Recently, the CCTV Financial Channel’s Economic Half Hour aired Confidence and Resilience: On-site Investigation of China’s Top Ten Foreign Trade Industries (II), focusing on how Dongguan enterprises innovate and transform during their “going global” journey, shifting toward “multipolar resonance” to address changes in foreign trade exports. The program highlighted how Air Guard Purification Technology Group is exploring new foreign trade outlets through overseas factories.
▲Rendering of Air Guard Purification Technology Group Industrial Park
In the program, at the headquarters of Air Guard Purification Technology Group in Dongguan (referred to as “Air Guard”), Chairman Zhang Wu and his sales team were discussing solutions for adding filters to new energy vehicles with Japanese clients via a video conference. Meanwhile, 1,500 kilometers away in the Chonburi Industrial Zone, Thailand, workers at Air Guard’s Thai production base had already started their daily work, and quality inspectors were conducting final inspections on car air conditioning filters ready for packaging.
▲Screenshot from CCTV Financial Channel’s Economic Half Hour
To cope with the complex international economic and trade environment, Air Guard has been attempting to build overseas factories to explore new paths. It has established a solid framework comprising three production bases in Dongguan (Guangdong), Suqian (Jiangsu), and Chonburi (Thailand), as well as two R&D centers in Dongguan Headquarters and Chicago (the U.S.). The company is also actively preparing to establish a distribution center in Japan to further expand its global footprint. Among these, Air Guard’s Thai factory mainly produces car air conditioning filters and has now entered mass production. The reasons for choosing to build a factory in Thailand include local market demand, collaboration with upstream and downstream supply chains, and the need to avoid international trade barriers.
▲Screenshot from CCTV Financial Channel’s Economic Half Hour
Today, by opening up new markets, Air Guard has seen a significant increase in orders over the past three years. In 2024, the company’s total revenue reached 300 million yuan. Under the reconstruction of its market landscape, it is shifting from past “unipolar dependence” to “multipolar resonance.” “We have intensified efforts to develop the domestic market in recent years, and it now accounts for about 30% of our business. We have strived to minimize the disadvantages of a single market, so this trade war has not had a significant impact on us,” Zhang Wu said in an interview.
▲CNAS-Accredited Laboratory of the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment
Air Guard is a technology-driven manufacturing enterprise integrating design, R&D, production, and sales of car air conditioning filters, building HVAC air purification filters, consumer appliance air purification filters, and rail transit environment filters. Its products are exported to many countries and regions, including Europe, America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. As of December 2024, it has delivered over 86 million sets of air purification filter products to global partners, which meet performance standards for different industries. In 2024, the Liuwu Smart Manufacturing Center project of Air Guard Purification Technology Group Industrial Park was launched. The industrial park has a total construction area of 50,000 square meters and is expected to officially start operation in September this year. By then, it will become the core hub of Air Guard’s global strategy, undertaking the important functions of the group headquarters and core R&D base.