Financial Observation: The Leap of China's Manufacturing Industry from the Perspective of "Four Major" Exports

The average daily output of over 1.5 billion chips in the first half of the year, the new shipbuilding orders from January to May accounted for 81.2% of the global total, the monthly automobile export volume exceeded 1 million vehicles for the first time in June, and the export of photovoltaic products increased by 36.5% in the first half of the year... In recent reports on China's economic and trade sectors, chips, ships, new energy vehicles, and photovoltaic products have been referred to as the "four major components" by some netizens, outlining the deep-seated changes in China's export structure. As one of the core economic pillars, the leap of China's manufacturing industry is driving the continuous optimization of its export structure, and exports are upgrading from "selling products" to "exporting technological systems and industrial capabilities". Amidst the ongoing turbulence in the global economic and trade situation and the constant geopolitical risks, China's manufacturing industry, relying on continuous innovation in technology and supply chain, has given the international market a sense of "certainty" in the first half of the year, and has joined hands with partners to move towards the "new maritime era" in the second half of the year through diversified "going global" strategies.

Orders scheduled until 2030

On the 20th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the development of industry and information technology in the first half of 2026. Wang Weiming, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, mentioned at the meeting that a number of industries with international competitive advantages are accelerating their growth. Among them, in the field of shipbuilding and offshore equipment, the number of new shipbuilding orders received from January to May this year accounted for 81.2% of the global total, firmly ranking first in the global market share. Behind this is a "two-way rush" between global market demand and China's shipbuilding capabilities.

A reporter from Global Times recently noticed during interviews with three companies, China Shipbuilding Chengxi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., China Shipbuilding Guangchuan International, and China Shipbuilding Group Wuchang Shipbuilding, that everyone mentioned the time point of "2030". The number of orders received in the first half of the year is quite considerable compared to the same period last year. Currently, orders have been scheduled until 2030, and market demand remains strong, "Zhang Xinlong, General Manager of CSSC Chengxi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., told reporters." As of now, we have a total of more than 120 orders, covering various types of ships such as container ships, oil tankers, and special ships. According to Guangchuan International, the total amount of orders held by the company has exceeded 100 billion yuan, with international orders accounting for over 95%. The production schedule has reached 2030, and the long-term development of the chassis is solid and stable. In the first half of the year, Wuchang Shipbuilding signed contracts for high-end offshore factory ship, chemical tankers, small and medium-sized container ships and other ship types, with a contract value of about 6 billion yuan, and the export volume accounted for about 30%. Its products were exported to Eurasian countries such as South Korea and Greece, and the hand order scheduling was also scheduled to 2030.

According to Zhang Xinlong's analysis of global market trends, this positive trend is mainly due to three factors: firstly, the growth in freight demand brought about by the sustained development of the global economy; The second is the natural replacement of ships, which means that old ships must be replaced by new ships after reaching the upper limit of their age; Thirdly, driven by the global trend of green energy conservation, various environmental regulations and norms are constantly upgrading, resulting in some old and even some new ships being forced to withdraw or update in advance due to their inability to meet the new regulations, thus creating new demand.

Against this backdrop of demand, Chinese enterprises continue to make efforts in fields such as green ships and intelligent manufacturing. The reporter of the Global Times learned from Wuchang Shipbuilding that in the first half of the year, the enterprise successfully developed nine new energy ships, such as stainless steel chemical ships, high-end factory ship, sail assisted ro ro ships, and built a number of digital workshops, such as ship pipe digital workshops, intelligent three-dimensional storage, digital module manufacturing workshops, and digital hull workshops. It created a comprehensive command and control platform, and initially formed a digital collaborative system for ship building that supports the design, manufacturing, and management processes. Guangchuan International told reporters that it has precisely laid out high-end segmented tracks and has undertaken orders for 8 Suez type crude oil ships and 2 high-end passenger roll on/roll off ships.

