Steady Progress, Innovation, and Excellence: Expected Goals Successfully Achieved
-A Summary of the Economic Operation of the Machinery Industry in 2025
In 2025, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the machinery industry earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, overcame difficulties, and worked hard. Supported by a series of national policies and measures to stabilize growth, including those related to "two major projects" and "two new initiatives," the industry's economic operation was stable and progressive, achieving positive results in high-quality development and successfully completing the annual and "14th Five-Year Plan" targets.
Looking ahead to 2026, the industry faces a complex and challenging internal and external environment, with both opportunities and challenges. However, the favorable conditions supporting the industry's development outweigh the unfavorable factors. The machinery industry is expected to continue its stable operation, achieving effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth, contributing to a good start to the "15th Five-Year Plan."
Steady Progress: The Industry's Economic Operation Shows Vitality in 2025
In 2025, the machinery industry's economic operation showed a trend of high-level slowdown and steady progress. The first quarter saw a good start; the second quarter, affected by factors such as tariff fluctuations, experienced a slowdown in growth, but quickly stabilized thanks to proactive measures from all parties; the third and fourth quarters continued the trend of slowing growth at a high level, resulting in relatively rapid growth for the whole year.
01
Characteristics of Industry Economic Operation
1. Rapid Growth in Added Value
In 2025, the added value of enterprises above designated size in the machinery industry increased by 8.2% year-on-year, 2.3 and 1.8 percentage points higher than the national industrial and manufacturing growth rates, respectively. The added value of all five major national economic sectors involved achieved growth. Among them, the automobile manufacturing industry continued to play a leading role, with a growth rate of 11.5%; the electrical machinery and general equipment manufacturing industries maintained high growth levels, increasing by 9.2% and 8.0% respectively; and the special equipment and instrumentation manufacturing industry operated smoothly, increasing by 4.3% and 6.1% respectively.
2. Stable and Positive Production and Sales Situation
In 2025, driven by policies such as "two major projects" and "two new projects," the overall production and sales situation of the machinery industry was better than the previous year. Of the 122 key monitored major machinery products, 85 products saw year-on-year growth in output, an increase of 13 products compared to the previous year, representing a growth rate of 69.7%. The production and sales of key products exhibited the following characteristics: First, automobile production and sales reached new historical highs, with annual output reaching 34.531 million vehicles and sales reaching 34.4 million vehicles, representing year-on-year increases of 10.4% and 9.4% respectively, maintaining its position as the world's largest automobile producer for 17 consecutive years. Second, the output of electrical and electronic products saw significant growth, with generator set output reaching 370 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 37.6%; and solar cell output reaching 830 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%. Third, the production of processing equipment accelerated, with metal cutting machine tool output reaching 868,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%; and industrial robot output reaching 773,000 sets, a year-on-year increase of 28.0%, setting a new record. Fourth, sales of construction machinery performed well, with excavator sales reaching 235,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 17.0%; and loader sales reaching 128,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 18.4%; both growth rates were more than 10 percentage points higher than the previous year. Fifth, production of metallurgical equipment, petrochemical equipment, and some environmental protection equipment remained weak due to adjustments in downstream industries.
3. Revenue and Profit Growth
In 2025, enterprises above designated size in the machinery industry achieved operating revenue of 33.2 trillion yuan, a record high, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.0%, 4.9 percentage points higher than the national industrial average. Total profits reached 1.7 trillion yuan, reversing the previous year's decline, with a year-on-year increase of 5.9%, 5.3 percentage points higher than the national industrial average. Operating revenue and total profits accounted for 23.9% and 23.1% of the national industrial total, respectively, increases of 1.1 and 1.2 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year.
4. Resilience in Foreign Trade
In 2025, facing a severe and complex international environment and foreign trade situation, the machinery industry withstood the pressure and responded effectively, achieving rapid growth in foreign trade, with the total amount reaching a new high, demonstrating strong resilience. The total import and export volume of goods in the machinery industry reached 1.27 trillion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%. Exports reached US$986.82 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%; imports reached US$279.98 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%. A trade surplus of US$706.84 billion was achieved, a year-on-year increase of 24.1%.
