Gree Electric Appliances of Zhuhai has become the designated supplier of mini air-cooled refrigeration condensing units for China's  e-commerce giant JD, which is building the world's largest cold chain logistics network.

The two have formed a new strategic partnership to work on a mature cold-chain logistics system consisting of around 2,000 cold rooms across 660 domestic cities.

Dong Mingzhu,  president of Gree, which is the largest air conditioner maker in the world, announced the cooperation via her official WeChat account on Oct 8.

Two models have been selected: the fully enclosed air-cooled condensing unit GNJ-QF3CG/C (C-Series) and direct-current (DC) frequency conversion condensing unit GNJ-QF3CDsJ/NfA. The latter, whose design is based on the former, uses green refrigerant R404A and is used to store food at -25 to 20 degrees Celsius.

Gree condensing units [Photo provided by Gree]

Beijing-based JD is one of the earliest e-commerce companies to deliver fresh produce, taking advantage of a broad market gap.

Statistics show  that China's fresh products market has maintained an average annual growth rate of more than 50 percent while the transaction volume rose year-on-year by 59.7 percent to reach 139 billion yuan ($21.8  billion) in 2017.

JD has decided to extend its cold chain network beyond China, which could connect millions of Chinese  consumers to the high-quality perishables it sources from around the globe. According to a JD  manager, Gree's products will help achieve this goal with even lower costs, higher efficiency, and  enhanced storage capacity.

Based in Qianshan of Xiangzhou District, State-owned Gree is a major innovative force in China. The company released its first smartphone in March 2015 as part of a strategy to enter the smart  home market and Internet of Things sphere.

Gree's newest TD-LTE smart phone (model: G0345D) recently obtained a network access license from the Ministry of Industry  & Information Technology. The 5.99-inch full-screen cell phone has dual cameras on its back plus uses fingerprint recognition software. It operates an Android system and allows dual SIM cards.

Dual-camera phone [Photo courtesy Zhuhai Daily]