Washing the dishes each day can be a tedious chore for many Chinese, especially plates heavy with greasy stains.

For them, a China-made dishwasher is the perfect answer to free up time and bring happiness.

"I bought a dishwasher when I decorated my new home. The dishes are clean after washing, and it saves time for me to do other things," said Wu Peng, an office worker from Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Sonof Arthritis, a consumer from the United States, bought a dishwasher made by Ningbo, Zhejiang province-based kitchen appliances maker Fotile.

"The Fotile 2-in-1 sink dishwasher holds a day's worth of dishes. Most days, I prefer the 20-minute cycle that only uses 2 gallons of water. Everything is clean and dry when finished," he said.

In 2023, China exported 5.8 million units of dishwashers and sold 1.94 million at home, according to data from the General Administration of Customs and home appliances consultancy All View Cloud.

Better life

While people across the world seek a better quality of life, China's 494.16 million families have various needs according to their diversified lifestyles.

"Personalized cleaning solutions are a must," said Zhou Chengxiong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The needs vary for a newly married couple, a pregnant mother, a couple with children, three generations living under one roof, and a well-to-do household, he said.

A study by Zhou showed that it may take a Chinese family an hour and a half to wash dishes, brush pots and clean the table each day, and as the variety of cuisine goes up, the time spent on washing dishes and pots may be longer.

"Washing dishes could take up three years of one's lifetime," Zhou said.

According to a survey among modern households in the United States, 80 percent of households wash dishes at least once a day, with an average of 23 minutes spent on dishwashing, Zhou said. And, 22 percent of the people surveyed think that washing dishes is one of their least favorite domestic jobs.

"As people around the world seek a more comfortable life, dishwashers can be a great help," Zhou said, adding that the number of households with dishwashers has doubled in the US in recent years.

More functions

A growing number of people buy dishwashers because they can clean dishes better, save energy, and are environmentally friendly and intelligent, said Zhou.

The cleaning efficacy of Chinese dishwashers is growing steadily, he said.

Zhou noted that Chinese dishwasher makers are gaining more patents for the cleaning function of their dishwashers, with Fotile (with 790 patents), Shandong province-based Qingdao Haier Dishwasher and Guangdong province-based Midea Washing Appliance Manufacturing Co among the top.

Amid a trend of green and low-carbon development, green environmental protection technologies such as energy saving and water saving have become the key factors when consumers choose dishwashers, he said.

In China, Fotile, Haier and Midea are the top three patent holders in this field.

Wisdom Bud Database showed that by end-February there were 1,930 authorized patents in China for dishwashers' intelligent technology, accounting for 15.6 percent of all authorized patents on dishwashers in China. Since 2019, the number of such patents has been climbing steadily year-on-year.