In-depth Analysis of China's Instrument and Meter Industry in 2025: Market Size Surpasses 1.3 Trillion Yuan, Domestic Re
1. Industry Overview and Market Size
Instruments and meters, as the "central nervous system" and "eye of industry" of the modern industrial system, are a fundamental and strategic industry of the national economy. According to the latest industry data, the revenue scale of the Chinese instruments and meters industry has successfully exceeded 1.3 trillion yuan in 2025, with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.8%, demonstrating a strong development trend. Compared with the scale of 1.2 trillion yuan reached in 2024, the industry has continued to maintain a stable growth. The instruments and meters industry, in accordance with the national standard for "Nuclear Industry Classification" (GB/T4754-2017), can be divided into 6 major categories and 20 minor categories. Among them, industrial automation instruments, as the core sub-sector of the industry, account for more than 35% and have become the main driving force of industry growth. The growth rate of scientific instruments and test measurement equipment is strong, and the demand in emerging fields such as new energy, environmental monitoring, and semiconductors has increased significantly. Among them, the photovoltaic industry has driven the market size of detection equipment to grow by more than 15% annually, becoming a new engine of the industry. The industry as a whole shows a relatively high profit level. In 2023, the cost and expense rate of the instruments and meters industry was 86.44%, and the profit rate was 10.35%, making it the only two industries among the 14 major industries of the mechanical industry with a profit rate exceeding 10%. With the continuous support of the "14th Five-Year Plan" of the country for high-end equipment manufacturing, the industry has ushered in a historic development opportunity.
2. Industry Segmentation Market Analysis
2.1 Main Subdivision Structure
The various sub-sectors within the instrumentation and metering industry have demonstrated a diversified development pattern:
Industrial automation instruments: With the largest market size, the revenue of state-owned enterprises in 2022 reached 435 billion yuan, accounting for 43% of the entire instrumentation and metering industry. It is the core component of the industry.
Scientific instruments: This includes experimental analysis instruments and optical instruments, etc., and is a key area for domestic alternatives. Currently, the market share of domestic high-end mass spectrometers has risen from 5% in 2020 to 15% at present, showing significant progress.
Environmental monitoring instruments: Under the guidance of the carbon neutrality goal, the market size of carbon emission monitoring instruments has exceeded 20 billion yuan. The market share of high-precision gas detectors has risen to 28%, and green instruments and meters have become the core support in the field of environmental protection.
2.2 Expansion of Application Scenarios
With the advancement of technology and industrial upgrading, the application scenarios of instruments and meters have continued to expand:
Deepening of the intelligent manufacturing scenario: As the core sensing equipment of intelligent manufacturing, the revenue share of intelligent manufacturing instruments and meters will reach 30% in 2025, benefiting from the construction of intelligent factories and the popularization of the industrial internet.
A boom in the new energy sector: By 2025, the revenue share of new energy instruments and meters had reached 25%. The intelligent photovoltaic monitoring system uses real-time parameters to optimize the operation of power stations.
Innovative consumption scenarios penetration: Flexible sensors have entered the consumer electronics supply chain, with an average annual valuation growth rate of 67%; Scenario-based demands such as smart agriculture and smart home are accelerating their release, and it is expected that the related market size will reach 150 billion yuan by 2030.
3. Policy Support and the Process of Domestic Substitution
Policy dividends are one of the core engines driving the development of the instrumentation and metering industry. At the national level, it is clearly stipulated that by 2025, the proportion of domestically produced instruments in procurement should be increased to 50%. Some provinces have even banned imported products from participating in public institution tenders. In terms of financial support, in 2024, additional special funds exceeded 5 billion yuan, with a focus on investing in "key technology gap" areas such as mass spectrometers and gene sequencing instruments. At the local level, there are also supporting measures, such as Jiangsu Province setting up a 5 billion yuan instrument industry fund, and Guangdong Province offering a 15% tax deduction to enterprises that purchase domestic equipment. Hunan Province has included the intelligent measurement and weighing equipment industry in the province's 13 key industrial chains and established an industrial sub-fund with a total scale of 2 billion yuan. The process of domestic substitution has significantly accelerated. Taking high-end mass spectrometers as an example, domestic enterprises such as Jinchuang Technology have gradually integrated their products into core production lines in industries such as steel and metallurgy, achieving a qualitative change from "usable" to "easy to use". Changes in the international situation and the export restrictions imposed by some countries on China's high-performance, high-precision, high-sensitivity, and high-stability scientific instruments have further accelerated the urgency of domestic substitution.
