In the realm of national defense and security, CNC machine tools and foundational manufacturing equipment play a strategically critical role in producing cutting-edge defense systems—far surpassing their economic value. Many key components in modern defense equipment demand materials, structural designs, and advanced machining processes that are both highly specialized and exceptionally challenging to produce using conventional machinery or traditional manufacturing techniques. To meet these exacting requirements, it is essential to rely on multi-axis, high-speed, and ultra-precise CNC machine tools. Even in today’s globally integrated world, developed nations continue to impose technological blockades and restrictions on our country. Meanwhile, from an industrial security perspective, as China’s domestic manufacturing sector accelerates its upgrade, industries like equipment manufacturing—characterized by high technological complexity and significant added value—are increasingly competing directly with their global counterparts. Sectors such as construction machinery, electrical equipment, and transportation vehicles are now at a pivotal stage as they strive to penetrate international markets at the高端 level. However, domestically produced machine tools still lag behind in several critical areas, including machining accuracy, reliability, efficiency, automation, intelligence, and environmental sustainability. This gap ultimately undermines the overall competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry on the global stage.

　　Currently, downstream user demand in the machine tool industry is shifting toward higher-end products, as multiple industries undergo extensive and profound structural adjustments and upgrades. As a result, there is an urgent need for high-quality, technologically advanced machine tools. Overall, market demand for mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools is growing rapidly, as users increasingly seek machines that deliver high speed, exceptional precision, multi-functionality, flexibility, multi-axis linkage, intelligence, superior rigidity, and robust power capabilities. For instance, the automotive industry is moving toward mass production of diverse models with rapid model updates. Meanwhile, the rapid rise of new energy vehicles is driving further innovation in manufacturing equipment, pushing it to continuously evolve toward greater precision, efficiency, and智能化 (smartification). In the aerospace sector, soaring demand for civilian aircraft—combined with the next-generation development of military jets—has spurred a shift in aircraft design toward lighter materials, enhanced reliability, extended service life, improved stealth capabilities, versatile configurations, faster response times, and cost-effective manufacturing processes. To support these cutting-edge advancements, the industry urgently requires more sophisticated machining equipment. Consequently, aerospace manufacturing technologies are advancing rapidly toward automation, flexibility, digitalization, and intelligent systems.Take, for instance, the "Two Engines Special Project," which seeks to achieve breakthroughs in aircraft engine manufacturing. Key components such as engine blades, integral engine casings, and blisks are evolving toward larger dimensions, more intricate surface geometries, lighter yet stronger structures, and ultra-precise manufacturing processes. Notably, the widespread adoption of advanced lightweight materials—like high-strength, high-temperature heat-resistant alloys—presents significant challenges. These complex structural parts often feature highly demanding geometric configurations that are notoriously difficult to machine, placing even greater demands on high-torque, ultra-precision CNC machines. Additionally, large-scale structural components of gas turbines and portable or mobile multi-axis CNC equipment designed for remote maintenance of sizable machinery pose another set of formidable challenges. This innovative approach—using small, reconfigurable, baseless machine tools to process massive workpieces—pushes the boundaries of CNC equipment design, process specifications, and energy-efficient machining technologies to unprecedented levels.

　　1. Anchoring China's equipment manufacturing sector in the global competitive landscape

　　CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment are the "mother machines" of the equipment manufacturing industry. A nation's technological level and product quality in the machine tool sector serve as a key indicator for gauging the overall development of its manufacturing industry. Under the "Made in China 2025" initiative, the CNC machine tool and basic manufacturing equipment industries have been identified as one of China's strategic areas of critical competition—primarily because these sectors play an "anchoring" role in a country's position within the global manufacturing value chain, particularly in the equipment manufacturing sector. CNC machine tools and foundational manufacturing equipment form the bedrock upon which manufacturing value is created and represent the pivotal point for industrial advancement. They are also at the heart of a nation's core manufacturing capabilities. Only by building robust foundational manufacturing capabilities can a country hope to produce cutting-edge equipment—and ultimately achieve the high-value output necessary for sustained economic growth and competitiveness on the global stage.

