French/Chinese joint venture to produce R290 heat pumps
29th September 2026
FRANCE: Chinese heat pump manufacturer Axen has commenced production in France in a joint venture with French heating company Perge.
The joint venture – Perge Axen Co (PAC) – was created at the end of April as a simplified joint-stock company.
GZ Axen Heat Pump Technology was founded in 2006 in Guangzhou, China. Perge is a family-owned French boiler and heating manufacturer founded in 1971 and headquartered in Portes-lès-Valence, south of Lyon. The company specialises in individual residential heating systems, particularly biomass (log and pellet), oil, and hybrid boilers.
Production under the joint venture has been accommodated at Perge’s factory in Portes-lès-Valence, with the first R290 heat pump assembly line now fully commissioned.
The capacity of the line has not been revealed but it will produce a range of R290 monobloc air-to-water heat pumps from 4kW to 16kW in both single-phase and three-phase versions.