In terms of trading partners, the diversified and mutually beneficial foreign trade pattern was further consolidated. Exports of the machinery industry to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, RCEP member countries, the EU, and ASEAN increased by 24.7%, 18.4%, 17.1%, and 23.4% year-on-year, respectively. Among key trading partners, exports to Germany increased by 13.9% year-on-year, while exports to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, as well as Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, all saw growth exceeding 20%. Meanwhile, exports to the United States and Russia decreased by 11.7% and 20.6% year-on-year, respectively.
5. The Prosperity Index Shows Steady Growth
In 2025, the prosperity index of the machinery industry shows a slowing trend, but remains within the prosperity range throughout the year, with an overall performance better than the previous year. At the end of the year, the machinery industry prosperity index was 104.3, an increase of 1.2 points from the end of the previous year, indicating that the industry's economic operation continued to maintain a steady and positive trend.
Looking at the sub-indices, five of the six sub-indices were above the critical value. The product index was 104.2, up 0.7 points year-on-year, reflecting continued positive expansion on the production side; the industry index was 108.6, up 2.9 points year-on-year, showing continued positive development in the industry; the investment index was 100.3, down 8.1 points year-on-year, reflecting sluggish investment and a slowdown in growth; the foreign trade index was 105.5, down 0.5 points year-on-year, but still at a relatively high level, highlighting the resilience of the industry's foreign trade; the economic efficiency index was 104.4, up 10.4 points year-on-year, indicating a significant improvement in the industry's economic efficiency; the price index was 98.6, up 0.8 points year-on-year, but still below the critical value, reflecting that product prices were generally still on a downward trend.
02
Problems and Challenges in Economic Operation
1. Investment Growth Turns Negative, Industry Differentiation is Obvious
In 2025, the growth rate of fixed asset investment in the machinery industry will continue to slow, decreasing by 2.3% year-on-year, a drop of 7.4 percentage points from the previous year, turning negative and falling below the national average for industry and manufacturing. Industry investment is clearly differentiated. Among the five major national economic sectors, investment in general equipment and automobile manufacturing maintained growth, with growth rates of 6.2% and 11.7% respectively; while investment in special equipment, electrical machinery, and instrumentation manufacturing decreased by 7.1%, 10.3%, and 17.7% year-on-year, respectively. Looking at specific industries, among the 14 sub-sectors, investment in internal combustion engines, automobiles, food packaging machinery, and heavy mining machinery showed relatively good growth; investment in construction machinery, instrumentation, machine tools, electrical appliances, and office equipment declined significantly.
2. Prices Continue to Decline, Profitability Levels Decline
Affected by structural contradictions in supply and demand and intense market competition, the prices of machinery products continued to decline. In December 2025, the ex-factory price of machinery products decreased by 1.5% year-on-year, marking the 35th consecutive month of year-on-year decline. Ex-factory prices in all five major sectors of the national economy declined year-on-year: general equipment, special equipment, automobiles, electrical machinery, and instrumentation manufacturing decreased by 1.7%, 1.2%, 1.9%, 0.5%, and 0.3% respectively. The industry's profit margin continued to decline; in 2025, the machinery industry's operating revenue profit margin was 5.14%, a decrease of 0.04 percentage points from the previous year, and 0.17 percentage points lower than the national industrial average for the same period. The task of resolving the structural contradictions in supply and demand within the industry and comprehensively addressing "involution" remains arduous.
3. High Accounts Receivable and Extended Collection Cycle
In recent years, accounts receivable in the machinery industry have continued to grow rapidly, increasing as a proportion of operating revenue and current assets, and extending the average collection period, becoming a prominent issue affecting corporate cash flow and sound operation. At the end of 2025, the total accounts receivable of the machinery industry reached 9.9 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%, accounting for 36.0% of the total accounts receivable of the national industrial sector, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Accounts receivable accounted for 29.7% of operating revenue and 35.7% of current assets, both record highs, 10 and 7 percentage points higher than the national industrial average, respectively. The average collection period for accounts receivable was 100.1 days, an increase of 2.4 days year-on-year, and 32.2 days longer than the national industrial average. By sector, the average collection period for accounts receivable in the heavy mining and construction machinery industries exceeded 150 days, indicating particularly significant pressure.
