From the perspective of technology, when China's power system was still struggling with urban power rationing in the 1980s, who could have imagined forty years later, domestically produced transformers would become the "heart" of global AI computing centers?
The rise of China's transformer industry began with a "stranglehold". In the early 2000s, when international giants like Siemens monopolized ±800kV DC transformer technology, domestic manufacturers even relied on imports for the insulation of 500kV transformers. The turning point came in 2006, when TBEA successfully developed the world's first ±800kV ultrahigh voltage DC converter transformer. This breakthrough not only broke the foreign technological monopoly but also allowed China to master the core technological discourse in power grid construction.
Today, China has built the world's most complete transformer production system. Cai Yiqing, Secretary-General of the Electric Power Equipment Branch of the China Council, stated: "Our country's transformer production capacity accounts for about 60% of the global total, possessing the hard strength of a fully independent and controllable entire chain." Data shows that there are about 3,000 enterprises in China's transformer industry, and the total export value in 2025 reached 6.6 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 36% compared to 2024.
The explosive of global AI computing power centers has upgraded transformers from traditional power equipment to the core of computing power infrastructure. In the US market, the delivery cycle for transformers has been extended from50 weeks to 127 weeks, while the delivery efficiency of Chinese enterprises is more than five times faster than that of Europe and the US
Behind this efficiency advantage lies China's complete industrial chain layout. From upstream silicon steel and copper materials to core insulation materials and electromagnetic wires, and finally to assembly and testing, China's transformer industry has achieved full-chain independent control. Driven by the national "East Data, West Computing" project, domestic transformer technology continues to iterate, with products such as solid-state transformers and high-frequency transformers constantly emerging to meet the high-standard demands of new energy integration and AI computing centers.