　　2. Strategic Needs Supporting National Defense and Industrial Security

　　In the realm of national defense and security, CNC machine tools and foundational manufacturing equipment play a strategically critical role in producing cutting-edge defense systems—far exceeding their economic value. Many key components in modern defense equipment demand materials, structural designs, and advanced machining processes that are both highly specialized and exceptionally challenging to produce using conventional machinery or traditional manufacturing techniques. To meet these exacting requirements, it is essential to rely on multi-axis, high-speed, and ultra-precise CNC machine tools. Even in today’s globally integrated world, developed nations continue to impose technological blockades and restrictions on our country. Meanwhile, from an industrial security perspective, as China’s domestic manufacturing sector accelerates its upgrade, industries like equipment manufacturing—characterized by high technological complexity and significant added value—are increasingly competing directly with their global counterparts. Sectors such as construction machinery, electrical equipment, and transportation vehicles are now at a pivotal stage as they strive to penetrate international markets at the高端 level. However, domestically produced machine tools still lag behind in several critical areas, including machining accuracy, reliability, efficiency, automation, intelligence, and environmental sustainability. This gap ultimately undermines the overall competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry on the global stage.

　　3. A crucial support for meeting the needs of users' domain transformation and upgrading

　　Currently, the downstream user demand in the machine tool industry is shifting toward higher-end products, with multiple industries undergoing extensive and deep-seated structural adjustments and upgrades. As a result, there is an urgent need for high-quality, technologically advanced machine tools. Overall, market demand for mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools is growing rapidly, as users increasingly require machines that offer high speed, exceptional precision, multi-functionality, flexibility, multi-axis linkage, intelligence, superior rigidity, and robust power capabilities. For instance, the automotive industry is trending toward mass production of diverse models with rapid model updates. Meanwhile, the rapid rise of new energy vehicles is driving further innovation in manufacturing equipment, pushing it to evolve continuously toward greater precision, efficiency, and智能化 (smartification). In the aerospace sector, soaring demand for civilian aircraft—coupled with the next-generation development of military jets—has spurred a shift in aircraft design toward lighter materials, enhanced reliability, extended service life, improved stealth capabilities, versatile configurations, faster response times, and cost-effective manufacturing processes. To support these cutting-edge advancements, the industry urgently requires more sophisticated machining equipment. Consequently, aerospace manufacturing technologies are advancing rapidly toward automation, flexibility, digitalization, and intelligent systems. Take, for example, the "Two Engines Special Project," which aims to achieve breakthroughs in aircraft engine manufacturing. Key components such as engine blades, integral engine casings, and blisks are evolving toward larger dimensions, more intricate surface geometries, lighter yet stronger structures, and ultra-precise manufacturing processes. Notably, the widespread adoption of advanced lightweight materials—like high-strength, high-temperature heat-resistant alloys—poses significant challenges. These complex structural parts often feature highly demanding geometric configurations that are notoriously difficult to machine, placing even greater demands on high-torque, ultra-precision CNC machines. Additionally, large-scale structural components of gas turbines and portable or mobile multi-axis CNC equipment designed for remote maintenance of sizable machinery present another set of formidable challenges. This innovative approach—utilizing small, reconfigurable, baseless machine tools to process massive workpieces—pushes the boundaries of CNC equipment design, process specifications, and energy-efficient machining technologies to unprecedented levels.

　　4. It is the strategic high ground of the new technological revolution.

　　The new wave of the technological revolution—driven by elements such as intelligent manufacturing, the energy internet, and next-generation IT innovations—provides critical momentum for China’s equipment manufacturing sector to achieve breakthroughs in technology. At the same time, it opens up vast market opportunities, particularly for high-end equipment manufacturing. As a key intersection point where information technology meets industrial technology, the machine tool industry itself demonstrates remarkable sensitivity to emerging technologies—and serves as a major conduit for the widespread adoption of these innovations. Driven by the transformative power of the latest tech revolution, the machine tool industry is increasingly embracing an integrated innovation trend. Leading global companies are accelerating the integration of cutting-edge technologies into their machine tool operations, with networked and intelligent solutions rapidly being incorporated into machine tool products. Meanwhile, a growing number of internationally renowned machine tool component suppliers and complete-machine manufacturers are stepping up efforts to pioneer the seamless integration of new technologies into CNC machine tools.

