As global computing-power infrastructure expands and major energy projects increase, demand for power equipment is surging worldwide. Keeping pace with this surge, China's power-equipment manufacturing industry has established a competitive landscape, thanks to breakthroughs in core technologies and a fully integrated industrial chain.

A fully integrated industrial chain

China has built the world's most complete and efficient transformer industrial chain. This includes upstream copper and silicon-steel smelting, electromagnetic wire processing, core manufacturing and insulation-board production, and further downstream to finished-product assembly, customized design and scenario-based deployment. This deep integration has fostered tightly coordinated industrial clusters with strong economies of scale.

Industry data show that China houses approximately 3,000 transformer manufacturers, accounting for about 60 percent of global production capacity. Furthermore, in 2025, China's transformer exports reached 64.6 billion RMB, up nearly 36 percent year on year. Consequently, China has emerged as the world's largest transformer producer, with independently controllable capabilities across the entire value chain.

'Made in China' gains trust through reliable delivery

Industry insiders say that amid persistent supply-chain constraints in Europe and the United States, China's ability to deliver reliably has become a "lifeline" for international buyers, creating sustained growth opportunities for Chinese manufacturers.

At Jiangsu Yawei Transformer Co., Ltd. in the Yangtze River Delta, China's first domestically produced 345-kilovolt fully insulated ultra-high-voltage, large-capacity transformer rolled off the production line recently, and was shipped off to the United States. The company secured the order in an international tender last April, due to its technical solution, rigorous quality control, and strong delivery capabilities.

To meet rising global demand, companies are also accelerating overseas capacity deployment. Leading transformer manufacturer Eaglerise Electric & Electronic (China) Co., Ltd. has established production facilities in Thailand, the United States and Mexico.

The Mexico plant is expected to reach full capacity by mid-2027, when monthly output of new-energy transformers could exceed 500 units. "Once the Thailand plant reaches full capacity, monthly output of new-energy transformers could reach around 700 units," said a representative of the company.

Technology upgrades driven by computing demand

New demands for power equipment are on the rise, as construction of computing-power centers, data centers and supercomputing clusters accelerate nationwide, alongside the continued rollout of the "East Data, West Computing" initiative.

However, these supercomputing clusters place extremely high requirements on power stability, precision and efficiency. Chen Jianwei, a senior engineer at Shanghai Huadian Minhang Energy Co., Ltd., said that voltage fluctuations exceeding three percent could lead to computing losses, reduced energy efficiency, shortened hardware lifespans, and in extreme cases, the scrapping of chip clusters worth tens of billions of RMB. Meanwhile, large-scale national projects such as UHV transmission and nuclear power are raising the bar for equipment adaptability and reliability.

In response to the simultaneous demands of computing-power and major energy projects, Chinese power-equipment manufacturers are pursuing targeted technological breakthroughs, according to Chen.