A high-efficient central chiller plant system with variable load by phase change material thermal energy storage includes a refrigeration unit and a phase change thermal energy storage. The refrigeration unit operates under the highest COP. If the refrigerating output is higher than the demand of cooling load, the phase change thermal energy storage stores energy by the phase change. Contrarily, if the refrigerating output cannot meet the demand of cooling load, the phase change thermal energy storage releases energy to supply the insufficient cooling load of the refrigeration unit. So that users can set the operation strategy of the refrigeration unit according to the usage statistics, and let the refrigeration unit operate efficiently with the cooperation of the phase change thermal energy storage, thereby effectively improving the energy efficiency of the system operation to save energy. Compared with the existing central chiller system, it saves energy more than 40%-70%.