Moving towards innovation and excellence, the industry's high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period yielded results.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the machinery industry thoroughly implemented the requirements for high-quality development, effectively responded to various shocks and challenges, expanded its scale and size, enhanced its innovation capabilities, deepened its transformation and upgrading, and significantly improved its international competitiveness, laying a solid foundation for promoting new industrialization and the construction of a modern industrial system.
1. The industry scale continued to expand, and the foundation for development became increasingly solid.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the added value of enterprises above designated size in the machinery industry grew at an average annual rate of 7.4%, 1.5 percentage points higher than the national industrial growth rate, providing important support for the stable growth of the industrial economy. The number of enterprises above designated size increased to 137,000, with an average annual growth of 8.3%; total assets increased to 42 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth of 8.8%; and operating income increased to 33.2 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth of 7.9%. The proportions of these three indicators in the national industrial total increased by 2.0, 1.4, and 2.4 percentage points respectively compared to 2020, further enhancing the overall strength and contribution of the industry.
2. Innovation capabilities were significantly enhanced, and supply capacity in key areas was substantially improved.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the machinery industry continued to strengthen the construction of its innovation system, basically forming an industry innovation network covering key areas. Significant progress was made in cultivating innovation entities. By the end of 2025, the machinery industry had over 500 manufacturing single-item champion enterprises, over 5,000 specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises, and over 40,000 specialized and innovative SMEs. These three types of enterprises accounted for over 30% of the national total, demonstrating a continuously improving innovation entity structure. R&D investment maintained steady growth. In 2024, the total R&D expenditure of the five major national economic sectors reached 763.56 billion yuan, a 47.7% increase compared to 2020; the R&D intensity was 2.42%, an increase of 0.21 percentage points compared to 2020, and 0.78 and 0.60 percentage points higher than the national industrial and manufacturing sectors, respectively, during the same period. Significant innovations in major equipment emerged, further consolidating the self-sufficiency of high-end equipment manufacturing. The entire energy and power equipment industrial chain achieved independent control, and breakthroughs were continuously made in the self-sufficiency of key basic materials, core components, and basic manufacturing processes, steadily enhancing the resilience of the industrial and supply chains.
3
Green and Intelligent Dual-Wheel Drive, Outstanding Achievements in Transformation and Upgrading
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the machinery industry achieved remarkable results in green and low-carbon transformation and digital transformation and intelligent upgrading. The new energy vehicle industry flourished, with electrification, intelligentization, and connectivity accelerating their integration, forming a significant leading industrial advantage. In 2025, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 16.626 million and 16.49 million units respectively, more than 12 times that of 2020, with an average annual growth of 65%; the market penetration rate increased significantly from 5.4% in 2020 to 47.9% in 2025, exceeding the planned target ahead of schedule. The rapid development of clean energy equipment strongly supported the construction of a new energy system. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the output of wind turbine units (measured by power) increased by 2.9 times cumulatively. In 2025, the output of wind turbine units accounted for more than 55% of the total output of generator units, an increase of nearly 20 percentage points compared to 2020; in 2025, the newly installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaic power exceeded 430 million kilowatts, and the cumulative installed capacity exceeded 1.8 billion kilowatts, with renewable energy power generation accounting for more than 60% of the total installed capacity. New-type productivity is thriving, traditional industries are accelerating their upgrading, and emerging industries are growing stronger. Advanced intelligent equipment such as intelligent agricultural machinery, intelligent engineering machinery, industrial robots, smart energy equipment, and intelligent connected vehicles are continuously making breakthroughs and iterating. The construction of smart factories is accelerating, with over 200 machinery companies selected for the list of excellent smart factories and over 30 machinery smart factories selected as global "lighthouse" factories. Artificial intelligence, 5G, and other technologies are deeply empowering the entire manufacturing process, and the industry's digital R&D and design tool adoption rate exceeds 90%. New business formats and models are constantly emerging, and enterprises are accelerating their transformation from single-product manufacturing to integrated "product + service" solutions, with the value chain continuously extending towards the high end.
