SteelOrbis Shanghai
According to the information released by China General Machinery Industry Association on January 21, 2008, the gross output value of China's machinery industry increased by approximately 32 percent in 2007 year on year, registering a rapid development rate exceeding 20 percent for the fifth consecutive year. The gross output value of China's machinery industry for 2007 broke RMB 7 trillion ($965.5 billion) for the first time.
According to Chinese customs' statistics, during the first 11 months of 2007, the combined import & export figures of China's machinery industry reached $327.110 billion, up 30.3 percent year on year. Exports totaled $174.814 billion, up 40.74 percent, while imports totaled $152.296 billion, up 20.07 percent.
China has moved from being a net importer to a net exporter of machinery products since 2006. In the first 11 months of last year, a trade surplus of $22.5 billion was achieved, marking the strengthening of international competition in machinery industry. The export products structure of China's machinery industry continued to be upgraded: exports from high value-added industries such as automobile and engineering machinery recorded a sharp increase. From January to November 2007, the exports of the automobile industry increased by 52 percent year on year, engineering machinery exports were up 62.7 percent year on year, and general trade exports in the machinery industry increased by 46.8 percent - 13 percent higher than that of processing trade exports, representing steady improvement in the foreign trading quality and competition of China's engineering machinery.
The overall performance of China's equipment manufacturing improved further. Many important new products have been successfully developed, such as the 15,000 ton grade water press, 35 m3 electric shovel and 12,000 m digital deep petroleum drilling rig.
China General Machinery Industry Association predicts that this year the machinery industry will maintain a growth rate of around 20 percent for the sixth consecutive year, that automobile output will break 10 million units, while electric generators are expected to maintain a high level of 100 million kw approximately.