In November 2025, China's excavator market continued its steady growth trend from the beginning of the year, with overall sales maintaining double-digit year-on-year growth. Domestic market demand steadily recovered, while overseas exports remained active.
Total Sales Exceed 20,000 Units, Domestic and Overseas Sales Continue to Grow Strongly
According to data from the China Construction Machinery Association, excavator sales in November 2025 once again exceeded 20,000 units, reaching 20,027 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%, indicating a continued release of market demand.
Of these, domestic sales reached 9,842 units, a year-on-year increase of 9.11%; exports reached 10,185 units, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%, showing a pattern of "strong domestic and overseas sales":
Domestic market demand recovered steadily. Although the year-on-year growth rate fluctuated compared to previous months, the absolute sales volume remained at nearly 10,000 units, indicating that domestic infrastructure construction, major project construction, and equipment replacement demand continued, providing fundamental support for the industry.
The export market continued its high growth, significantly outpacing the domestic market, and export sales once again surpassed domestic sales, becoming the main driver of total sales growth for the month. This reflects the strong competitiveness and brand recognition of Chinese excavators in the international market.
Overall growth remained stable, with domestic sales leading the way in cumulative growth.
Looking at the overall performance from January to November 2025, the certainty of industry recovery has been steadily increasing.
From January to November, a total of 212,162 excavators were sold, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%. The industry maintained strong expansion momentum on a high base, with total sales already exceeding the total sales for 2024.
Of these, domestic sales reached 108,187 units, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%, with cumulative growth exceeding both overall and export growth. This indicates that the recovery momentum in the domestic market has been more stable and sustained this year, and the investment-driven effects of national investment in infrastructure construction, transportation and water conservancy, urban renewal, and new energy development continue to be evident.
Exports reached 103,975 units, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%. Although monthly exports fluctuated, cumulative exports have exceeded 100,000 units, roughly on par with domestic sales. Overseas markets continue to be a significant growth driver for the industry, driven by changes in the global economic landscape, the release of infrastructure construction demand, and the deepening of Chinese brands' globalization strategies.
Domestic demand is steadily recovering, boosting industry confidence.
Against increasing external uncertainties, deeply exploring and activating the potential of the domestic market has become a crucial support for the stable development of the construction machinery industry.
Guoxin Securities stated that the growth in domestic excavator demand is mainly driven by three factors: First, under the support of "stabilizing growth" policies, infrastructure investment has maintained growth, especially with the commencement of mega-projects such as the Yaxia Hydropower Project, continuously boosting domestic demand for construction machinery; second, the arrival of the replacement cycle for existing equipment, coupled with national replacement policies, has driven demand for replacement construction machinery; and third, the application scenarios are continuously expanding, with factors such as high-standard farmland construction and the replacement of manual labor with small excavators promoting the penetration of small and medium-sized excavators into new fields such as agriculture and municipal engineering.
Policy efforts are continuously being strengthened, injecting fresh vitality into the market. On October 31, Li Chao, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, revealed at a press conference that the 500 billion yuan of new policy-based financial instruments had been fully disbursed, supporting over 2,300 projects with a total investment of approximately 7 trillion yuan.
A research report from Donghai Securities pointed out that with the continued promotion of urban renewal and renovation of old residential areas, increased fiscal and monetary policy support, and the rigid replacement demand brought about by increased investment in major and new infrastructure projects, along with stable support from non-ferrous metal mines, major water conservancy projects, and high-standard farmland projects, the demand dividend will gradually be released, helping to boost the recovery of demand in the domestic construction machinery industry.
Analysts from Orient Securities stated that the construction progress of major and new infrastructure projects will significantly accelerate before the end of the year, resulting in more physical workload. It is expected that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, infrastructure investment will maintain a moderate growth rate driven by major and new infrastructure construction.
In the short term, as projects across the country enter the final sprint stage at the end of the year and policy-based funds are implemented, the domestic market is expected to maintain a certain level of activity in December; the export market, relying on the comprehensive strength of Chinese manufacturing, is expected to remain resilient.
In the long run, the equipment replacement cycle and policy guidance work together. The lifespan of excavators is generally around 8 years. The last sales peak was from 2019 to 2022. The government continues to promote the implementation of subsidy policies for the large-scale elimination of old equipment, stimulating the early release of downstream replacement demand. The demand for excavators has entered a period of rational growth.
