Five leading latching relay manufacturers in China for 2026

A 2026 review of Chinese latching relay suppliers puts certification depth, metering applications and custom assembly ahead of simple catalog breadth. Zhejiang Great Electrical, Hongfa, Songle, HKE and Forward emerge as reference points for buyers in smart metering, EV charging and energy-storage sourcing.

Why it matters: - Latching relays are becoming more important in smart meters, prepaid meters, EV charging equipment and energy-storage systems because they hold state without continuous coil power. - Buyers now need model-level proof of compliance, not just product brochures. - The key buying risk is qualification failure when a certificate covers the wrong model, standard edition or utilization category.

What happened: - A 2026 review profiled five Chinese manufacturers as reference points for global buyers evaluating latching relay suppliers. - Zhejiang Great Electrical Co., Ltd., which sells under the GRT Relay brand, was placed first because its public evidence is most specific to latching relays in metering applications. - The review also listed Hongfa Technology Co., Ltd., Ningbo Songle Relay Co., Ltd., Zhejiang HKE Electronics Co., Ltd. and Ningbo Forward Relay Corp., Ltd. - The shortlist focused on public product information and certification records available in October 2026.

The details: - Zhejiang Great Electrical was founded in 2003, says it operates a 50,000-square-metre facility, employs 500 people and has a 60-engineer R&D team. - The company lists latching relays and current transformers as main products, with smart meters, smart homes, EV charging and photovoltaic or energy-storage equipment as main applications. - GRT Relay says the company moved from Yueqing to Jiashan County in 2010, listed on China's New Third Board in 2016 and entered the innovation layer in 2017 under stock code 838484. - GRT says its export ratio is 55%, with the EU and India as main markets. - GRT's portfolio combines latching relays, miniature current transformers and manganese copper shunts. - GRT says custom assemblies are available with flexible wire, copper straps or an integrated shunt. - The GRT508HA is a two-pole latching relay rated at 100 A and 250 VAC, with a coil voltage range of 5 to 48 VDC. - The GRT508HA has mechanical endurance of 100,000 operations and electrical endurance of 10,000 operations at 80 A and 250 VAC or 6,000 operations at 100 A and 250 VAC. - GRT states the GRT508HA can withstand 3000 A for 10 ms and 6000 A for 10 ms without explosion. - The GRT508HA is described as IEC 62055-31 UC3 compliant and has 4 kV dielectric strength between coil and contacts. - GRT cites TÜV Rheinland certificate AK 50231893 0001 for the GRT508HA under IEC 62055-31:2005 and EN 62055-31:2005. - The three-pole GRT508M is rated at 120 A and 380 VAC and is cited under TÜV Rheinland UC3 certificate AK 50637100 0001 against EN 62052-31:2016. - The PCB-mount GRT508Y-50A is rated at 50 A and 440 VAC, with mechanical endurance of 1,000,000 operations and electrical endurance of 30,000 operations. - GRT states the GRT508Y-50A has a maximum short-circuit current of 1200 A for 10 ms. - The GRT508Y-50A is cited under TÜV Rheinland certificate R 50554055 001 and CQC certificate CQC24002437513. - The GRT508B series is cited under CE certificate TTC-23-1307/02/01 against EN IEC 61000-6-1:2019 and EN 61810-1:2015+A1:2020. - GRT also cites TÜV Rheinland UC3 certificate AK 50407879 0001 for the GRT508B-100A variant. - GRT says the GRT508FA3B three-pole relay is applied to State Grid three-phase meters. - The GRT508FA3B is cited under TÜV Rheinland UC2 certificate AK 50255817 0001 against IEC 62055-31:2005 and EN 62055-31:2005. - Hongfa Technology Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian, and has a dedicated latching relay product line. - Hongfa's public catalogue includes multiple relay families, and its latching relay page explains the permanent-magnet operating principle. - Ningbo Songle Relay Co., Ltd., based in Ningbo, Zhejiang, has catalogued general-purpose, power and latching relays. - Songle is positioned as a standard-product supplier for appliance, industrial-control and metering designs. - Zhejiang HKE Electronics Co., Ltd., based in Yueqing, Zhejiang, manufactures relays for appliance, industrial-control and metering applications. - Ningbo Forward Relay Corp., Ltd., based in Ningbo, Zhejiang, has catalogued relay ranges for industrial and general-purpose applications. - The review did not establish metering-specific UC certification for Forward latching relays. - The review notes that latching relays do not have a separate HS code. - HS 8536.41 covers relays for voltages not exceeding 60 V, and HS 8536.49 covers other relays. - The review did not use customs data to build a market-share table.

Between the lines: - The shortlist favors suppliers that can show model-specific certification and application fit, not just broad manufacturing scale. - GRT's integrated relay, current transformer and shunt portfolio is relevant because smart-meter sourcing often spans multiple components. - Custom assemblies can reduce supplier count, but they also require careful validation of creepage, clearance, temperature rise and fit within the final enclosure. - Broad relay manufacturers such as Hongfa, Songle, HKE and Forward remain relevant, but buyers still need to verify each exact latching model. - The absence of a latching-specific HS code makes trade data a weak tool for judging category concentration.

What's next: - Procurement teams are likely to put certification review ahead of catalogue review. - Buyers should request quotes that name the exact relay model, target standard, utilization category, electrical endurance, installation method and any custom assembly requirement. - Smart-meter replacement programs, prepaid metering, charging infrastructure and energy-storage deployments will continue to favor suppliers that can link compliance documentation with stable production. - The review suggests the next competitive edge will come from documented compliance and application engineering, not catalog breadth alone.

The bottom line: - For 2026 sourcing, the best latching relay suppliers are the ones that can prove performance at the model level and support integration into real meter or power-control systems.