China's GDP for the first half of 2024 increased by 5% compared to the previous year, and the GDP of the manufacturing industries saw a 5.8% year-over-year increase.
According to the China Machine Tool & Tool Builders’ Association (CMTBA), from January to May, new orders for metalworking machines increased by 3.9% year over year, while on-hand orders (based on inventory physically available) decreased by 7.4% year over year.
According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the output of metal-cutting machine tools was 273,000 units, marking a 4.2% year-over-year increase, while the output of metal-forming machine tools decreased by 12% year-over-year to 66,000 units.
China’s customs data showed that the total import and export volume of machine tools from January to May was $12.79 billion, representing a 2.7% year-over-year decrease. The import value decreased by 10.7% year-over-year to $4.23 billion, while the export value increased by 1.8% year-over-year to $8.56 billion.
The latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that vehicle production and sales in June totaled 2.51 million units and 2.55 million units, up 5.7% and 5.6% month-over-month but down 2.1% and 2.7% year-over-year respectively. From January to June, vehicle production and sales totaled 13.891 million units and 14.05 million units, up 4.9% and 6.1%, respectively, year over year. The growth rate of production and sales narrowed by 1.7% and 2.2% compared to January to May.
Electric vehicle (EV) production and sales continued to grow rapidly, with totals of 1 million units and 1.05 million units in June, up 28.1% and 30.1% year over year and with a market share of 41.1%. From January to June, production and sales reached 4.93 million units and 4.94 million units, up 30.1% and 32% year over year and with a market share of 35.2%.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China reported that from January to June 2024, China's shipbuilding volume reached 25.02 million tons, indicating an 18.4% year-over-year increase. The number of new orders reached 54.22 million tons, up 43.9% year over year. As of the end of June, the on-hand order volume was 171.55 million tons, up 38.6% year over year. From January to June, these indicators accounted for 55%, 74.7%, and 58.9% of the global total in terms of tonnage.
A few recently announced projects and investment news items are listed below.
Jiangsu Lingpeng plans to invest $68.5 million in high-speed stamping, hydraulic press, plastic injection, and CNC turning machines, as well as inspection and measuring equipment. This investment will total 95 sets of equipment to produce automotive parts and components. The annual capacity of the production will be 13 million pieces.
XGM Corp. plans to invest $42.5 million to produce electronically controlled suspension systems for EVs, with an annual output of 750,000 kits.
Shandong Senghan Metal will invest $700 million to build production facilities and ancillaries to produce a series of lightweight chassis and other aluminum components for EVs. The purchasing plan includes inspection and measuring equipment, machining centers, die-casting machines, and assembly lines.
Schaeffler will invest $20 million to expand its auto parts production to 16 million pieces in the city of Taicang.
Huizhou Daya Bay Investment Holdings will invest $66.88 million to build a production plant for industrial robots in Guangdong.
Yibin Everwin Precision Technology will invest $205 million to build production plants for precision structural components for EV power batteries in Sichuan.
Hubei Tianjin Machinery will invest $20.5 million to build facilities for the production and assembly of agricultural machinery.
SceneRay, a high-tech medical device manufacturer in Suzhou, will invest $86 million to manufacture an implantable neurostimulation system, with an annual output of 20,000 units.
For more information, please contact Fred Qian at fredqian@AMTchina.org
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