According to the latest statistics from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, the overall Chinese construction machinery market showed positive momentum in September 2025. Sales of major equipment categories, including excavators, loaders, motor graders, cranes, and road machinery, saw significant year-on-year growth. Robust export performance provided strong momentum for the industry.
Excavators and loaders, the industry's two mainstays, achieved year-on-year growth of 25.4% and 30.5%, respectively. Aerial work platform sales surged 48% year-on-year, while crawler cranes and road rollers saw sales growth exceeding 30%. Tower cranes and elevating work platforms continued to experience negative growth, but the rate of decline narrowed significantly.
Sales of major equipment saw a general increase, indicating a significant rebound in domestic demand.
Benefiting from accelerated infrastructure investment and equipment replacement policies, domestic sales of several construction machinery categories in China performed exceptionally well in September. Among these, 764 truck cranes were sold in China, a significant year-on-year increase of 40.7%; 110 crawler cranes were sold in China, a 66.7% increase; and 1,585 truck-mounted cranes were sold in China, a year-on-year increase of 29.8%.
Furthermore, domestic demand for road machinery, such as road rollers and pavers, was also strong, with sales increasing by 45.4% and 32.3% year-on-year, respectively. These data indicate that investment in infrastructure construction and related engineering projects remains robust, effectively driving demand for equipment.
The export market is experiencing steady growth, supporting industry growth.
In terms of exports, with the exception of elevating work platforms, all product categories maintained steady growth, with exports being a key driver of sales growth. In September, 535 motor graders were exported, a year-on-year increase of 25.3%; 841 road rollers were exported, a year-on-year increase of 24.8%; and aerial work vehicles, while a smaller export volume, saw a significant rebound in sales, surging 250% year-on-year.
Notably, despite a 29.7% year-on-year decline in domestic sales, tower cranes effectively offset some of the downward pressure in the domestic market with exports of 280 units, a year-on-year increase of 27.9%.
The overall trend is positive.
Accumulated data from January to September shows divergent performance across various categories of construction machinery. Graders, crawler cranes, truck-mounted cranes, industrial vehicles (forklifts), road rollers, pavers, and aerial work platforms all achieved positive year-on-year sales growth. Pavers saw cumulative sales of 1,249 units, a year-on-year increase of 32.2%, while aerial work platforms saw cumulative sales of 3,818 units, a year-on-year increase of 41.4%, demonstrating strong growth.
However, cumulative sales of truck cranes and elevating work platforms continued to decline, decreasing by 4.17% and 30%, respectively, indicating that market demand in some areas is still recovering. Tower crane sales saw the largest decline, down 31.9% year-on-year.
Key Category Observations
Industrial vehicles (forklifts), the largest category by volume, saw total sales of 130,380 units in September, a year-on-year increase of 23%. Cumulative sales from January to September have exceeded 1.1 million units, a year-on-year increase of 14%, demonstrating strong market resilience.
Lifting work platforms were one of the few product categories to experience a significant decline in both September and cumulative sales. Sales for the month plummeted 23.8% year-on-year, and for the period from January to September, they fell 30%. The domestic market continued its precipitous decline, remaining mired in a period of adjustment.
Overall, the "Golden September" of 2025 marked a small peak season for China's construction machinery industry. Domestic demand was significantly boosted by various policy supports and project implementation, while the export market maintained its stable performance, providing a key support for industry growth. While some categories, such as lifting work platforms, continue to face challenges, the positive sales growth of most equipment has laid a solid foundation for robust market development throughout the year.