　　5. The Strategic Pivot for Global Manufacturing Shifts

　　As we enter the post-crisis era, developed economies are increasingly prioritizing the growth of their real economies: some are actively driving the integration and advancement of emerging technologies to elevate industrial processes toward higher-end capabilities, while others are reshaping their supply chains to bring more high-value-added manufacturing activities—and the associated jobs—back home. The United States has successively launched initiatives like the "Advanced Manufacturing Partnership" and the "National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing," aimed at fostering cutting-edge manufacturing and technological innovation. Meanwhile, Germany has unveiled its Industry 4.0 blueprint, focusing on CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems) as its core technology and leveraging smart factories as the platform to propel Germany’s industrial transformation. This initiative is positioned as the technological foundation for the next wave of industrial revolution. Japan, too, has unveiled a comprehensive industrial strategy, identifying 10 key advanced technology sectors and using them as the cornerstone to strengthen its domestic manufacturing base. Similarly, countries such as the UK, South Korea, India, and Taiwan have introduced proactive strategies and policies designed to accelerate the integration of emerging technologies into critical sectors like CNC machine tools and other equipment industries. Historically, the machine tool industry has always been a strategic focal point for major global powers and leading enterprises. As the global manufacturing landscape undergoes significant shifts—particularly in high-stakes industries like automotive, aerospace, and advanced equipment manufacturing—the machine tool sector serves as a vital strategic linchpin. It plays a pivotal role in shaping future competitive advantages, making it essential for countries to enhance their focus on this industry, proactively plan for critical strategic areas, and secure a strong foothold in the global manufacturing race.

　　II. Clear Trends Toward Industry Upgrading

　　1. Break through key core technologies and develop a batch of landmark products

　　In the aerospace sector, domestically developed heavy-duty forging and pressing equipment—including an 800MN large-scale die-forging press and a 120MN aluminum alloy plate tension stretching machine—has filled a critical gap in China's ability to achieve integrated forming of large, complex aerospace components. This breakthrough provides robust support for next-generation military aircraft development and the creation of advanced commercial airliners. Notably, the 800MN large-scale die-forging press has already enabled the successful integral forming of over 30 types of key titanium alloy parts used in the aviation industry. Meanwhile, the 120MN-class aluminum alloy wide and thick plate tension stretching machine has produced high-quality aluminum alloy thick plates that are now being incorporated into critical load-bearing structural components, such as aircraft wings, effectively ending China's reliance on imported aluminum alloy thick plates for large aircraft manufacturing.

　　In the automotive manufacturing sector, a large-scale, high-speed, and highly efficient CNC fully automated stamping production line has secured a bulk order for a production line at a U.S. auto plant in an international bid against world-class companies, earning recognition and respect from its global peers. Currently, this automotive body panel stamping line holds over 70% market share in China and more than 30% globally, significantly advancing the localization and self-reliance of domestically produced automotive equipment.

　　In the power generation equipment sector, a 36,000-ton black vertical metal extrusion press has enabled the independent domestic production of high-end, heat-resistant steel seamless pipes with large diameters and thick walls—critical components for 1,000MW ultra-supercritical thermal power units. Meanwhile, large-scale open-and-close heat treatment equipment has produced Asia's largest forged integral rotor forgings for nuclear power plants, establishing a capability for mass-producing large rotors. Additionally, cutting-edge CNC vertical turning-milling composite machines, heavy-duty CNC gantry five-axis turning-milling centers, ultra-heavy-duty CNC floor-standing milling-boring machines, ultra-heavy-duty CNC horizontal boring-turning lathes, and specialized CNC axial groove milling machines—all developed specifically for third-generation nuclear power plant reactor and conventional island equipment—have successfully addressed challenging machining tasks related to nuclear pressure vessels, fuel baskets, heat exchangers, turbine casings, and generator rotors. These advanced machines have already been installed and put into operation on multiple nuclear power projects.

