Press Release of CMTBA at EMO Hannover 2019

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, on behalf of CMTBA (China Machine Tool & Tool Builders’ Association), I would like to express my sincere gratitude and warm welcome to all of you attending this press conference!

Next, I would love to share information on the operation of China’s economy, market and machine tool & tool industry, and briefly introduce to you the CCMT2020 (China CNC Machine Tool Fair 2020) to be held in Shanghai, China on April 7th-11th.

I. Macroeconomic Situation in China

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In the past 7 decades, especially since the reform and opening up of China in 1978, Chinese industry has been growing at an unprecedented speed. The industrial value added increased from 12 billion Yuan in 1952 to 30.516 trillion Yuan in 2018. Calculated at constant price, it has increased 970.6 times, with an average annual growth rate of 11.0%. In 2010, the value added in the manufacturing of China surpassed that of the US for the first time, making China the world’s largest manufacturer. Since then, China has ranked first in the world for many consecutive years. In 2017, China’s manufacturing value added accounted for 27.0% of the world’s total. At present, China is the only country in the world that has all the industrial categories in the UN industrial classification catalogue. Therefore, China has a huge market demand for metalworking machine tools & tools. According to statistics from Gardner, a US company, the consumption of metalworking machine tools in China accounted for 31.4% of the global total in 2018.

After the global financial crisis in 2008, China’s economy has shifted from a high-speed growth stage to a high-quality development stage, with the focus put on deepening supply-side structural reforms, continuously optimizing the industrial structure, and nurturing new growth drivers. In 2018, the value added in high-tech manufacturing accounted for 13.9% of the valued added of industrial enterprises above 20-million Yuan.

From the GDP growth curve, it can be seen that China’s GDP growth rate has gradually decreased in recent years. However, its GDP exceeded 90 trillion Yuan (equivalent to 13.6 trillion US dollars) in 2018 for the first time, which reflects the transformation and upgrading of its economy.

In the first half of 2019, the GDP registered 45.0933 trillion Yuan, up by 6.3% year on year calculated at comparable price. The annual target of 6.0%-6.5% is expected to be achieved. Alongside the rapid GDP growth, employment is relatively stable, commodity prices remain basically the same, and residents’ incomes grow comparatively faster. The energy consumption per 10,000 Yuan of GDP fall by 2.7% on a Y-o-Y basis.

In the first half of 2019, the total import and export of goods was 14.6675 trillion yuan, a YoY increase of 3.9%. Among them, import accounted for 6.7155 trillion yuan, up 1.4%, and export accounted for 7.9521 trillion Yuan, up 6.1%. With import and export offsetting each other, the trade surplus was 1.2366 trillion Yuan, a Y-o-Y increase of 41.6%.

According to the growth curve of fixed assets investment, the growth rate of fixed assets investment in the whole society has slowly decreased for several years, but the secondary industry obviously accelerated in 2018, and has returned to the average level of recent years since this year. In the first half of 2019, the country’s total fixed assets investment accomplished increased 5.8% on a Y-o-Y basis. Among them, industrial investment rose 2.9%, and manufacturing investment rose 3.0% on a Y-o-Y basis.

According to the growth curve of industrial value added, the growth rate of industrial value added maintained a growth trend in 2016 and 2017, and declined since the second half of 2018. From January to June 2019, industrial value added increased 6.0% on a Y-o-Y basis, in which manufacturing increased 6.4%.

It can be seen from the variation of PMI curve of the manufacturing industry that PMI was increasing from the second half of 2016 to the end of 2018, and has fluctuated greatly since this year, below the 50% critical point in May, June and July (49.4%, 49.4%, and 49.7%).

In summary, China’s economic growth has maintained a generally steady and progressive development trend since this year. The main macroeconomic indicators are operating in a reasonable range and the economic structure is being optimized and adjusted. However, anti-globalization, trade protectionism and geopolitical conflicts have intensified, and the global economic development is facing new challenges. The downward pressure on China’s economy has increased.

II. Machine Tool & Tool Market in China

1. Demand for metalworking machine tools in China in 2010-2018

According to the consumption curve of metalworking machine tools in China in 2011-2018, after reaching the record high value in 2011, the total consumption declined, and was basically stable after 2015. In 2018, the total consumption of metalworking machine tools in China was 29.13 billion US dollars, a slight decrease of 2.8% from 2017.

