High-end equipment manufacturing locks five industries

Equipment manufacturing industry is a strategic and basic industry that provides technical equipment for various industries of the national economy and national defense science and technology industries. It is an important guarantee for industrial upgrading and technological advancement in various industries and a concentrated expression of the country’s overall strength.

It is understood that after years of development, China's equipment manufacturing industry has formed an industrial system with complete categories, large scale, and a certain level of technology. In October 2010, the State Council issued the "Decision on Accelerating the Cultivation and Development of Strategic Emerging Industries." It clearly defined high-end equipment manufacturing as one of the seven key areas of strategic emerging industries that the country has focused on developing and nurturing, and at the same time clarified high-end equipment. The five key directions that manufacturing industry should focus on developing and nurturing are aviation equipment, satellite and its application industries, rail transportation equipment, marine engineering equipment, and intelligent manufacturing equipment. Recently, the reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that, at present, the plans for the five major directions have been completed and are in the process of soliciting opinions from all parties and are planned to be released within this year.

It is reported that during the “11th Five-Year Plan” period, the scale of the equipment (mechanical) industry continued to grow rapidly, and the scale of the equipment industry ranked first in the world. In 2010, industry-wide industrial added value accounted for more than 9% of the country's GDP, accounting for 19.35% of all industries. In 2009, China's machinery and equipment industry achieved sales of 1.5 trillion US dollars, surpassing Japan’s 1.2 trillion US dollars and the United States’ one trillion US dollars, ranking first in the world.

Since the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", China's major technological equipment has made remarkable achievements in its autonomy, and its equipment support capabilities have been significantly enhanced. Efficient clean power generation equipment has been able to basically meet domestic demand, and the technology level and product output have entered the world's forefront. The combined autonomy rate of 1000KV UHV AC transmission and transformation equipment and ±800KV DC transmission complete equipment reaches over 90% and 60% respectively, and China has become the world’s first UHV power transmission and transformation equipment to be put into industrial operation.

It is reported that major large-scale aircraft science and technology projects have progressed well. The new ARJ-21 aircraft with independent intellectual property rights is undergoing a test flight, and it is expected that batch delivery will begin this year.

This reporter learned that China's equipment manufacturing industry has made important progress in structural adjustment, the capital structure has become more diversified, the industry concentration of major industries has continued to increase, and investment in fixed assets has continued to grow at a rapid rate. At the same time, technological innovation achievements have become a strong driving force for the continued development of the industry, and the quality of development has improved significantly.

The person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, China’s machinery industry achieved a trade surplus for five consecutive years, the structure of foreign trade continued to be optimized, and the structure of export products was further optimized. In the fields of conventional power generation equipment, power transmission and transformation equipment, port loading and unloading machinery, and cement complete sets of equipment, China has taken the lead in the world. The international competitiveness of high-tech products such as construction machinery and numerical control machine tools has been significantly enhanced, and exports have grown rapidly.