As the saying goes, “The sharpening of the sword makes it easier to chop wood.” If you want to do a good job, you must be tough at what you do.
The machine in this machine, we call it the industrial mother machine, is the “lifeblood” of the manufacturing industry. Without it, car wheels cannot rotate, mobile phone lenses cannot be made, and even artificial joints cannot be ground.
Just in 2025
In 2016, this “golden brand” that had been controlled by the Germans for a long time was taken off by China, and it became the world’s number one machine tool exporter in one fell swoop. This is really encouraging!
In the past, when it came to machine tools, manufacturing in Germany was the industry’s big brother, with unlimited success.
Times have changed, and things are changing now.
Data disclosed by the German Machine Tool Manufacturers Association are before our eyes: China’s machine tool export share will reach 21.6% in 2025, while Germany’s will fall back to 16.7%.
On the one hand, China’s exports rose by 18%, while on the other hand, German manufacturers shrank by 10%.
This “one increase and one decrease” determines the situation, and Germany has to give up the top spot it has held for many years.
Looking back at the scale of China’s machinery industry in 2010, it just took the top spot in exports of machinery and equipment in 2020. Now there is another dark horse in the field of machine tools. Who dares to underestimate the pace of China’s manufacturing?
Not only do we sell more, we use more, and we build even more.
Looking at the global machine tool production and sales, we firmly account for one-third of the world.
In 2023, machine tools made in China accounted for 32.1% of global output, and machine tools purchased accounted for 32.5% of total consumption.
This volume has ranked first in the world for more than ten consecutive years, which is real.
With a bulging wallet and sufficient confidence, transactions will naturally go smoothly.
The import and export of machine tools had a surplus as early as June 2019. By June 2023, even the most difficult metal cutting machine tools also achieved a surplus.
What does this portend?
This indicates that all subdivisions of our machine tool equipment industry are mainly focused on earning foreign exchange.
Export volume is expected to rise from US$63.86 billion in the 13th Five-Year Plan to US$106.21 billion in the 14th Five-Year Plan, with an average annual growth rate of 10.7%. This growth rate makes people feel happy just looking at it.
A large amount of light is not enough, it depends on the real ability.
We used to make ordinary machine tools, but now?
Mid-range CNC machine tools are blooming everywhere, and high-end five-axis machining centers are also flourishing.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has said that our overall technical level has reached the forefront of the second echelon in the world.
The CNC horizontal side broaching machine developed by Zhejiang Changer has filled the gap in tongue and groove machining for aircraft engines; the dual five-axis mirror milling machine tool developed by Shanghai Tuopu has broken the foreign blockade and created a powerful tool for large aircraft manufacturing.
These “black technologies” that were unthinkable before have now become our special skills.
Three-dimensional five-axis laser cutting machine tools, 80,000-ton die forging hydraulic presses, and super-heavy machine tools with an accuracy of 0.008 mm are all important tools of the big country. We have them all.
Where is the most prosperous part of the machine tool industry?
Eastern Zhejiang is definitely number one.
Taizhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Jiaxing have formed an “Eastern Zhejiang Industrial Machinery Cluster.”
In December 2024, this group was promoted to the national team and became a national advanced manufacturing cluster.
There are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this place, with more than 2,000 regulated enterprises gathered together. The output value in 2023 will be nearly 280 billion yuan, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the country.
One of every three metal cutting machine tools in the country is produced here; one of every five metal forming machine tools is produced here.
There are 35 listed companies, 13 individual champions, 118 specialized and new “little giants”, as well as international giants such as DMG Mori Seiki.
In order to do this well, Zhejiang has also implemented a “chain leader + chain owner” system, with the deputy governor in charge taking charge and the four cities joining forces to work together.
Taizhou has a good ecology, Ningbo is a strong leader, Jiaxing has a lot of foreign investment, and Hangzhou is innovative. These four brother cities are like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing its magical powers.
Now with the support of tens of billions of funds and specializing in “stuck-neck” technologies, this industrial cluster is just around the corner to become world-class.
Looking forward to the next five years, the industrial motherboard industry will continue to grow.
Secretary-General Mao Yufeng has his own account. The market demand is changing with each passing day, and technology must keep up. The international situation is unpredictable, and we must have our own unique skills.
Digital intelligence must be deeply integrated with hardware, and industry concentration must be further improved.
The goal is clear: strive to advance into the first echelon in the world in terms of overall level, deepen and firm the foundation of this manufacturing industry, and inject continuous power into the modern industrial system.
The road is made by walking, but also by working together, we will wait and see!
