Industry Overview
1. Definition
According to relevant international regulations, wires and cables are defined as "wire products used for transmitting electrical (magnetic) energy information and achieving electromagnetic energy conversion." Products with a simple structure, no outer sheath and a smaller outer diameter are generally called wires, while those with a complex structure, a sturdy and sealed outer sheath and a larger outer diameter are called cables.
Wire and cable products are essential supporting products in an electrified and information-based society. They are widely used in all aspects of power production, transmission and application, such as power generation, power transmission and distribution, and terminal power consumption, and are closely related to the development of the national economy and People's Daily lives. Wires and cables can be classified into five major categories based on their uses: power cables, communication cables, wires and cables for electrical equipment, bare wires, and winding wires.
2. Industrial chain analysis: The downstream applications are relatively extensive
At present, the industrial chain of China's wire and cable industry is relatively mature. The upstream industries mainly include the basic materials industry that provides raw materials for manufacturing wire and cable products and the rubber industry that manufactures cross-linked insulation sleeves and sheaths, such as the copper, aluminum and their alloys, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride chemical industry, etc. The midstream includes wire and cable manufacturing enterprises that provide power cables, communication cables, electrical equipment cables, bare wires, winding wires and other types of cables. The downstream mainly consists of industries that have a demand for wires and cables, such as construction machinery, the communication industry, the power industry, petrochemicals, and the construction industry, etc.
From the perspective of enterprises, upstream suppliers of copper, aluminum and their alloys provide the main constituent materials for the wire and cable industry. Major enterprises include Tongling Nonferrous Metals, Chujiang New Materials, Hailiang Co., LTD., etc. In the midstream wire and cable manufacturing industry, the main enterprises manufacturing power cables include TBEA and Qingdao Hanlan, etc. The main enterprises manufacturing communication cables include Zhongtian Technology, Hengtong Group, etc. The main enterprises manufacturing cables for electrical equipment include Jinbei Electric and Hangzhou Electric Cable, etc. The main enterprises manufacturing bare wires and winding wires include Jingda Co., Ltd. and Yuancheng Co., LTD.
3. Industry development history: Both supply and demand have achieved high competitiveness internationally
From the comparison of the development history of the global and Chinese wire and cable industry, it can be seen that the global wire and cable industry started earlier. Moreover, in foreign countries, different conductive materials were used for cable transmission. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that power cables and communication cables gradually became mainstream. Although China's wire and cable industry started relatively late, due to the country's emphasis on wire and cable production, it began to develop rapidly in the 1950s. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Shenyang Cable Factory (aided by the Soviet Union) was established in 1954 and officially put into production in 1956. The production of wires and cables in China started from scratch. Since the 1960s, China has carried out a large amount of work in the production and research of conductors, and has produced electrical aluminum conductors. In the late 1980s, the output value of the wire and cable industry accounted for 0.88% of the national economic output value. By 1998, the output value of wires and cables in China accounted for 1% of the total national economic output, reflecting that it still has strong vitality.
Since the 1990s, China's wire and cable industry has witnessed rapid development, and China has become the world's second-largest producer of wire and cable after the United States. In 2011, the scale of China's wire and cable industry surpassed that of the United States for the first time, making China the world's largest market for the wire and cable industry. Subsequently, with the rapid development of China's wire and cable market, the industry has entered a mature stage.
4. Industry policy direction: Promote high-quality development of the industry
In recent years, various government departments have issued a series of policies and regulations to promote the healthy and rapid development of the domestic wire and cable industry. The "Guiding Opinions on the Development of China's Wire and Cable Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period" points out that research and development of related equipment such as high-end electrical steel low-loss transformers, thermoplastic environmentally friendly cable materials, and new low-greenhouse effect environmentally friendly insulating gases should be carried out to promote industrial upgrading and facilitate high-quality development of the industry. The Outline for Building a Quality Strong Country proposes that quality supervision of building materials, including wires and cables, should be strengthened, and the intensity of quality supervision and random inspection of key building materials such as wires and cables should be increased to standardize the development of the industry.
Current State of Industry Development
1.There are a large number of domestic wire and cable enterprises
There are a large number of enterprises in China's wire and cable industry, among which small and medium-sized enterprises are the majority. According to the Chinese enterprise database Qichamao, as of March 31, 2025, there were a total of 21,862 major enterprises in China's wire and cable industry. Among them, 2021 was the main registration boom year, with 2,031 enterprises registered that year. As of March 31, 2025, 187 enterprises have been registered.
Note: The screening logic industry classification belongs to the national economic classification of "Wire and Cable Manufacturing". National standard code: C3831.
2. In recent years, power cables have seen a recovery
Data from the "China Industrial Statistical Yearbook" over the years show that from 2011 to 2015, the output of power cable products across the country increased year by year. In 2016, with the elimination of backward production capacity in the industry and the continuous shift of products towards high-end ones, the national output of power cables dropped significantly to 46.3539 million kilometers, a year-on-year decrease of 17%. From 2017 to 2020, the output of power cable products across the country rebounded somewhat, but the growth rate was relatively small. In 2021, the national output of power cable products was 67.0013 million kilometers, increasing by 27.8% year-on-year, reaching the highest level in recent years. In 2022, the output of power cable products in China dropped back to 64.8879 million kilometers. Based on the statistical data of previous years and market changes, it is preliminarily estimated that the national output of power cable products in 2024 will be approximately 69.7 million kilometers.
