Ronshen’s own history describes the brand as originating in 1983, while its official timeline identifies 1984 as the year the refrigerator factory was formally established and began mass production of Ronshen refrigerators.[1] The apparent difference is therefore largely a distinction between the brand/company’s founding period and the formal establishment of the production operation.[1]

Origins in Shunde

Ronshen emerged in Shunde, an important manufacturing center in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta. Its development coincided with China’s economic reforms and the emergence of a domestic consumer-appliance industry.

According to Ronshen’s own historical account, the company’s early founders produced a double-door, dual-temperature refrigerator, which the company describes as China’s first domestically produced refrigerator of this type. The company says the early prototype was produced with approximately RMB 90,000 in trial-production funds.[1]

In 1984, the operation was formally established as Guangdong Shunde Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory (广东省顺德珠江冰箱厂), later becoming associated with the Ronshen name as production expanded.

This period established an important characteristic of the brand: refrigeration was Ronshen’s core business from the beginning, rather than refrigeration being one category among many unrelated consumer products.

Rise of the Ronshen Brand

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Ronshen became one of China’s most prominent refrigerator manufacturers.

The company adopted the famous Chinese advertising slogan:

“容声容声，质量保证”

meaning approximately “Ronshen, quality guaranteed.”

The slogan became strongly associated with the brand’s emphasis on reliability and durability. Ronshen’s own historical material describes quality as one of the company’s fundamental principles during this period.[1]

By 1991, Ronshen refrigerators had reached the number-one position in China’s refrigerator sales, according to the company’s official history, and the brand says it maintained the position for nine consecutive years.[1]

This made Ronshen one of the defining Chinese refrigerator brands of the 1990s.

Environmental and Energy-Efficiency Development

One of Ronshen’s most significant areas of technological development was energy efficiency and environmentally friendly refrigeration.

During the 1990s, the company worked on replacing CFC-based refrigerants and developing more environmentally friendly refrigeration technology. Ronshen’s historical materials state that its CFC-replacement work received support through the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund and that its all-CFC-free energy-saving refrigerator received a National Science and Technology Progress Award.

Ronshen subsequently developed a reputation around:

• Energy-efficient refrigerators
• Environmentally friendly refrigerants
• Refrigeration efficiency
• Food-preservation technology
• Low-energy household appliances

The company also received recognition in international energy-efficiency programs, including an energy-saving award associated with the United Nations Development Programme and Global Environment Facility.

This environmental emphasis became an important part of Ronshen’s identity during the 1990s and 2000s.

Relationship with Kelon and Hisense

The corporate history of Ronshen is somewhat complicated because the brand became part of the broader Kelon/Hisense corporate structure.

Ronshen was historically associated with Kelon Electrical Holdings, another major Shunde-based Chinese appliance company. Kelon operated the Ronshen refrigerator brand alongside the Kelon brand.

In 2006, Hisense successfully acquired Kelon, bringing Ronshen into the Hisense corporate family. Hisense’s own corporate history records the acquisition of Kelon in 2006.

As a result, the corporate relationship can be simplified as:

Ronshen → Kelon group → Hisense

Importantly, Ronshen is not simply another name for Hisense. It remains a distinct consumer brand within Hisense’s multi-brand strategy.

Hisense Home Appliances currently describes its refrigeration business as operating a dual-brand strategy involving Hisense and Ronshen, with Ronshen positioned around areas such as freshness preservation and refrigeration technology.

Ronshen has historically concentrated heavily on refrigeration products.

Its current official website primarily presents:[1]

• Refrigerators
• Freezers
• Refrigeration technologies
• Food-preservation systems
• Health-oriented storage technologies
• Smart refrigerator products

Unlike some Chinese appliance groups that use one master brand across televisions, phones, refrigerators, washing machines and other categories, Ronshen’s strongest historical identity is as a refrigerator specialist.

This specialization is one of the reasons the name has remained recognizable in China’s refrigerator market.

“Freshness Preservation” as a Brand Identity

In recent years, Ronshen has increasingly shifted its positioning from simply “making refrigerators” toward “preserving food freshness and health.”

The Chinese concept the company uses is “养鲜” (yǎngxiān).

This is slightly different from the ordinary idea of refrigeration. Instead of merely keeping food cold, “养鲜” is used by Ronshen to describe technologies intended to maintain food quality, freshness and nutritional characteristics for longer periods.

The company’s current positioning emphasizes three major areas:

• Freshness preservation
• Health
• Environmental responsibility

Ronshen says it has increasingly developed technologies and products around these areas as consumer expectations for refrigerators have evolved.[1]

Major Technology and Product Development

Ronshen’s historical claims include several notable milestones in China’s refrigerator industry.

The company identifies itself as having developed or introduced products including:

• A Chinese double-door, dual-temperature refrigerator
• An early CFC-free environmentally friendly refrigerator
• A power-outage preservation refrigerator
• Hybrid direct-cooling and air-cooling technology
• Early frost-free / air-cooled refrigerators
• Energy-efficient refrigerator systems
• Food-preservation technologies
• Smart freshness-preservation systems

Some of these claims are company-provided historical claims rather than independently adjudicated industry records, so they are best understood as part of Ronshen’s official corporate history rather than as universally established historical facts.

