As computing power density in data centers surges, liquid cooling technology has emerged as the core solution to overcome thermal bottlenecks. The water pump in the Cooling Distribution Unit (CDU), serving as the "heart" of the liquid cooling system, directly determines cooling efficiency and energy consumption levels.
01. CDU Water Pump Shipments Surpass the 10,000-Unit Milestone
According to statistics from MIR DATABANK, CDU water pump shipments in the Chinese market reached approximately 17,000 units in 2025. In the first half of 2026, shipments already hit 12,000 units. It is projected to grow to 60,000 units by 2028, expanding the market scale by about 3.5 times over three years, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 50%.
CDU Water Pump Shipments in China from 2025 to 2028E (Unit: units)
Note: CDU water pumps refer to the main circulation pumps used in the CDUs of AIDC liquid cooling systems. This includes canned motor pumps and mechanical centrifugal pumps.
Data Source: MIR DATABANK
02. Top List of CDU Water Pump Shipments in China
According to the latest data from MIR DATABANK, the top 10 CDU water pump shipments in China for the first half of 2026 are: Wilo, Feilong Auto Components, Grundfos, Xylem, Jianke Electronics, Jiangsu Leili, Tenglong, Ebara, KSB, and Shenpeng Electronics.
Note: The statistical dimension of the above table is the domestic shipments of CDU water pumps in China for the first half of 2026.
Data Source: MIR DATABANK
Currently, foreign-funded enterprises account for about 60% of shipments in China's AI data center CDU water pump market. Domestic manufacturers have a relatively smaller shipment volume, but their shipments are maintaining rapid growth.
Feilong Auto Components has established partnerships with over 80 industry-leading enterprises, including Vertiv, Envicool, and Shenling Environment. Its 22kW large-scale liquid cooling pump has passed verification and is being delivered in batches. Jiangsu Leili also explicitly stated on the investor interaction platform that its data center liquid cooling electronic water pump has achieved mass production and been promoted to the market.
03. Where are the future opportunities for domestic manufacturers?
In China's data center CDU water pump market, foreign pump enterprises dominate the high-end market relying on a century of brand value accumulation and continuous technological refinement. Wilo and Grundfos cover mainstream scenarios with mature variable frequency pump product lines; Xylem builds differentiation through ultra-high energy efficiency pump sets and full-process coverage; Ebara and KSB have deeply deployed in refrigeration integration and pump-valve coordination, respectively.
Information Source: Collected and organized by MIR DATABANK
Although domestic manufacturers have lower shipment volumes than foreign ones, they also possess certain advantages.
First, the technology is compatible with automotive electronic water pumps, resulting in a relatively low threshold for production transition.
Most domestic manufacturers originate from the automotive electronic water pump or motor industry. Sharing the same core principles as CDU water pumps, their production lines, processes, and supply chains can be reused without starting from scratch, enabling them to quickly develop products and enter the market. Taking Feilong Auto Components as an example: the company has been deeply engaged in automotive water pumps for over 60 years and started R&D on electronic water pumps in 2009. In 2025, it spun off its liquid cooling pump business from the automotive segment for dedicated operation. Its liquid cooling pumps are precisely customized for specific scenarios based on the technical core of vehicle-mounted pumps.
Second, more flexible customization coordination and faster response.
Data centers follow the principle of "one project, one solution," placing extremely high demands on pump customization. Foreign companies also provide customized solutions, but domestic brands excel in faster response and flexible design: they are willing to quickly modify designs for individual projects, with short service chains and fast decision-making. For large and medium-sized projects where technical solutions are not yet standardized, this is a more pragmatic consideration than brand premium. Feilong Auto Components' liquid cooling pump series also adheres to the "development path of platformization, serialization, and customization." For customers, choosing domestic manufacturers is not just about "saving costs," but also about "faster adaptation." This adaptability is precisely the scarcest resource in the highly customized scenario of data centers.
Regarding specific products, the layouts of the five domestic manufacturers each have their own focus: some cover the full power range, some follow the automotive-grade quality route, and some focus on data center-specific applications. The table below outlines their core products and product features.
Information Source: Collected and organized by MIR DATABANK
The essence of the opportunity for domestic manufacturers lies in overtaking on the curve enabled by the new track of canned motor pumps.
Technological iteration is the biggest variable. A landmark fact that has already occurred is: in June 2026, NVIDIA officially announced at the GTC Taipei conference that the next-generation 800V HVDC architecture CDU will officially adopt high-voltage direct current canned motor pumps; Google's new-generation 2MW high-power CDU solution has also confirmed the use of canned motor pumps—high-power canned motor pumps have officially entered the supply chain of global leading computing power customers, and the CDU water pump track has reached a turning point in technological switching.
What does this mean for domestic manufacturers? When the technological route switches, it is precisely the opportunity to reshape the market landscape.
First, the experience advantage of old players is leveled. There are obvious differences between canned motor pumps and traditional mechanical centrifugal pumps in structure, sealing, and control logic—the decades of experience accumulated by foreign companies in traditional pumps cannot be directly transferred to the new pump types; the new track competes on who can mass-produce first and who can bind leading customers first, rather than who has a longer history.
Second, domestic manufacturers have already laid out in advance. Suppliers with absolute sealing, long fault-free operation time, custom development capabilities, and core customer verification records will establish significant competitive advantages—the technological accumulation of domestic manufacturers in the field of canned motor pumps is compatible with automotive electronic water pumps, with faster production transition and iteration speeds. They have the opportunity to stand on the same starting line as international manufacturers in the new generation of products, or even take a half-step lead.
Third, the window for defining new standards is opening. The next-generation technological routes (immersion liquid cooling, 800V high-voltage direct current, megawatt-level centralized CDU) are still in the process of finalization. Whoever mass-produces first and binds leading customers first will be able to participate in defining the new standards.
Conclusion
The competition in CDU water pumps has never been a story of domestic substitution by imitating foreign companies.
The high position of foreign companies is the accumulation precipitated from the previous industrial era (traditional IDC, HVAC), relying on time, case studies, and brands; customers are willing to pay more for this peace of mind. The entry of domestic companies is a new force spawned by the next computing power era (AI large-scale data centers, liquid cooling popularization), relying on speed, cost, and manufacturing, seizing new customers with speed and price. However, the switch in technological routes is turning past accumulations into a new starting point. The next decade of CDU water pumps will be written by the definers of the new generation of canned motor pumps. Whether domestic manufacturers can seize this generational shift, the answer can perhaps only be found in the orders of the next two years.
Recently, the second phase of the data center sector content by MIR DATABANK has been fully updated, adding data related to liquid cooling servers, CDU water pumps, manifolds, optical modules, HVDC, and UPS, further improving data coverage and professionalism. The data for the data center sector in the first half of 2026 and related market interpretation reports have all been updated. MIR DATABANK member users can browse online and download the complete materials.