Chen Bin, executive vice president of the China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF), stated at a conference held in Jinan, Shandong Province, on December 22 that the industrial value-added output of China’s machinery industry will record five percent year-on-year growth in 2019.
According to Mr. Chen, in the January-October period this year, the operating revenue of the Chinese machinery industry amounted to RMB 17.4 trillion ($2.5 trillion), up 2.1 percent year on year. In the first ten months, among the 14 main sectors in the machinery industry, vehicles and agricultural machinery registered year-on-year decreases in revenues, while other sectors including lifting equipment and engineering machinery recorded increases.
Chen Bin forecast that the vehicles industry will likely see a slight rise in 2020 in output and sales. However, he added, “It is not easy for the vehicles industry to realize production and sales exceeding 30.0 million units. China’s production and sales of automotive vehicles will likely fluctuate at around 30.0 million units in the long term.” According to the data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), in the January-November period this year, production and sales of automotive vehicles in China amounted to 23.038 million units and 23.11 million units, down 9.0 percent and 9.1 percent year on year, respectively. He also stated that, if the sales of the auto industry fail to rise, the machinery industry is unlikely to see a big increase. Although new energy vehicles will likely see positive growth, the sector is too small to play a key role in stimulating the growth of the overall machinery industry.
Mr. Chen said he expects that the industrial value-added output of the machinery industry will rise by 5.0-5.5 percent year on year in 2020.