WILL Technology

One of Ronshen’s more recent product platforms is its WILL series.

WILL is associated with Ronshen’s concept of active freshness preservation, rather than simple cold storage.

The company describes its WILL technology as incorporating elements such as water, light and ions into a natural-freshness system designed to create an environment that helps maintain the condition of fresh food.

The newer generation of Ronshen refrigerators therefore tends to combine:

Refrigeration + freshness preservation + air purification + intelligent controls + integrated/embedded design.

This represents a shift from the brand’s older reputation for simple, durable refrigerators toward a more technology-oriented premium appliance proposition.

Modern Brand Repositioning

Around its 40th anniversary, Ronshen undertook a significant brand refresh.

The company established the positioning:

“品质容声，健康养鲜”

which can be translated as:

“Quality Ronshen, healthy freshness preservation.”

It also articulated a vision centered on being a professional refrigerator brand that understands the needs of Chinese households.[1]

The current brand philosophy emphasizes:

Quality → Technology → Freshness → Health → Better living

rather than focusing exclusively on price or basic refrigeration performance.

Today, Ronshen occupies a particular position within the Hisense Home Appliances portfolio.

Hisense uses a multi-brand strategy rather than forcing every appliance into one brand. Its current brand portfolio includes:

• Hisense
• Ronshen
• KELON
• HITACHI
• YORK
• gorenje
• ASKO
• SANDEN

Within this portfolio, Ronshen is particularly associated with refrigerators and freezers, while other brands address different consumer segments and product categories.

Hisense’s 2025 annual-report materials specifically describe Ronshen as one of its principal refrigerator brands and identify freshness preservation, health and embedded refrigerator design as major areas of development.

Ronshen is best understood as a long-established Chinese mass-market-to-mid/high-end refrigeration brand, rather than as a luxury appliance label.

Its competitive identity has historically been based on:

• Long experience in refrigeration
• Large-scale manufacturing
• Reliability and durability
• Energy efficiency
• Food-preservation technology
• Understanding of Chinese household usage
• Relatively strong value for money

The brand has also benefited from being part of the larger Hisense appliance ecosystem, giving it access to broader manufacturing, research, supply-chain and distribution capabilities.

Ronshen’s historical evolution can roughly be divided into several stages:

1. 1980s — Manufacturing

The priority was establishing China’s domestic refrigerator manufacturing capability.

2. 1990s — Quality

Ronshen built its reputation around reliability, durability and the slogan “质量保证” (“quality guaranteed”).

3. 1990s–2000s — Energy & Environment

The company increasingly emphasized energy conservation and environmentally friendly refrigeration.

4. 2000s–2010s — Innovation

Ronshen developed new refrigeration and food-preservation technologies and expanded its product design.

5. 2020s — Freshness & Health

The brand increasingly positions the refrigerator as a food-health and freshness-management system, represented by technologies such as WILL.

This evolution is consistent with Ronshen’s own description of its transition from “quality assurance” toward quality, innovation and healthy freshness preservation.[1]

A simplified corporate lineage is:

Ronshen / 容声
│
▼
Ronshen refrigerator business
│
▼
Kelon / Hisense Kelon
│
▼
Hisense acquisition of Kelon
│
▼
Hisense Home Appliances / Hisense Group
│
├── Hisense
├── Ronshen
├── KELON
├── HITACHI
├── gorenje
├── ASKO
├── YORK
└── SANDEN

Hisense’s corporate materials explicitly identify Ronshen as one of the brands belonging to its broader group, while Hisense Home Appliances describes Ronshen as part of its current multi-brand appliance strategy.

As of 2026, Ronshen remains primarily a refrigeration-focused Chinese appliance brand under Hisense.

Its current product and brand communications place considerable emphasis on:

• Large-capacity refrigerators
• Fresh-food preservation
• Intelligent refrigeration
• Air purification
• Built-in/flush refrigerator design
• Energy efficiency
• Chinese household food-storage habits
• Health-oriented food preservation

Recent Ronshen products include the WILL range and newer large-capacity refrigeration products such as the “Big Elephant” (大冰象) series, which the company has positioned around the storage requirements of Chinese households.

Ronshen is significant in the history of China’s consumer-electronics industry because its story closely parallels the development of the country’s domestic home-appliance sector.

It began during the early reform era when Chinese manufacturers were moving from relatively small-scale production toward mass-market consumer appliances. It subsequently became one of the country’s major refrigerator brands, helped popularize domestically manufactured double-door refrigerators, competed heavily on quality and energy efficiency, and eventually became part of one of China’s largest appliance groups.

In that sense, Ronshen is more than simply a refrigerator brand. It represents one of the early generations of Chinese consumer-appliance companies that transitioned from manufacturing imitation and scale to quality competition, technological innovation, and modern smart appliances.

1. 容声官方网站