The role of "ballast stone" in equipment manufacturing industry is highlighted (mid year economic observation)
Equipment manufacturing industry, the backbone of industry.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "Time waits for no one to promote self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology, seize every day to break through the bottleneck problem, and strive to master key core technologies and equipment manufacturing industry in our own hands
Opening this year's China Economic Half Year Report, the equipment manufacturing industry has performed outstandingly.
In the first half of the year, the added value of equipment manufacturing industry above designated size increased by 9.3% year-on-year, accounting for 37.0% of all industries above designated size, an increase of 1.5 percentage points year-on-year; The added value of all 8 industries in the equipment manufacturing industry has achieved growth, and multiple segmented industries have maintained high growth rates.
Step out of the data and focus on the hot practices on the land of China, experiencing them more vividly.
On the banks of the Yangtze River, the world's largest pile driving vessel, "Tiejian Bridge Pile 1," is poised to take off. It is about to head to Brazil to assist in the construction of the largest cross sea cable-stayed bridge in Latin America with a pile driving capacity of 700 tons and centimeter level accuracy.
On the southeast coast, the world's first 20 MW offshore wind turbine stands facing the wind, with a sweeping area of 10 standard football fields, allowing a single unit to meet the electricity needs of 44000 households annually, generating more electricity at a lower cost.
In the land of Bashu, the domestically produced G50 heavy-duty gas turbine developed by Dongfang Electric has won multiple overseas orders, and the pace of expanding overseas markets continues to accelerate.
The major country's heavy equipment has undergone iterative updates, and the industry has maintained a good momentum of development. The equipment manufacturing industry has demonstrated its "backbone" responsibility.
Focusing on forging long plates, our advantageous industries continue to lead the way
In May, the list of the top 50 global construction machinery manufacturers in 2026 was released, with a total of 13 Chinese companies on the list, and XCMG Group rose to third place in the world.
The pace of innovation in Chinese enterprises has never stopped. XCMG Group unveiled the "Zero Carbon Pioneer" customized for global mining enterprise Fudeshi River: a pure electric loader with a working load of up to 26 tons; The pure electric wheeled bulldozer has a rated power of 783 kilowatts, both breaking the world record.
Wang Bangxu, Deputy General Manager of XCMG Loading Machinery Oceania Operations Center, introduced, "The large capacity and high rate power batteries we independently developed for these two devices only take 35 minutes to charge, improve work efficiency by 21%, and can still operate at high temperatures of 55 degrees Celsius
Not only in the construction machinery industry. The three major indicators of the shipbuilding industry continue to lead the world; In the first half of the year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 7 million units, and the cumulative export of automobiles was 5.096 million units... China's equipment manufacturing industry continues to lead in advantageous areas.
Concentrate efforts to fill gaps and accelerate the development of key technologies
The industrial mother machine, known as the "tool of manufacturing", determines the level of a country's equipment manufacturing industry.
In January of this year, a super large seamless forging ring with a diameter of 21 meters was successfully produced in Jinan, Shandong. This' giant 'is a key component of major equipment in fields such as water conservancy, hydropower, and high-end refining. The 22000 ton free forging press, 22 meter ring rolling press, and 300 ton operating machine used to manufacture it were all independently developed by China.
The relevant person in charge of General Technology Group introduced that the 22000 ton free forging press, as the world's largest tonnage "steel strongman", can apply pressure to giant metal billets and complete plastic deformation; The 300 ton manipulator is like a pair of nimble "steel giant hands", capable of steadily grasping and flexibly flipping hundreds of tons of hot billets, and working in perfect coordination with the press to gradually "carve" the metal billets into shape; The 22 meter ring rolling machine is like a precision "rolling pin", repeatedly rolling to make the metal ring wall thinner, the diameter larger, and finally formed.
The strong combination of three industrial mother machines enables the production line to have high-precision control, large tonnage coordination, and adaptability to complex working conditions, highlighting the independent innovation capability of China's heavy forging equipment, "said the person in charge.
Wuzhong Group has developed a nine axis six linkage intelligent milling and boring composite machining center, successfully solving the machining problems of deep-sea equipment; The high-precision gantry machining center developed by General Technology Machine Tool Company has successfully controlled the repeated positioning accuracy within 0.008 millimeters... Through solid innovation, China's industrial mother machine industry has made significant progress.
The change in the export structure of machine tools is an example. According to customs statistics, the export volume of high-end machine tools in the first quarter increased by 40% year-on-year, and China's machine tools are steadily moving towards the high-end market.
Fully cultivate new boards and seize new fields and tracks
Industrial robots are a new field in equipment manufacturing. In 2025, China will become a net exporter of industrial robots for the first time. In the first half of this year, the production of industrial robot products in China increased by 28.0% year-on-year, and exports increased by 18.6%, sold to 141 countries and regions, helping the global manufacturing industry to transform towards intelligence.
Behind the sales is a leap in strength.
Automotive body welding is known as the "ultimate test room" for testing the high-end performance of industrial robots. Not long ago, nearly a hundred Xinsong heavy-duty industrial robots were deployed in bulk in the welding workshop of Geely's Yiwu base in Zhejiang, competing on the same stage as imported equipment.
In order to tackle the "hard bone" of automotive welding and assembly, the Xinsong team and the Geely team have deeply collaborated and jointly tackled more than 1000 technical problems after nearly 4 years of research and development, achieving 100% independent and controllable key core technologies.
Nowadays, nearly a hundred Xinsong robots are arranged in a neat array, with welding position errors controlled within 0.06 millimeters, synchronized with the pace and performance of imported equipment.
Not just industrial robots. In the field of humanoid robots, innovative achievements are also diverse.
The Honor "Lightning" robot won the Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon championship with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, breaking the human record; Yushu Technology G1 humanoid robot successfully completed the world's first live animal laparoscopic cholecystectomy; The Smart Yuan Expedition A3 Ultra transforms into an "all-in-one butler", not only capable of making healthy meals, but also able to independently take photos for tourists
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology predicts that this year, the production of humanoid robots in China is expected to exceed 100000 units, and the humanoid robot industry is accelerating towards large-scale production and commercialization.
Looking back on the first half of the year, China has continued to expand and strengthen its equipment manufacturing industry by forging long plates, making up for shortcomings, and cultivating new plates. Looking ahead to the future, promoting the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, China will continue to make breakthroughs in high-end equipment, intelligent manufacturing, and other fields, constantly consolidating the industrial "ballast stone".