　　2. Optimized product structure adjustments, with steadily improving technological capabilities

　　First, the level of mid-to-high-end equipment has been rapidly improving. Currently, more than 10 types of equipment—such as large-scale automotive body panel automatic stamping lines—have already reached international leading standards, making them fully capable of replacing imported alternatives. Additionally, over 20 product categories, including high-speed gantry five-axis machining centers, have essentially achieved advanced international levels, positioning them to compete with imported products. Meanwhile, precision horizontal machining centers now boast core technologies backed by independent intellectual property rights and integrated flexible manufacturing systems. High-speed, multi-tasking, and other sophisticated CNC machining centers have completed phased R&D efforts, though they still lag slightly behind cutting-edge global standards in terms of functional performance and reliability. Second, China’s CNC system development is steadily advancing up the technology ladder. Significant progress has been made in the research and development of mid-to-high-end CNC systems. Since 2010, over 35,000 domestically produced mid-to-high-end CNC systems have been successfully integrated into key sectors such as aerospace, energy, shipbuilding, and automotive, effectively replacing imported counterparts. Moreover, a range of high-performance CNC systems—including multi-channel and multi-axis linkage models—have broken foreign technological monopolies, with key technical indicators now closely matching those of mainstream international high-end CNC systems. These systems are now being used to power various high-speed, precision CNC machine tools. At the same time, high-end CNC systems have begun limited-scale applications in major defense-related enterprises. Meanwhile, standardized CNC systems have entered mass production, significantly boosting their market share in China—from 10% to 25%. Several industrialized production bases have emerged, with Guangzhou CNC Equipment Co., Ltd. alone boasting an annual production capacity of 100,000 CNC systems of various types, ranking second globally in output. As a result, China’s CNC systems are gradually gaining competitiveness against their foreign counterparts, even achieving small-scale export success: from 2010 to 2014, the country exported over 9,600 sets of CNC systems, including nearly 700 sets of five-axis CNC systems. Finally, the quality and variety of functional components continue to improve steadily, with an increasingly comprehensive product lineup. Domestically produced functional components are now routinely paired in bulk with machine tool mainframes, while cutting tools have largely matured to the point where they can supply modern machining solutions for the automotive industry. The successful demonstration and widespread adoption of CNC systems, functional components, and cutting tools alongside machine tool mainframes are helping to establish a complete industry ecosystem, driving critical structural adjustments within China’s broader machine tool sector.

　　3. Independent innovation has significantly improved, ensuring sustainable development.

　　In recent years, research into foundational and common technologies for machine tool manufacturing has steadily intensified, with product development advancing hand-in-hand alongside ongoing technological innovation. Significant progress has been made in the maturity of several key technologies, including reliability design and performance testing for machine tool products, as well as multi-axis linkage machining techniques. Moreover, digital design technology has been successfully applied in the actual development of high-precision CNC coordinate boring machines and vertical machining centers. Additionally, advanced software and hardware systems—such as real-time dynamic compensation for multiple error sources and embedded CNC system error correction—have been demonstrated across various enterprises and product lines, leading to a notable improvement in the precision of CNC machine tools.

　　III. Advancing to the High End of Industry Remains a Long and Arduous Journey

　　China's machine tool industry holds an important position within the global machine tool industry system and the worldwide market, yet it still cannot be considered a powerhouse in this sector. Compared to leading global machine tool nations, China’s industry continues to lag behind, particularly in terms of competitiveness for mid-to-high-end machine tools. Moreover, influenced by complex domestic and international economic conditions, China’s machine tool industry is now transitioning back to a "new normal," making it increasingly urgent to drive the industry toward mid-to-high-end innovation and transformation.