Note: Each edition of the "China Industrial Statistical Yearbook" publishes the output of major industrial products of the previous year. As the 2018 and 2019 editions of the "China Industrial Statistical Yearbook" have not been published yet, the data for 2017 is based on the "China Machinery Industry Yearbook 2018". As of March 31, 2025, the data for 2023-2024 has not been disclosed yet. Here are the forward-looking estimated data.
3. The market size has grown steadily, but the growth rate has slowed down in recent years
In recent years, with the rapid development and continuous expansion of the scale of China's power, petroleum, chemical, urban rail transit, automotive and shipbuilding industries, especially the accelerated transformation of power grids, the successive construction of ultra-high voltage projects, and the transfer of global wire and cable products to the Asia-Pacific region mainly in China, the market size of China's wire and cable industry has grown rapidly. The wire and cable manufacturing industry has become the second largest industry among more than twenty sub-sectors in the electrical and electronic industry. According to the information disclosed in the "2024 China Wire and Cable White Paper" guided by the China Electrical Equipment Industry Association, the performance of wire and cable has been steadily growing from 2020 to 2023. In 2023, the market size of China's power cable industry was approximately 1,301.76 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 7%. Preliminary estimates show that the market size in 2024 will reach 1,351.23 billion yuan.
Industry competition landscape
1. Regional competition: Multiple wire and cable industrial clusters have emerged domestically
From the perspective of the regional distribution of the number of enterprises, at present, China's wire and cable enterprises are mainly distributed in the eastern coastal areas, with Hebei, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong and other provinces being the main ones. As of March 31, 2025, there were a total of 3,944 related wire and cable enterprises in Hebei Province, while Guangdong and Zhejiang had 3,507 and 2,464 related enterprises respectively.
Note: The screening logic industry classification belongs to the national economic classification of "Wire and Cable Manufacturing". The national standard code is C3831, and the business status is "active/in operation".
The Yangtze River Delta region is the largest wire and cable production base in China, having formed several wire and cable enterprise clusters led by large-scale regional cable enterprises, such as the Jiangsu enterprise cluster represented by Baosheng Co., LTD., Shangshang Cable, Smart Energy, Hengtong Optoelectronics, Zhongtian Technology, and Zhongchen Cable. Zhejiang enterprise clusters represented by Hangzhou Dianzi Co., Ltd. and Wanma Co., LTD. The Anhui enterprise cluster represented by Pacific Cable; The Pearl River Delta industrial cluster represented by enterprises such as Jinlongyu and Nanyang Cable. Yixing City is one of the regions with the most concentrated wire and cable industry in China. The supporting facilities within the region are mature, and the technological level, production capacity and market development ability of enterprises are all at the leading level in the country.
2. Enterprise competition: The market concentration of the industry is low
The competition in China's wire and cable industry is fierce, and the market share is relatively fragmented. Most enterprises in the industry are small in scale, with a single product range and mostly concentrated in the medium and low voltage wire and cable field. Therefore, the competition among medium and low voltage wire and cable products is highly homogeneous. At present, large domestic wire and cable enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises and joint ventures are engaged in market competition in the fields of domestic ultra-high voltage and extra-high voltage power cables and high-end special cables such as nuclear power and submarine cables. In some niche markets, a competitive pattern of oligopoly by a few wire and cable enterprises has already emerged.
The "2024 China Wire and Cable White Paper" shows that as the product technology of leading wire and cable enterprises in China continues to improve, the concentration of the wire and cable market is gradually increasing. The proportion of the top 10 enterprises in the overall market has risen from about 19% to over 20%. From the perspective of the overall market, the top 5 enterprises have relatively complete product lines. Moreover, in the product fields such as power cables, electrical equipment cables, communication cables, and electromagnetic wires, it ranks among the leading enterprises in each market performance.
Industry Development Prospects and Trend Forecast
1.Development prospects: The industry market size is expected to approach 1.5 trillion yuan in the next five years
As China's economy and society further develop towards green environmental protection, low-carbon energy conservation, informatization and intelligence, downstream industries such as power, construction, communication, transportation and new energy have all promoted the market development of wires and cables. By 2025, the total investment of State Grid and China Southern Power Grid is expected to exceed 825 billion yuan, a significant increase of 220 billion yuan compared to 2024. Ultra-high voltage and power grid upgrading projects are constantly being implemented. According to the national planning for the main application fields of wires and cables - power (new energy, smart grid), rail transit, aerospace, Marine engineering, etc., the future prospects of China's wire and cable industry are promising, and the trend of product upgrading in the industry is obvious. It is estimated that by 2030, the sales revenue of large-scale enterprises in China's wire and cable industry will approach 1.5 trillion yuan.
2. Development Trend: The process of high-end intelligence will accelerate.
In the future, the country will continue to vigorously increase the scale of wind power and photovoltaic power generation. To enhance the utilization rate of ultra-high voltage transmission channels, accelerate the intelligent transformation of power grid infrastructure and the construction of smart microgrids, new requirements have thus been put forward for the quality of wires and cables. Against this backdrop, leading enterprises in the industry will increase their investment in research and development and improve their R&D systems, and the industry's R&D capabilities and technological levels will continue to rise. Meanwhile, with the rapid rise of new energy, high-end equipment manufacturing and other fields, the demand for ultra-high voltage and extra-high voltage power cables and high-end special cables is increasing day by day. In the future, the cable industry will accelerate its high-end and intelligent process.
For more research and analysis on this industry, please refer to the "Analysis Report on the Development Prospect and Investment Strategy Planning of China's Wire and Cable Industry" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.
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