PSMA Update

rom the power supply industry perspective, mainland China remains a mystery to many. China is a manufacturing powerhouse with over two-thirds of all power supplies currently "Made in China". China is also considered a significant and emerging market for sales of power supplies. But the power supply manufacturers and users in China are mostly unknown to outsiders, the non-Chinese companies. It is estimated that there are thousands of power supply companies in China, but they are not visible on the global scale and except for a very few, none have emerged as the world class companies ready to do global business with global blue-chip OEMs. So who are these companies, and what is the state of the Chinese power supply industry? Who can solve this mystery?

There is one organization that is capable of providing an insight into the Chinese power supply industry is CPSS.

CPSS: The China Power Supply Society gave a presentation during the PSMA Annual Meeting in March held during APEC2014. The CPSS presentation focused on the activities, mission and goals. The mission and goals were tied to an impressive list of activities for a single organization to undertake.

CPSS is defined as a National Society of China and, judging from the material presented and interviews of the knowledgeable individuals, it seems one cannot start an organization in China without the blessings of the government and usually a government representative is present during important meetings or dealings.

The presentation at APEC2104 stated that CPSS was founded in 1983, making it more than a 30-year old organization. In 1983 China was barely visible on the power supply map. Astec in Hong Kong was probably the most visible power supply company in the Far East region. Even the mighty Delta Electronics was yet to make its mark on the power supply industry. But CPSS was already formed with its mission and goals. So CPSS had an early start and since its inception it has come a long way.

CPSS now has about 3000 individual and 520 enterprise or business members. In addition to its significant membership, the products covered by the CPSS members are also extensive. CPSS also organizes the annual China International Power Supply Exhibition (CPSEXPO) in Shenzhen and Shanghai. In 2013, the Shanghai exhibition had more than 400 exhibitors and more than 17,000 visitors, making it one of the largest or the largest power supply-related (dedicated) exhibition in the world.

CPSS publishes many journals and reports including: The Journal of the Power Supply (bi-monthly), Power Supply Information Magazine (monthly), CPSS Newsletter (semi-monthly) and an annual China Power Supply Industry Yearbook. In addition, it publishes government planning policies and regulations, and various aspects of economic data. CPSS publishes and provides an enormous amount of information for its membership.
CPSS has two kinds of memberships available; an individual and an enterprise member. The individual membership is an open to any participant, while the enterprise membership is available to companies that are based in China. A foreign company with a Chinese office is qualified. So a membership is relatively easy and many US companies are already members.

Beyond membership, the issue is language. CPSS has two web sites. Its official web site is www.cpss.org.cn and the business web site is www.21dianyuan.com with 150,000 registered members. But currently all the information on both web sites is in Chinese so not very useful for non-Chinese participants. Mr. Zhang Lei, Executive Director CPSS, told me (via email) that an English language version is in the works for the global participants and it will be available soon. Hopefully, all this information will provide an insight into the power supply industry in China.

CPSS is organizing its next conference, IEEE PEAC 2014 in Shanghai, from November 5 to November 8. For more details visit:
http://www.peac-conf.org/InsidePage.asp?sid=99FC91BE15895DE8AE68971987A71BEE.

CPSS is a great resource that can provide an insight into China; its power supply companies, technology, products, regulations and its future. China is an interesting subject and market for the power supply industry. Perhaps one of the CPSS representatives should be invited to give a presentation at APEC on this subject.

The views expressed in this article are solely of Mohan Mankikar. They do not represent the views of PSMA. Mohan Mankikar has been a part of the power supply industry for over twenty five years. An active member of the PSMA since its founding, he had been a board member of the PSMA and currently serves on the Advisory Council.