Equipment industry driving exports

China's equipment manufacturing sector became a major driver of export growth in the first half of 2026, with export delivery value of the equipment industry rising 18.2 percent year-on-year and contributing nearly 50 percent of the growth in industrial exports, official data showed.

In the first half of the year, the country's exports of wind turbine generators and lithium batteries increased 35.6 percent and 37.6 percent year-on-year, respectively, while automobile exports reached 5.096 million units, up 65.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Wang Weiming, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China's shipbuilding sector also continued to strengthen its global competitiveness, with domestically built vessels accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's total completed ships, new orders and existing order backlog.

"Since the beginning of 2026, China's equipment manufacturing industry has demonstrated characteristics of a solid foundation, multiple growth highlights and strong external demand," Wang said.

The sector's value-added output increased 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first half, accounting for 20 percent of the total output of industrial enterprises above designated size. It contributed 23.5 percent to the growth of value-added industrial output, providing strong support for stable industrial growth, Wang noted.

In addition to the strong growth in exports of high-tech products such as industrial robots, high-end machine tools and aerospace components, shipments of consumer goods — including 3C electronics (computer, communication and consumer electronics), household items, fashion accessories and small home appliances — have emerged as an important driver of export expansion. Beyond hardware performance, strong modeling ecosystems and software capabilities have notably become key factors behind the overseas popularity of Chinese-made 3D printers.

New technologies such as electrification, automation and AI transformation will continue to reshape their product architecture and industrial ecosystems, opening up fresh growth opportunities for the country's equipment manufacturing industry.

XINHUA-CHINA DAILY