chinese home appliance overseas expansion has entered a new phase, from single product exports to full industry chain implementation. In the future, as capacity continues to be released and technology localization deepens, the Southeast Asian market is expected to become a new engine for Chinese home appliances' global growth.