In response to electricity shortages, China announced a new set of minimum energy-efficiency standards for room air conditioners (RACs), with the first tier going into effect on March 1, 2005 and the second tier taking effect on January 1, 2009. This paper first reviews the requirements of the new Chinese standards for air conditioners and compares them to similar standards in other countries. It then presents results from an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of the standards and the impact of the new standards on energy savings, electric generation capacity, and CO2 emissions reductions. China's recent efforts to regulate the efficiency of RACs will yield significant consumer economic savings as well as avoided construction of a large number of power plants and avoided emissions of GHG and other local pollutants. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.