RETROFITTING buildings built a decade earlier will create new growth prospects for a "long, long time" in China's commercial air-conditioning market, according to Carrier Corp.

"In the US, 80 percent of the market is retrofit while in China, it's 90 percent or more," said Geraud Darnis, president and CEO of the climate, control and security systems unit at United Technologies Corp (UTC), in an exclusive interview with Shanghai Daily.

"The most important phenomena in China is urbanization. There could be continued growth for our products for a long, long time," he added.

He said China's commercial air-conditioning market may grow 8-9 percent annually and taking retrofitting into account the market could rise 10-15 percent per year. He didn't reveal Carrier's sales in China, but said they grew by double digits.

To explore the retrofitting market, Carrier last year formed a new venture with Shanghai Electric Group to help buildings improve energy efficiency.

UTC owns Carrier, which has a 25-year-old venture with Shanghai Electric in China for commercial air-conditioning, where it is the market leader.

Source:shanghaidaily