2. Import and export of metalworking machine tools & tools and measuring instruments in China in 2010-2018

According to the three curves showing the import and export of metal cutting machine tools, metal forming machine tools, and tools and measuring instruments in China in 2010-2018, after reaching the peak value in 2012, the import and export of metal cutting machine tools have been fluctuating and growing in recent years. After the peak value in 2011, the import of metal forming machine tools has been going down, while the export steadily growing. The import and export of tools and measuring instruments have been in a steady upward trend.

III. Operation of the Machine Tool & Tool Industry in China

1. Composition of enterprises in China’s machine tool & tool industry

The National Bureau of Statistics of China only conducts statistics on machine tool & tool enterprises above 20-million Yuan in annual revenue with industrial legal person. In June 2019, China had a total of 5,547 machine tool & tool enterprises of this kind, involving eight sub-industries. Among them, 782 were metal cutting machine tool enterprises, accounting for 14.1%; 540 were metal forming machine tool enterprises, accounting for 9.7%; 705 were tool and measuring instrument enterprises, accounting for 12.7%. See the figure in the PPT document for details.

2. Operation revenue changes of the metalworking machine tool & tool and measuring instrument sub-industries, and the output of metalworking machine tools in January-June 2019

According to the data of National Bureau of Statistics of China, the cumulative operation revenue achieved from the machine tool & tool industry in January-June 2019 decreased 2.3% on a Y-o-Y basis. Among them, the cumulative operation revenue achieved from the metal cutting machine tool industry decreased 15.4% on a Y-o-Y basis, that of the metal forming machine tool industry decreased 1.7% on a Y-o-Y basis, and that of the tool and measuring instrument sub-industries decreased 0.2% on a Y-o-Y basis. The output of metal cutting machine tools fell 10.3% on a Y-o-Y basis, and that of metal forming machine tools fell 5.1% on a Y-o-Y basis.

According to the curve, the year-on-year data of the above indicators showed high points in March and lower values in April-June. This kind of situation was related to the decrease in the growth rate of fixed assets investment and the continuous decline of the automobile industry in the same periods.

3. Import and export of metalworking machine tool, tools and measuring instruments in January-June 2019

(1) Overall situation

According to Chinese customs data, the total import value of the machine tool & tool industry in January-June 2019 was 6.95 billion US dollars, down 20.6% on a Y-o-Y basis. Among them, the total import value of metal cutting machine tool was 3.03 billion US dollars, down 31.5% on a Y-o-Y basis, and that of metal forming machine tool was 790 million US dollars, down 4.5% on a Y-o-Y basis. In January-June 2019, the total export value of the machine tool & tool industry was 7.03 billion US dollars, up 9.2% on a Y-o-Y basis. Among them, the total export value of metal cutting machine tool was 1.42 billion US dollars, up 12.1% on a Y-o-Y basis, and that of metal forming machine tool was 740 million US dollars, up 25.0% on a Y-o-Y basis.

(2) The top 5 exporters and the top 5 importers of machine tools

For the period from January to June 2019, the top 5 countries or regions exporting metal cutting machine tools to China by value were: Japan, Germany, China Taiwan , Switzerland, and Italy, and the top 5 countries or regions importing from China by value were: Vietnam, India , the US, Germany, and Japan.

For the period from January to June 2019, the top 5 countries or regions exporting metal forming machine tools to China by value were: Germany, Japan, South Korea, China Taiwan, and Italy, and the top 5 countries or regions importing from China by value were: India, Vietnam, the US, Thailand, and Malaysia.

 (3) The top 5 by import value and category of metalworking machine tool

(4) The top 5 by export value and category of metalworking machine tool 

IV. Characteristics of the Operation of China Machine Tool & Tool Industry

1. The total market demand shrinks and the demand structure is upgraded

At present, China’s economy has shifted from a high-speed growth stage to a high-quality development stage. The Y-o-Y growth rate of fixed assets investment has significantly decreased. Therefore, the rapid growth of the total market demand for metalworking machine tools is difficult to reproduce. Nonetheless, with the overall technological improvement in China’s manufacturing industry, the level of demand for machine tool is constantly improving, and the demand for precision, composite, automatic and intelligent machine tools as well as the application of IoT will become more and more common.

