Orders are booked six months in advance; Ningbo’s Cixi-based companies are breaking through with technology, expanding overseas and gaining wider recognition.

(Reprinted from China National Radio, China News Service, and the Yongpai APP)

Recently, manufacturing enterprises in Cixi, Ningbo, have leveraged new growth drivers to break through bottlenecks, pioneered overseas markets with independently developed technologies, and proactively positioned themselves in emerging sectors to achieve transformation.

At present, as traditional manufacturing undergoes transformation and market involution intensifies, visits to factory workshops reveal equipment operating at full speed, with newly developed products rolling off the assembly line in bulk and being shipped overseas—testifying to a robust momentum of thriving domestic smart manufacturing, strong sales, and innovative breakthroughs. Leveraging triple growth drivers—new technologies, new markets, and new sectors—some leading local enterprises have proactively abandoned low‑price, undifferentiated, and homogeneous competition, continuously breaking through developmental bottlenecks and forging a new path of green, intelligent, and globalized smart‑manufacturing upgrades.

Staff at Taifengyuan manufacture Rogowski coil sensors (Photo provided by a correspondent, China National Radio).

Independently developed, we have broken through formidable barriers, shifting from “catching up” to “leading the way.”

Having core technologies that are independently controllable is the key source of confidence for companies seeking to break into the market. In the production workshop of Ningbo Taifengyuan Electrical Co., Ltd., 21 high-precision Rogowski coil winding machines operate at full speed, precisely winding the fine inductive wires with spacing tightly maintained at 0.1 millimeter, thereby solidifying the company’s competitive edge in product accuracy through uncompromising craftsmanship.

“Following the large-scale integration of new energy sources, grid operating conditions have become increasingly volatile, and conventional, aging equipment struggles to meet these new demands. Precise sensing is the cornerstone of stable grid operation,” said Yuan Guojun, the company’s head. After eight years of dedicated R&D, the company has invested over 80 million yuan in research and development, successfully mastering the core manufacturing processes of Rogowski coils and developing a proprietary multimodal current sensor capable of accurately detecting even the slightest grid fluctuations, thereby ensuring the reliable performance of high‑end applications such as precision medical equipment and AI‑powered data centers. Today, the company holds 210 patents, has participated in the formulation of 12 national and industry standards, and has smoothly transitioned from a low‑end component‑manufacturing contract manufacturer to a specialized provider of power‑sensing technologies.

Staff at Taifengyuan manufacture Rogowski coil sensors (Photo provided by a correspondent, China National Radio).

Pioneering the green‑environmental sector, Ningbo Taiji Environmental Equipment Co., Ltd. has precisely addressed the industry’s longstanding pain points—low treatment efficiency and high energy consumption in conventional environmental‑protection equipment—by completing a core‑technology upgrade. “The outdated, single‑pollutant‑treatment approach can no longer keep pace with the industrial shift toward low carbon,” said Shi Yuezhuan, the company’s general manager. The enterprise’s independently developed combustion‑cleaning and heat‑recovery system enables the synergistic removal of multiple pollutants, achieving a heat‑recovery efficiency exceeding 95% while simultaneously delivering triple benefits: pollution control, energy savings, and operational efficiency. It is ideally suited to meet the energy‑saving and low‑carbon transformation needs of energy‑intensive industries such as nonferrous metals, steel, and coking.

In the industrial control sector, Zhejiang Lichuang Automation Technology Co., Ltd. has focused on tackling core technological challenges and successfully achieved domestic, independent substitution for critical technologies. According to Li Jin, the company’s head, China had long relied on imported core chips for industrial control, which severely constrained industry development. After more than a decade of continuous refinement, the company has iteratively upgraded its first-generation PLC prototype into the fully self-reliant LC series controllers, whose performance now rivals that of imported equipment and which were the first to integrate touch‑screen and control functions into a single unit. At the same time, the company has completed in‑house R&D and mass production of 0.18‑micron, industry‑specific chips, thereby achieving complete self‑sufficiency in core components.

Currently, the company’s products and services serve more than 500 manufacturing enterprises nationwide, spanning over twenty industries. Its customized solutions help clients cut production costs by as much as 30%, and its order backlog extends well into the next six months.

Hardcore products break into overseas markets, with Cixi-made smart manufacturing enjoying strong global sales.

Cutting-edge, in-house R&D is the core confidence that enables companies to set sail overseas and capture global markets. By seizing the development opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative, enterprises are breaking free from domestic market saturation and intensifying competition, vigorously expanding into new overseas markets and driving simultaneous growth in both domestic and international trade.

