The CRH 2025 Trade Show provided an excellent platform to meet leading figures from the global RACHP industry and to experience their shared commitment to achieving a lower-emission future. Key themes included efficiency, the move away from combustion, the use of low-GWP refrigerants, and energy storage.

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A major new topic was the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in addressing inefficiencies and complexity through big data analysis, enabled by collecting operational data, consumption figures, and defects via IoT. At the CRH 2025 Forum, Professor Zongben Xu emphasized the importance of creating an “industry proprietary” database to provide a strong foundation for AI training.

ASERCOM’s contribution to the Forum, delivered by President Marco Masini, received high appreciation. His presentation highlighted the opportunities and challenges related to the extensive adoption of very low-GWP (“natural”) refrigerants, addressing critical issues such as flammability, high pressures, and efficiency within existing standards. He also provided an overview of European legislation paving the way for technological transition.

Our host association, CRA, praised the ASERCOM presentation for offering the market essential insights into safety, efficiency, and long-term product responsibility in this new era of refrigeration technology.

Further meetings during the first day focused on fostering a commitment to developing common standards — at ISO level for product performance and at IEC level for product safety. There is a strong will to work together globally to define a new, broader standardization landscape that can support all aspects of product development.

ASERCOM is recognized as a highly respected and authoritative association, thanks to its longstanding global cooperation and the strong engagement of its member companies in international markets and standardization processes.

A proposal was also discussed to review the structure of ISO/TC86, with a particular focus on establishing more subcommittees to address components beyond compressors — still the heart of RACHP equipment — to further improve system efficiency.

ASERCOM Members to Lead the Way

Trade shows are often a neutral stage to assess the overall health of an industry — and at CRH 2025, ASERCOM members clearly demonstrated their leadership in shaping a safe and future-ready RACHP sector.

The Chinese RACHP market is proving to be dynamic and globally significant, with strong international presence, scale, and engagement. We observed genuine momentum in product innovation, solution-oriented thinking, and a clear alignment with the sustainability goals of the UN Agenda. Encouragingly, many young engineers and technicians are showing growing interest in our industry — and ASERCOM members are ready to share their expertise to support a low-carbon, globally safe market.

“Having production facilities in China could truly benefit both local and EU operations,” noted one ASERCOM Board member. Another added: “Sharing our knowledge on safety and fair performance measurement is the best way to foster global progress. These issues aren’t about competition — they’re about building a strong and fair market.”

ASERCOM received valuable feedback on its CRH 2025 Forum contribution from key figures such as Professor Xianting Li, Vice President of the Chinese Association of Refrigeration (CAR): “The information about policies and progress in Europe benefits many manufacturers with connections to the European market — and also supports Chinese practitioners. China aims for carbon neutrality by 2060, and refrigerant-related emissions play a major role. We hope for continued exchange with ASERCOM on natural refrigerants and broader decarbonization efforts.”

As a technical association, ASERCOM communicates globally through standards and performance. In this spirit, the association was invited by Chinese leadership within ISO/TC86/SC4 to explore a restructuring of the group — particularly the creation of new subcommittees focusing on RACHP components beyond compressors.

ASERCOM President Marco Masini welcomed this initiative: “Expanding the scope at ISO level to include more products and components could drive manufacturers toward product excellence and promote fairness in the global market.”

ASERCOM’s Standardization Working Group will continue to follow and support this development closely. The Secretariat of SC4 has also expressed interest in further collaboration: “We would greatly appreciate ASERCOM’s participation. Your input would be highly valuable as we review proposals for new work items and subcommittees in our May conference.”

Beyond the forum, CRH 2025 offered many fruitful meetings — with long-standing partners such as AHRI, as well as associations and manufacturers from Korea, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Macau, and beyond — all showing strong interest in closer cooperation with Europe.

CRH once again proved to be an essential event for our industry — and one we won’t want to miss in the years to come.