2. Enterprises strive to transform and upgrade themselves to respond to market changes

With the above market changes, in recent years, Chinese machine tool & tool enterprises have kept up with the market demand, adjusted the product structure, and sought transformation and upgrading. Some have achieved good results.

3. Export continues to grow and structure improved

In the past, China’s machine tool industry mainly exported small, common and low-end machine tools. With the continuous improvement of the technological level and quality of Chinese machine tool products, the export of medium and large-sized, mid-end and above CNC machine tools has been gradually increasing in recent years.

V. Forecast for 2019

To sum up, in the second half of 2019, China’s machine tool & tool industry will generally maintain a continuous upward trend in demand. Structural changes in demand will be obvious, and the total demand will show a downward trend. The sub-industries will perform differently. It is predicted that the main economic indicators of the industry throughout the year will show a Y-o-Y huge downward pressure.

VI. Introduction to CCMT2020

China CNC Machine Tool Fair is a brand exhibition launched by CMTBA in Shanghai in 2000. It is held once every two years and has been successfully held for ten sessions. It aims to build a first-class exhibiting, communicating and marketing platform for top domestic and foreign exhibitors in the most economically active region in China.

1. Previous exhibitions

CCMT2000, the 1st China CNC Machine Tool Fair, was held in Shanghai in 2000. The exhibition was sponsored by CMTBA and was a sister exhibition of CIMT (China International Machine Tool Show) in Beijing. The exhibition was originally a domestic show. With the active participation of international exhibitors and visitors, its internationalization has become increasingly striking.

Overseas cooperators are: AMT (The Association For Manufacturing Technology), AFM (Machine Tool, Accessories, Component Parts and Tools Manufacturers’ Association of Spain), CECIMO (European Association of the Machine Tool Industries and related Manufacturing Technologies), ICE (Italian Trade Commission), IMTMA (Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association), JMTBA (Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association), JFMA (Japan Forming Machinery Association), JMAA (Japan Machine Accessory Association), JAPIT (Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade), KOMMA (Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association), MTA (Manufacturing Technologies Association), SST(Association of Engineering Technology), SWISSMEM(Swiss Machine Tool Manufactures), TAMI (Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry), TMBA (Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders’ Association), UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE (Italian Machine Tools, Robots and Automation Manufacturers’ Association), and VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association).

China CNC Machine Tool Fair focuses on the exchange and display of the latest trends in technologies, products and market demand in the field of CNC machine tools in China. Therefore, more and more domestic and foreign exhibitors, professional visitors, users and government personnel are paying attention and visit the exhibition. The exhibition has witnessed gradual improvements in terms of its exhibition area, exhibitors’ number and composition, and visitors’ number.

The exhibition area increased from 15,800 m² at CCMT2000 to 135,000 m² at CCMT2020, with an average growth rate of 23.9%. The number of exhibitors increased from 244 at CCMT2000 to 1,233 at CCMT2018, with an average growth rate of 19.7%. Among them, the number of overseas exhibitors increased from 0 to 526, accounting for 42.7% at CCMT2018. Visitors increased from 43,000 person-times at CCMT2000 to 171,000 person-times at CCMT2018, with an average growth rate of 16.6%.

2. Preparations for CCMT2020

On April 7th-11th, 2020, CCMT2020 will be held at Shanghai New International Expo Center. The theme of the exhibition is: “Focus on——Digitalization，Interconnection，Intelligent Manufacturing”. At present, the preparations for the exhibition are progressing in an orderly way. Exhibitors at home and abroad are very active in registering for participation.

CCMT2020 will continue to use the 10 pavilions of W1-W5 and N1-N5 out of the 17 pavilions of Shanghai New International Expo Center, with an exhibition area of 135,000 m². The exhibits will be converged the latest demand of the Chinese machine tool & tool consumer market and the world’s latest manufacturing technologies and products.

During the exhibition, CMTBA will hold an international forum for CEOs of machine tool manufacturers, dozens of technological seminars，product introduction meetings and other collateral activities, and organize user groups from important customer fields to visit and purchase at the exhibition. I believe that CCMT2020 will be an even more exciting international event for machine tools.

For more details about the exhibition, please visit it official website at: www.ccmtshow.com

Thank you again for your present, and sincerely invite you to participate in CCMT2020. Looking forward to meeting all of you in Shanghai in April 2020!

CMTBA

Sep., 2019