“Our products secure overseas orders thanks to their precision and stability, which rival those of imported counterparts,” explained Yuan Guojun. Leveraging exceptional product performance, Taifengyuan has successfully penetrated key markets in South America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and beyond. In May this year, the first batch of 10,000 high‑precision Rogowski coil sensors was smoothly shipped to Brazil, where they have been deployed in an overseas grid‑operation and maintenance project. To date, inquiries from customers around the globe continue to pour in, making these robust, cutting‑edge products highly sought after in international markets.

Taiji Environmental’s overseas expansion has gained strong momentum and yielded substantial results. “Riding the tailwind of the Belt and Road Initiative, our green, low‑carbon solutions have gone global and earned high praise from international clients,” said Rao Wenjun, the company’s deputy general manager. In the first half of this year, the company successfully launched six overseas environmental projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, while its domestic energy‑saving and low‑carbon business has grown rapidly, driving a 38% year‑on‑year increase in sales for the period. At present, the large‑scale integrated solid‑waste and hazardous‑waste treatment plant project in Thailand’s Phichit Industrial Estate has completed all equipment shipments and has entered the critical phase of installation and commissioning, with trial operations and full production just around the corner. This marks a new pathway for the company to deepen its presence in Southeast Asia and expand into the global energy‑efficiency and emissions‑reduction market; currently, international business accounts for 30% to 40% of the company’s total revenue.

Li Jin, head of Lichuang Technology, oversees chip research and development. (Photo provided by a correspondent, issued by China National Radio)

Lichuang Technology is steadily strengthening its global footprint. To precisely meet overseas demand, the company has established an international trade division in Shanghai, creating a specialized platform for expanding into international markets. “We don’t rely on low prices to capture market share; we win customers through technology and a strong reputation,” said Li Jin. Today, the company’s self-developed industrial control products are exported to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, South America, and other regions. Domestically, it serves more than 500 renowned manufacturing enterprises, including Delixi Group, Chery, and Renben Group, spanning over twenty industries.

Securing a leading position in emerging fields and capturing the next‑generation industrial landscape.

While consolidating their core businesses, many enterprises in Cixi have adopted a forward-looking strategic approach, proactively breaking new ground by stepping beyond the traditional red‑ocean landscape, expanding into emerging, high‑quality growth sectors, and continuously cultivating new drivers of long-term corporate expansion.

Speaking about corporate transformation, Yuan Guo Jun shared with deep insight: “In the low-end component‑manufacturing sector, intense price competition and razor‑thin margins leave little room for growth. For a company to achieve sustainable development, it must proactively step outside its comfort zone and target the industry’s most pressing pain points.” Accordingly, Taifengyuan has moved away from the traditional low‑end processing of electric meter components, ventured into the cutting‑edge field of high‑precision sensing for next‑generation power systems, and strategically positioned itself in the high‑end operations‑and‑maintenance segment that supports the grid integration of wind and solar renewable energy. The company has successfully developed and brought to market multiple series of high‑precision current sensors—including Rogowski coils, TMR devices, and Hall‑effect sensors—thus transforming itself from a mere component supplier into a provider of comprehensive solutions for new‑energy grid operations and maintenance.

Staff at Taifengyuan manufacture Rogowski coil sensors (Photo provided by a correspondent, China National Radio).

Taiji Environmental Protection has also achieved a leap‑forward upgrade of its business portfolio. According to Rao Wenjun, the company has long since moved beyond the confines of conventional flue‑gas treatment, strategically expanding into the resource‑based comprehensive utilization of solid and hazardous wastes as well as energy‑saving technologies. This transformation has enabled it to evolve from “point‑source pollution control” to “end‑to‑end green system management.” Through this business upgrade, the company has integrated the industrial value chain for the circular use of solid and hazardous wastes, addressed gaps in energy efficiency, and comprehensively aligned itself with the full‑chain green and low‑carbon transformation needs of the industrial sector.

“The core competitive edge of manufacturing will always lie in sustained R&D and innovation.” This is the development philosophy that Li Jin has steadfastly upheld. The company refuses to pursue blind capacity expansion or follow the old path of extensive growth, instead embracing a light‑asset model, prioritizing R&D, and focusing on long-term strategic planning. To attract cutting‑edge talent, the company has established a central R&D hub in Shenzhen, deeply investing in the continuous iteration of industrial control software and hardware. Currently, the team has devoted nine months to developing a dedicated controller for humanoid robots, proactively positioning itself in the emerging high‑end smart manufacturing sector, aligning with the nation’s smart manufacturing strategy, and building core capabilities to fuel the company’s sustainable growth.

By leveraging new technologies to dismantle industry barriers, tapping new markets to expand their growth horizons, and cultivating emerging sectors to build momentum for future expansion, local enterprises in Cixi are vividly demonstrating the path of green transformation for private manufacturing firms—through repeated technological breakthroughs, strategic market incursions, and continuous upgrades across key industries.