(Yicai Global) July 19 -- Chinese soybean milk machine maker Joyoung has recently hiked its stake in the China arm of US household cleaning product maker Shark Ninja to 100 percent and has launched a new range of floor cleaners to gain a better foothold in this rapidly growing sector.

Joyoung has brought out its own brand of floor washing machines and is using the dual brands of Joyoung and Shark for its cleaning products, the Jinan, eastern Shandong province-based company said yesterday.

Joyoung acquired a 51 percent stake in Shark’s China business in 2018 for CNY12.4 million (USD1.8 million), paving the way for the US brand to enter China. On June 30, Joyoung bought out the other shareholder to hold 100 percent equity, according to the business information inquiry platform.

Sales of kitchen appliances in China have been tumbling. Last year, shipments of 12 types of standard products sank 13.5 percent to 237 million units and the transaction value slumped 14.1 percent to CNY51.4 billion (USD7.6 billion), according to All View Cloud data.

By contrast, floor cleaners are in hot demand and new models are coming out fast. Last year, sales of floor washers that can vacuum, mop and self-clean more than quadrupled from the previous year.

Another Chinese company, Xinbao Electrical Appliances, has similarly acquired UK electrical appliance maker Morphy Richards and has also launched floor washing machines.

Emerging household products such as Shark’s cleaning appliances and Morphy Richard’s multi-functional pots are attracting a lot of market attention and there is potential for a big increase in capitalization, Wen Jianping, chairman of Aowei Cloud Network, told Yicai Global.