As one of the earliest advanced manufacturing industries in China to go global, the photovoltaic industry also promoted its own industrial progress in the first half of the year in response to changes in international demand. Wang Haitao, International Sales General Manager of Yingli Energy Development Co., Ltd., a Chinese photovoltaic enterprise, stated in an interview with Global Times on the 21st that the company's overseas market maintained stable growth in the first half of the year, with outstanding performance in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East, becoming the core driving force for the company's overseas market growth. At the same time, he mentioned that "Chinese photovoltaic enterprises as a whole have become the core engine for energy transformation in emerging markets such as the Middle East.

When it comes to the competitive sources of China's photovoltaic industry in the global market changes, Wang Haitao shared with reporters that with the continuous maturity of overseas markets and increasingly fierce market competition, the demands of overseas users are changing and constantly increasing. Whether it is large-scale ground power stations or household, industrial and commercial projects, customer demands are rapidly shifting towards system optimization, photovoltaic storage supporting, engineering delivery, and integrated solutions for later operation and maintenance. "This is a new challenge that Chinese photovoltaic enterprises face when going global. He stated that building a full chain system of services and comprehensive project implementation capabilities has become a differentiated core competitiveness for Chinese and foreign enterprises competing in the Middle East and global markets.

No longer just 'product going global'

In an interview, Wang Haitao told Global Times reporters that the advantages of the entire industry chain have also led Chinese companies to shift from "product going global" to "service going global" and "solution going global". Based on the improvement of manufacturing capabilities, a substantial transformation in the way Chinese enterprises go global is gradually becoming a consensus among different industries.

Zhou Xiaoyang, President of Guangdong Xinju Semiconductor Co., Ltd., an automotive semiconductor company, told Global Times reporters that the export of China's automotive industry chain in 2026 is in a critical period of deep transformation from "product going global" to "industry going global". For the new energy vehicle industry cluster represented by Nansha, Guangzhou, this transformation is reflected not only in the growth of vehicle sales, but also in the repositioning of the core links of the industry chain in the global landscape.

According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, the export value of China's mechanical and electrical products reached 9.36 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, an increase of 20.1%, accounting for 63.5% of the total export value. Among them, the export value of integrated circuits (chips) reached 177.28 billion US dollars, a year-on-year surge of 96%, almost doubling. During the same period, the performance of the automotive industry was particularly impressive: in the first half of the year, China's total vehicle exports reached 91.8 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 54%, and the cumulative export volume exceeded 5 million vehicles for the first time; In June, the monthly automobile export volume exceeded 1 million units for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 75.1%.

Zhou Xiaoyang stated that the current export of China's new energy vehicle industry chain mainly follows three paths: firstly, it accompanies the export of Chinese brand vehicles, completes the supporting facilities domestically, and then goes abroad with the vehicles. For example, the main drive module of Xinju Energy has been approved by the European Union last year and exported in large quantities with the vehicles; Secondly, following Chinese car companies to build factories overseas to achieve localized extension of the supply chain; The third is to directly target overseas non Chinese car companies and enter their global supply chain system. At present, the third path is still in the breakthrough stage, especially in key areas such as automotive grade semiconductors. Entering the supply chain system of international large car companies has high barriers and long verification cycles, requiring long-term technological accumulation and trust building. He mentioned that in some upstream links of the industrial chain, Chinese enterprises have emerged and even reached the global leading level in some fields. "There is reason to believe that it is only a matter of time before China's automotive semiconductor industry fully enters the world's top tier from devices to systems, and will eventually occupy an irreplaceable core position in the global new energy vehicle industry chain.

Wang Hanyun, a researcher at the Sino British Cultural Exchange Center of Shanghai International Studies University, stated in an interview with Global Times that the export of electromechanical and high-tech products has maintained rapid growth, reflecting the continuous shift of China's foreign trade growth momentum towards innovation driven growth. In recent years, China's manufacturing industry has continued to upgrade towards high-end, intelligent, and green products, and the international competitiveness of products such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaic equipment, and high-end equipment has been continuously enhanced. At the same time, digital transformation, improvement of industrial and supply chain collaboration capabilities, and continuous increase in research and development investment are driving the continuous enhancement of enterprise product added value and international market adaptability. The continuous increase in the proportion of independent brand exports also reflects that Chinese enterprises are gradually moving from mainly processing and manufacturing to brand management, technological innovation, and the high-end of the global value chain.