4
International competitiveness has significantly improved, and the position in the global industrial chain has steadily increased.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the scale of foreign trade in the machinery industry continued to reach new highs. The total import and export volume of goods trade exceeded US$1 trillion for five consecutive years, with a cumulative growth of 61.5% over five years and an average annual growth of 10.1%. Exports performed particularly well, increasing 1.1 times over five years to nearly $1 trillion, with an average annual growth rate of 16.1%. Their share of the national total export value rose from 18.0% in 2020 to 26.2% in 2025, an increase of 8.2 percentage points, playing a crucial supporting role in stabilizing national foreign trade. Meanwhile, the trade surplus as a percentage of the national total surged from 27.9% to 59.5%, an increase of 31.6 percentage points. The trade structure continued to optimize, with a significant increase in the proportion of high value-added product exports. The share of general trade exports rose from 67% in 2020 to 76.4% in 2025, an increase of 9.4 percentage points; while the share of processing trade declined to less than a quarter. Exports of complete machinery and equipment achieved a significant leap: Automobile exports jumped from 1.054 million units in 2020 to 8.084 million units in 2025, a cumulative increase of 6.7 times, ranking first globally; among them, electric passenger vehicle exports increased from 223,000 units to 3.853 million units, a cumulative increase of 16.3 times; Construction machinery exports also performed exceptionally well, with excavator exports increasing from 49,000 units to 317,000 units, a cumulative increase of 5.5 times; and loader exports increasing from 52,000 units to 171,000 units, a cumulative increase of 2.3 times.
2026 Industry Outlook
Looking ahead to 2026 and even the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the machinery industry will face increasingly profound external environmental changes and greater risks and challenges. The overall international situation is tightening, geopolitical conflicts are frequent, tariff negotiations are unpredictable, the global economy faces downward pressure, international market demand is contracting, the foreign trade environment is becoming increasingly complex, and uncertainty is significantly increasing. The contradiction between strong supply and weak demand is prominent in the domestic market, and the problems of price "involution" and difficulty in collecting accounts receivable in some industries are becoming increasingly apparent.
However, favorable conditions supporting the high-quality development of the industry are also accumulating and increasing. First, macro-control and industrial policies continue to strengthen, with a series of measures conducive to the development of the machinery industry being introduced, continuously optimizing the industry environment. Second, the traditional market base is solid, the construction of new power systems is accelerating, the agricultural mechanization rate is continuously improving, and the demand for green transformation in upstream industries and the implementation of major national infrastructure construction projects will continue to drive demand for related equipment. Third, the super-large domestic market and the trend of consumption upgrading are overlapping, creating a triple opportunity of "new demand" for high-end equipment, "upgrade demand" for traditional equipment, and "digital transformation demand" for enterprises, opening up broader growth space for the industry. Fourth, the accelerated technological revolution is injecting new momentum into industrial development, green and low-carbon transformation continues to lead the demand for equipment upgrades, and cross-industry integration is constantly expanding new development space. Fifth, the global layout is gradually deepening, with a number of leading enterprises actively promoting overseas localization operations, achieving a leap from product export to enterprise export and standard export, and the industry's initiative in global competition is constantly strengthening.
In summary,
the machinery industry will face both opportunities and challenges in 2026, but the favorable conditions generally outweigh the unfavorable factors. With the implementation of the strategic deployments of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee regarding the construction of a modern industrial system, and the effective implementation of policies related to stabilizing growth and promoting transformation from the Central Economic Work Conference, the machinery industry is expected to maintain a stable operating trend, with the growth rate of major indicators projected to be around 5.5% for the whole year.
2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the machinery industry will fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and its subsequent plenary sessions, earnestly implement the deployments of the Central Economic Work Conference, adhere to the theme of high-quality development, focus on enhancing the resilience and security of the industrial and supply chains, accelerating the development of new-type productive forces, strengthen innovation-driven development, deepen structural adjustments, optimize the industrial ecosystem, consolidate the foundation for development, improve the industrial chain layout, enhance industrial competitiveness, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, provide solid support for the construction of a manufacturing powerhouse and new industrialization, and make new and greater contributions to the new journey of Chinese-style modernization.