　　1. International competitiveness remains to be improved.

　　According to statistics from the consulting firm Gardener, in 2014, China's machine tool exports totaled $3.3 billion, accounting for less than 5% of the global machine tool market—far behind Japan and Germany, both of which held shares exceeding 10%. Meanwhile, a significant portion of domestically needed mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools still relies on imports, with imported equipment accounting for more than 40% in sectors like automotive manufacturing.

　　2. Development of key components for the machine tool industry urgently needs to be strengthened.

　　Domestic functional components—whether in terms of variety, quantity, or quality level—still fail to meet the requirements for integration into mainstream machinery. Moreover, the market share of domestically produced mid-range functional components remains to be improved, while high-end products still rely heavily on imports. As a result, the competitiveness of China's supporting functional component industry urgently needs to be strengthened and accelerated.

　　3. Process validation and demonstration applications still need to be strengthened.

　　From prototype development to actual production application, CNC machine tools require extensive testing and validation across various aspects—such as manufacturing processes, reliability, precision retention, and engineering optimization—while continuously undergoing improvements. Additionally, user-provided process validation is essential throughout this stage. However, both process validation and application demonstrations remain significant weaknesses in the development of China's CNC machine tool industry.

　　4. Pressure on industrial development remains persistently high.

　　Global machine tool production and consumption continue to show a contracting trend. According to data released by the U.S.-based Gardner company, global machine tool spending in 2014 reached $75.3 billion, representing a mere 0.3% increase from 2013. Meanwhile, global machine tool production has declined for the third consecutive year, with output dropping to $81.2 billion in 2014—a 3.1% drop compared to the previous year. China’s CNC machine tool industry also remains under persistent pressure, operating firmly within a downward trajectory. In 2014, domestic metalworking machine tool production fell by 2% year-on-year, with metal-cutting machine tools declining by 1.7% and metal-forming machines slipping by 3.3%. At the same time, domestic demand for imported machine tools has not only failed to decline but has actually risen, reaching a total import value of $17.78 billion in 2014—up 10.8% from the previous year. Notably, imports of metalworking machine tools surged by 7.6% year-on-year, totaling $10.83 billion. This highlights the growing gap between domestic supply and the high-end needs of Chinese manufacturers, placing the local machine tool industry under the dual burden of cyclical and structural challenges. As a result, the industry urgently needs to identify new avenues for growth and development.

　　4. Accelerate the strategic approach to driving significant growth and strength across the industry

　　1. Drive the concentration of superior resources toward development

　　Based on enhancing the independent innovation capabilities and market competitiveness of domestically produced CNC machine tools and foundational manufacturing equipment, we will drive the concentration of superior resources toward the two key sectors— aerospace and automotive—and focus on core equipment and critical technologies. The primary goal is to overcome critical bottlenecks in areas such as the performance reliability, stability, and complete-system integration of developed equipment.

　　2. Promote demonstration applications of advanced products

　　Increase investment in representative user needs, establishing demonstration bases that can centrally validate the application and implementation of critical technologies and core equipment for machine tools and foundational manufacturing systems. Additionally, selectively support comprehensive, highly flexible, and intelligent projects with strong market orientation—focusing specifically on enhancing equipment efficiency and intelligence.

　　3. Meeting New National Strategic Needs

　　To accelerate development, we must meet the strategic needs of national development by advancing CNC machine tools and foundational manufacturing equipment. We should further focus on core technologies essential for China's key national projects, developing cutting-edge products and achieving breakthroughs in critical technologies. At the same time, we must strive to enhance the technological sophistication of CNC equipment, ultimately breaking free from reliance on imported strategic machinery that currently constrains our national capabilities.

　　4. Building a Complete Machine Tool Supporting Industry Chain

　　Encourage and support units across the CNC machine tool and foundational manufacturing equipment industry chain—such as machine tool manufacturers, CNC system providers, and functional component suppliers—to forge long-term, stable strategic partnerships. Establish enduring collaborative relationships between CNC systems, functional components, and machine tool enterprises, ultimately building a comprehensive, integrated supply chain for CNC machine tools and essential manufacturing equipment.