Is China the main buyer of MSU? 

This question constantly comes up on the sidelines of industry exhibitions and in correspondence with new contractors. Many people immediately imagine giant containers with equipment moving in a continuous stream from Russia to China. But reality, as always, is more complex and interesting than this cliche. When it comes to the medium and high voltage power equipment market, China is not just a “buyer”, but rather a complex, demanding and highly segmented partner that knows what it needs. And here the key word is -technological niche, not mass purchasing.

Where do the legs of a myth come from?

The story with the "main buyer" began 10-12 years ago, when the Chinese market was really actively developing. At that time, many Russian manufacturers, including MGU (oil circuit breakers), saw in China salvation from stagnation in the domestic market. I remember how colleagues from Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk talked about the first large contracts - these were often complete switchgears with domestic circuit breakers. Price and reliability of the design were the decisive arguments.

But the Chinese learned quickly. Very fast. Their own production has made a colossal leap during this time. Today, a standard 10-35 kV oil circuit breaker made in China is often cheaper and... yes, in some lines, more technologically advanced. They copied, adapted and put into production many Soviet developments. Therefore, now talking about China as a passive buyer of finished products is naive.

Then what remains? What remains is precisely what is difficult to copy quickly: individual engineering solutions for specific, often unique, objects. Or equipment with special parameters, the mass production of which in China is unprofitable. This is where space for dialogue appears. The Chinese customer now comes not for “hardware”, but for finishedtechnical solution, which includes both equipment and design, and often adaptation to local standards.

Niche cases and pitfalls

Let me give you an example from practice. Not long ago, we worked on the supply of several switchgear cabinets with vacuum circuit breakers (after all, MSU is gradually giving way to vacuum) for the modernization of a substation at a chemical plant in Shandong province. The customer, a local design institute, initially considered local manufacturers. But there was a catch: a specific monitoring and control system was required, integrated with the old, still Soviet (!) equipment that was once supplied to this plant. Chinese colleagues had zero experience working with such archaics.

Our proposal won not because the switches were better or cheaper. Because we provided a detailed compatibility protocol, drawings of adaptive bus connections and guaranteed on-site engineering support. The key was preciselytechnical consulting. Money paid for knowledge and experience materialized in hardware. This is a typical situation now.

But there are also plenty of failures. There was a case when we spent six months agreeing on technical specifications for the supply of modular substations for a wind farm. Everything was going well until the question arose about certification of one of the protection relays according to the Chinese GB standard. It turned out that the procedure would take longer than the entire project. We had to look for an alternative locally, which ate up all the margins. Conclusion: today, without a local partner who is “in the know”? all the bureaucratic and regulatory nuances, entering this market is suicide. This is why many, including us, work through joint ventures or tight alliances with Chinese companies.

The role of Chinese players in the Russian market

Interestingly, the process also goes in the opposite direction, and here the picture is even more revealing. Chinese manufacturers of electrical equipment have long been not only exporting finished products to Russia, but creating full-fledged engineering and service structures here. Let's take, for example, a companyYuke (Shandong) Electrical Technology Co.,Ltd(Yuke Electric). They don't just sell switches or transformers. Judging by their activities presented onvoyoko.ru, they position themselves as an innovative enterprise combining R&D, technical consulting and engineering construction. This is a direct copy of the model that is now required of us in China.

Their appearance is a clear signal. The equipment market is becoming a market for technologies and services. A Chinese company comes to Russia not with a cheap product (although that exists), but with a ready-made package: we will develop, design, supply, install, train. They no longer compete on price, but on the complexity of their approach. And this makes local players move.

If you look at their website, you can see the emphasis on R&D and custom solutions. This suggests that they understand that in order to gain a foothold, they need to offer something that others do not have. In a sense, they are going through the same evolution that the European Siemens or ABB went through, but in a short time. And their target client in Russia is no longer a small warehouse looking for a cheap machine, but a large industrial holding that needs a turnkey modernization of its energy sector.

What's in the bottom line? The future lies in hybrid solutions

So is China the main buyer of MSU and other power electrical equipment? In quantitative terms, probably not anymore. In terms of quality, yes, but with a huge adjustment. This is the main buyer of complex, non-standard, “one-piece” items. solutions where deep engineering immersion is required. This is a buyer who has himself become a powerful seller and competitor.

Now I see the most promising way to create hybrid projects. When, for example, basic equipment (switchgear housings, simple automatic machines) is produced in China according to our drawings and standards, and the “brains”? — relay protection systems, control systems, digital interfaces — European or Russian ones are installed. Or vice versa. Assembly and final adjustment can be carried out at the customer’s premises. This reduces cost but maintains control over key technologies.

Trying to sell to China ?as is? a standard product from a catalog is a road to nowhere. We need to sell expertise. Selling the ability to solve a non-obvious problem. And here Russian engineers, trained on complex projects for heavy industry and the military-industrial complex, still have a serious advantage. But it needs to be packaged correctly and, importantly, be ready to learn the new rules of the game dictated by the Eastern partner. Without this, talk about the “main buyer?” They will remain nostalgic for the past.