(Yicai Global) June 10 -- Gree Electric, one of China's early home appliance giants, has taken the new air-con champion Aux Group in its crosshairs by reporting the latter to authorities after claiming that Aux equipment burn more energy than expected.

Gree tested some of Aux's air-con models and found out that some of them are not as energy-efficient as advertised, the Zhuhai-based firm said on its Twitter-like Weibo account today, gaining over 4 million views. The tests were confirmed by a third-party agency, it added.

Aux sold CNY3.7 billion (USD542 million) worth of air-conditioners last year, ranking first, according to industrial information website Chyxx.Com. The Ningbo-headquartered firm increased its air-con sales by more than one half in the first quarter of this year, while Gree's sales rose by 3 percent.

Aux must be held criminally responsible if its practices constitute a crime of manufacturing or selling counterfeit or inferior products, Gree's statement added.

The beef between the two firms started already before this. Aux lost a patent infringement lawsuit against Gree on April 24 and was ordered to stop producing eight air-con models, as well as compensate Gree CNY40 million (USD5.8 million) for its financial loss.

Gree's operating income rose 2 percent from the previous year to CNY41 billion in the first quarter, the firm's earnings show. Its net profit climbed 56 percent to CNY5.7 billion.

Gree's [SHE: 000651] stock price closed 0.8 percent higher at CNY53 (USD7.65) today.

Editor: Emmi Laine