You know things are bad when the chairwoman starts livestreaming pitches for a company’s products. As demand for air conditioners slumped in China, Dong Mingzhu of Gree Electric Appliances popped up on platforms ranging from Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — to ecommerce giant JD.com. It was a signal to sell the shares rather than buy a cooling unit.

Manufacturers such as Gree and rival Midea have been hit hard by the pandemic. They sell their products mostly through bricks-and-mortar stores, which were closed for months. When these reopened, consumers still stayed away. Many fear the units increase infection risks, by spreading contaminated air or simply through home visits by installation engineers.

Gree expects a rough first half. Net profit at China’s biggest manufacturer of air conditioners is forecast to fall about 50 per cent to around Rmb6.3bn ($900m). This follows a decline of nearly three-quarters in the first quarter.