Inovance invests $280m in plant to make up to 10,000 PM motors a year
24 April 2026 
The Chinese motion controls and industrial automation supplier Inovance has broken ground for a new R&D centre and manufacturing base in Northern China that will develop and produce up to 10,000 energy-saving permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) every year. The plant, located in the Dalian, Liaoning Province, represents a total investment of RMB 2bn (around $280m).
Covering 174,500m², the plant will be built in two phases, with Phase 1, covering around 160,000m² and including production, R&D and administrative facilities, expected to be completed by the end of 2027. All buildings on the site will have rooftop solar PV arrays and energy storage systems.
At full capacity, the facility will be able to produce 10,000 motors a year, with outputs from 30kW to 3MW, voltage ratings from 380V–10kV, and torque outputs from 3–200kNm. The value of the projected annual output will be around RMB 5bn ($700m). The motors will be aimed mainly at heavy industries such as mining, ports, power generation and metal production.
“Dalian is our first major investment in northern China, and an important step in expanding our high-power motor capability for global markets,” says Inovance’s founder and chairman, Zhu Xingming. “The city’s port infrastructure and concentration of engineering talent make it well positioned to serve our customers in mining, ports, and other heavy industries where high-efficiency drive systems are essential.”
Electric motor systems account for more than 40% of global electricity consumption. PMSMs can cut energy losses by 15–30% compared to conventional induction motors.
Inovance, founded in 2003, is a $5.2bn business that employs more than 20,000 people around the world. Its portfolio includes LV and MV AC drives, servos, motion control, CNCs, PLCs, HMIs and industrial robots. The company claims to be the Chinese market-leader for AC drives and servo systems, as well as being the world’s fifth-largest supplier of servodrives and eighth-largest supplier of LV AC drives.
