Machine tool manufacturing will give top priority to innovation
in the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), a senior industry
insider announced yesterday in Beijing.
Answering the call from Chinese President Hu Jintao to turn
China into an innovation-oriented country, the China Machine Tool
and Tool Builders' Association has pledged to enhance the country's
independent innovation capability and develop core
technologies.
Association President Wu Bailin disclosed at a press conference
yesterday that the Ministry of Science and Technology and the
National Development and Reform Commission are jointly drafting a
plan to boost development of the country's computer numerical
controlled (CNC) machine tools in the coming five years.
He said that investment in development of CNC machine tools will
be huge.
CNC machine tools are advanced machines for the manufacturing
industry and are widely used in industries involved in railways,
aviation, shipbuilding and automobiles.
"You can introduce advanced technology, but cannot purchase the
core technologies nor innovation capabilities," Wu quoted a senior
official of the Ministry of Science and Technology as saying.
Therefore, fostering independent innovation capabilities is of
special importance in order to substantially improve the industry's
technology level and to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese
machine tool enterprises.
However, Wu continued, independent innovation is not
contradictory to introducing foreign advanced technologies.
"You cannot close your door to innovation," he said.
Geng Liangzhi, vice-president of the association, said that
China had made great progress in the development of CNC machine
tools in the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05).
The China CNC Machine Tool Fair to be held in Shanghai from
February 14-17 will showcase the achievements of the industry in
the past years.
With a total exhibition floor space of more than 46,000 square
metres, the fair will display more 500 sets of advanced CNC machine
tools from more than 530 enterprises, mainly Chinese firms.
In 2000, the output of China's metal-cutting CNC machine tools
was less than 14,000 sets. But in 2005, the figure is estimated to
be more than 60,000 sets.
To further boost the development of CNC machine tools, the
association will co-operate with related government departments to
hold forums on the industry, including one devoted to the
co-operation between the machine tool manufacturers across the
Taiwan Straits.
Forecasting the development prospects for the industry in 2006,
Yu Chengting, executive vice-chairman of the association, said the
country's machine tool industry is expected to grow by about 15 per
cent, with its sales revenue reaching about 150 billion yuan
(US$18.75 billion).
At the same time, the country is expected to import about US$11
billion worth of machine tools and tool products this year,
representing an increase over the 2005 estimated figure of US$10
billion.
Although the growth rate in the industry has slowed down,
forecasts of double-digit growth in 2006 are based on strong
domestic demand for large and heavy-duty advanced CNC machine
tools.
At present, the ratio of CNC machine tools in China is only
about 6 to 7 per cent of the total in use, while in developed
countries the ratio is much higher. Therefore, China still is a
large market for advanced CNC machine tools, including those from
foreign countries, Yu said.
Major end-users include firms involved in aerospace and
aviation, shipbuilding, railways, the power industry, the
metallurgical industry, and vehicles.
For instance, the country's railway sector will invest about 150
billion yuan (US$18.75 billion) annually in improving and expanding
the country's railway networks between 2006 and 2020. Total
investment in the sector in the coming 15 years will hit 2 trillion
yuan (US$250 billion).
A large part of the investment will go into the manufacturing of
advanced rolling stock and locomotives for high-speed railway
projects, which will create abundant business opportunities for
both domestic and overseas CNC machine tool makers, Yu said.
(China Daily January 11, 2006)