China's high-end machine tool products rely on imports

At present, in our mid- to high-end machine tool products, a relatively strong market competitiveness has not yet been achieved, especially in the high-end product areas, and there are not many real market applications.

Chen Huiren, deputy secretary-general of the China Machine Tool Industry Association, pointed out that this is the result of the "hardware and light software" of China's machine tool companies. Among the key enterprises that the association has focused on tracking, more than 90% have implemented large-scale technological reforms in recent years, especially in large and heavy areas. Most of the investment has been in the hardware construction of factories, equipment, etc., and in technology infrastructure and in-depth technologies. The investment in soft power construction, such as research and innovation ability training, is relatively insufficient, resulting in products that are concentrated in the low-end, general-purpose, and homogenous areas.

Product homogeneity often coexists with price wars. Major companies in countries such as Germany and Japan have introduced new strategies for the Asian market, especially the Chinese market. They have extended downwards on the basis of high-end dominance and focused on expanding the mid-market. These trends have further aggravated the plight of the domestic machine tool industry.

At present, China's machine tool industry as a whole is still at the middle and low end of the international division of labor and industrial chain. The past high-speed growth has relied more on the strong pull of domestic market demand, the development energy released by the reform of enterprise institutional mechanisms, and the comparative advantages of labor costs. And the strong support of national industrial policies. The role of technological progress and management innovation is second.

The economic development environment and growth factors that we are used to relying on have already taken place and will continue to undergo profound changes. The long-term development model and business strategy adopted by the industry are also rapidly losing ground. Not only do we have to get rid of the current business difficulties, but we also need to upgrade our industries and make them stronger in the new development environment.

Enterprises need to focus on dealing with several relationships, one is the relationship between short-term interests and long-term interests; the second is the relationship between scale expansion and product level; third is the relationship between hardware investment and software construction; and fourth is the relationship between product development and industrialization.

At present, the development of the machine tool industry and the market demand are gradually turning to high-end. The traditional low-end machine tools in the country can no longer meet the production needs in the long run, and urgently need to be upgraded. The major problems faced by the China's machine tool industry in the development process are serious product homogeneity, excess production capacity, and intensified crisis in the market industry. In this case, the transformation has become a common issue facing the entire industry.

This kind of industrial upgrading is exactly what the country needs to develop strategic emerging industries. Wang Weiming, deputy director of the Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that it has now been determined that the technical transformation of enterprises under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will rise to the height of the overall plan of the central government. The industrial development environment of CNC machine tools will become better and better.