In recent years, China’s transformer industry has achieved leapfrog development, from a "large manufacturing country" to a "strong technology country". According to customs data, the total export value of China’s transformers reached 64.6 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of nearly 36%, and the average price per unit rose to 205,000 yuan, realizing a "volume and price increase" trend, which fully demonstrates the increasing influence of Chinese transformers in the global market. Today, China accounts for 60% of the global transformer production capacity, becoming the main force of global transformer supply. Closely following the global development trend, Chinese transformers are at the forefront of the industry, closely following the global development trend and leading the upgrading of product technology.
The development trend of China’s transformer industry is mainly reflected in three aspects. First, intelligent upgrading: With the acceleration of the global smart grid construction and the boom of AI data centers, intelligent transformers have become the mainstream of the market. A single AI data center with 100,000 chips requires 70 megawatts of power, which relies heavily on high-performance transformers. Chinese transformers have taken the lead in equipping with online monitoring systems, which can real-time collect 12 types of parameters such as partial discharge and oil chromatography, and realize remote monitoring, fault early warning and life prediction through the cloud platform. The digital twin transformer independently developed has a fault early warning accuracy of up to 92%, which greatly reduces the maintenance cost of users and ensures the stable operation of power supply systems.
Second, environmental protection and low-carbonization: In response to the EU’s 2025 "Transformer Ecological Design Directive" and the global demand for carbon neutrality, Chinese transformers have vigorously promoted environmentally friendly transformers. The plant oil-insulated (natural ester) transformers developed have a flash point of more than 300℃ (only 160℃ for mineral oil) and a biodegradation rate of more than 97% in 21 days, which is non-toxic and pollution-free. These transformers can be widely used in environmentally sensitive areas such as urban underground substations and data centers, and even do not require sprinkler systems when installed indoors according to the US NEC standard. At the same time, Chinese transformers actively respond to the "full life cycle management" requirement, and are committed to the recycling and reuse of waste transformers, practicing the concept of green development.
Third, customization and specialization: Facing the diversified needs of different overseas markets and the booming new energy industry, Chinese transformers provide customized solutions according to the actual needs of users. For photovoltaic power stations, inverter-booster integrated transformers are developed to cope with harmonic interference; for offshore wind power, epoxy resin vacuum casting technology is adopted to solve the problem of salt spray corrosion; for AI data centers with huge power demand, compact transformers that occupy 1/3 of the space of traditional equipment are developed, which perfectly matches the high-density power supply needs of data centers. These customized products have been widely recognized in global new energy projects, helping users improve power transmission efficiency and reduce project costs.
Industry experts pointed out that China’s transformer industry has formed a complete industrial chain covering raw materials, components, R&D, production and after-sales service, which is the core advantage of China’s transformers in the global market. With the continuous upgrading of technology, Chinese transformers will further seize the global market share.