In terms of specific overseas models, Chinese enterprises are bidding farewell to the primary stage of simple "selling goods" in the past and entering a new era of "industry co construction". Wang Hanyun stated that one of the prominent new trends in China's industry going global in the first half of this year is the continuous upgrading of the overseas model, shifting from exporting a single product to "product+technology+service+localized operation". More and more enterprises are deeply integrating into the local market through overseas factory construction, supply chain layout, R&D center and after-sales service network. The main body of going global is also becoming more diversified. In addition to large manufacturing enterprises, small and medium-sized technology enterprises, cross-border e-commerce enterprises, and digital service enterprises are also accelerating their international layout. The continuous optimization of market layout and the accelerated expansion of emerging markets such as ASEAN, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa will help enhance the resilience of foreign trade.

Emerging markets have abundant momentum

The companies interviewed by Global Times reporters mentioned that the value of emerging markets is receiving increasing attention. In the first half of the year, China's international export market layout accelerated towards the "global south", and emerging markets gradually became the "ballast stone" for stabilizing foreign trade. Customs statistics show that in the first half of the year, China's import and export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" reached 12.97 trillion yuan, up 14.8% year on year, and its proportion in the total foreign trade rose to 50.9%. China's imports and exports to ASEAN reached 4.34 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%, achieving growth for the 10th consecutive quarter.

As for the formation of these incremental spaces, Zhu Ye, a lecturer at the European School of Shanghai International Studies University, analyzed in an interview with the Global Times that the core driving force for China's foreign trade growth in the first half of the year to jointly build the "the Belt and Road" countries lies in the enhancement of industrial complementarities, the acceleration of independent brands going to sea, and the continued release of dividends from regional economic and trade agreements. The demand for green and low-carbon transformation is driving explosive growth in the jointly built national market for "new three types" such as electric vehicles, photovoltaics, and lithium batteries; Deep integration of the industrial chain to form an efficient regional division of labor network; The normalized operation of China Europe freight trains and the improvement of cross-border logistics infrastructure such as overseas warehouses have significantly reduced cross-border logistics costs; The high-level implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has directly reduced trade barriers through tariff reductions and cumulative rules of origin.

Zhu Ye believes that foreign trade is currently shifting from "traditional manufacturing" to "hardcore technology", with the proportion of high-end machinery, new energy vehicles, and new energy equipment increasing; At the same time, shifting from "one-way trade" to "two-way mutual benefit", China places equal emphasis on the export of technology and standards, as well as the import of national characteristic agricultural products and industrial raw materials; In addition, cross-border e-commerce and digital trade have become new drivers.

In terms of regional incremental space, Zhu Ye analyzed that there is a huge gap in digital infrastructure such as 5G network construction and data centers in Central Asia and Africa, and there is a strong demand for digital and green infrastructure transformation in the Middle East and Latin American countries. Cross border e-commerce and overseas warehouses in Latin America and the Middle East have extremely high growth dividends. In Southeast Asia, Chinese companies can utilize the RCEP cumulative rules of origin to explore enormous potential in supply chain collaborative processing and manufacturing, green energy transformation, and consumer goods branding.

When it comes to the global market changes in the second half of the year, Wang Haitao believes that in the field of photovoltaics, overseas markets may exhibit three major characteristics: firstly, the demand in developed countries tends to be stable, while emerging markets perform more outstandingly; Secondly, various trade barriers will continue to be introduced, and cross-border trade costs and compliance risks will rise simultaneously; Thirdly, competition will further intensify, and the demand for comprehensive strength of enterprises will continue to increase.

Based on the latest changes in overseas markets, the reporter learned that Chinese photovoltaic companies such as Yingli Energy have entered a new overseas operation mode, including building factories overseas, digital upgrading of operation systems, and further sinking of market channels.