China's machinery industry is growing under the background of market downturn

Abstract Based on the current analysis of the machinery industry, the growth rate of hand-held orders for enterprises remains relatively strong, suggesting that there are no major issues likely to cause production fluctuations. In the second half of the year, the industry's economic performance has continued to show steady growth. Despite the ongoing market downturn in China’s machinery sector and rising economic uncertainty, the industry has maintained a moderate recovery trend, with continuous efforts to adjust its industrial structure. According to data from the China Machinery Industry Federation, in the first ten months of this year, the export delivery value of the machinery industry increased by approximately 1.2% year-on-year. This marks a slight rebound in cumulative growth for three consecutive months. Among different enterprise types, private companies saw a year-on-year growth of around 6%, an increase of 0.08 percentage points compared to the previous month. Although state-owned and foreign-funded enterprises experienced declines of about 6% and 0.05% respectively, these declines were narrower than the previous month by 0.66 and 0.7 percentage points. In addition, during the first ten months of the year, over 19.37 million vehicles were produced, representing a year-on-year increase of 17%. The growth rate has remained above 15% for seven consecutive months, showing a consistent upward trend. Looking at different vehicle models, multi-purpose passenger vehicles and sport utility vehicles saw significant growth, with increases of 88% and 55% respectively. The production of basic passenger vehicles also rose by 17%. According to an official from the China Machinery Industry Federation, demand for Chinese machinery products is expected to grow steadily at a medium pace next year, with limited volatility. During this period, demand for high-end machine tools is expected to rise, while the construction machinery market will see some recovery. Meanwhile, the growth rate of automobile production and sales is anticipated to gradually decline. Industry experts emphasized that in the future, China’s machinery industry must accelerate structural adjustments and promote transformation and upgrading. Heavy industry development remains a key driver of economic growth in this phase and has become a crucial force supporting China’s economy. China is currently in the middle stage of heavy machinery and heavy chemical industry development, a phase that is expected to last for a long time. As such, the development of heavy machinery should outpace that of light and medium-sized mechanical products. Correspondingly, the large and heavy-duty machine tools industry is expected to grow much faster than small and medium-sized ones, offering promising development prospects.