China's air conditioner market will recover this year after shrinking for ten consecutive quarters since the third quarter in 2018, according to an industrial report.

The number of air conditioners sold in the domestic market is expected to grow 11.1 percent year on year to 57.33 million in 2021 and further expand to 59.7 million in 2022, said a report jointly published by the GFK and China Market Monitor Co. Ltd.

Total retail sales value will reach 187.3 billion yuan (about 29.09 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 19.5 percent year on year, data from the report showed.

The report has attributed the expansion of China's air conditioner market to the low base of 2020 and the pent-up demand after the country's economic recovery from the impact of the epidemic.

In 2020, the number of air conditioners sold in the domestic market totaled 51.62 million, down 16.5 percent year on year, and the total retail sales value plunged 22 percent year on year to 156.8 billion yuan during the period, data from the report showed.