The construction project of 18 ultra large liquefied natural gas transport ships for Chinese ships has set a record for the world's largest single shipbuilding order; BYD's new energy passenger vehicles entered 77 countries and regions, with exports increasing by 267.5% year-on-year in May; China Yizhong delivered 12 of the world's largest 3000 ton forging welding hydrogenation reactors, setting a new world record... In the first five months, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in China increased by 6.2% year-on-year, while the manufacturing industry increased by 6.7%; The added value of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 7.5% year-on-year in May, becoming an important driving force for industrial growth. Among them, the computer communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry increased by 14.5%, and the railway, ship, aerospace and other transportation equipment manufacturing industry increased by 11.8%, both maintaining double-digit growth. "In May, China's industrial and economic transformation and upgrading continued to advance, and the competitiveness of high-end products continued to strengthen." said Sun Xiao, a statistician at the Industrial Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, especially in the equipment manufacturing industry, where the role of "ballast stone" is prominent, and the supporting role of the electronics and automotive industries is obvious. Looking at the total amount, the growth rate of added value in the equipment manufacturing industry above designated size has been higher than the average level of all above designated industries for 10 consecutive months, and its proportion to the added value of above designated industries has remained above 30% for 15 consecutive months. In May, the equipment manufacturing industry contributed 45.7% to the growth of all large-scale industries. Looking at the segmentation, in the equipment manufacturing industry, the added value of the electronics and automotive industries increased by 14.5% and 7.6% respectively, contributing more than 30% to the overall growth of large-scale industries; The other six industries have also achieved growth. Since the beginning of this year, the equipment manufacturing industry has performed outstandingly, thanks to the accumulation and development of the past period. The proportion of equipment manufacturing industry in the added value of large-scale industries has increased from 28.0% in 2012 to 33.6% in 2023, taking a solid and powerful step from large to strong. Flying to explore the sea, showcasing China's hard technology to the world. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft explores Mars, the Shenzhou spacecraft travels through space, the Struggler spacecraft pursues deep sea dreams, and deep drilling begins the "era of ten thousand meters"... A number of major national weapons have successively appeared, and China's equipment manufacturing industry has achieved multiple world-class technological breakthroughs. "Interconnection" showcases "China's new speed" to the world. From the opening and operation of the first high-speed rail in 2008, to the world's first intelligent high-speed train to achieve autonomous driving at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, and then to the production of high-speed maglev test vehicles at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour, the development speed of China's high-speed rail is astonishing. C919, ARJ21... A batch of civil aviation and aerospace equipment research and development have achieved breakthroughs, and multiple models have gradually entered the international and domestic civil aviation market. "Efficient and clean", showcasing China's "dual carbon" action to the world. The sales volume of new energy vehicles in the market has risen from less than 20000 in 2012 to 9.495 million in 2023. China's new energy vehicle production and sales account for over 60% of the world's total, ranking first in the world for nine consecutive years. In terms of energy equipment, in 2023, China's production of key components such as wind turbines accounted for over 70% of the world's total, while the production of photovoltaic polysilicon, silicon wafers, battery cells, and modules accounted for over 80% of the world's total. Improvement in demand brings development opportunities. According to Guan Bing, the director of the Industrial Economics Research Institute of CCID Research Institute, the development of the equipment manufacturing industry has continued to improve since the beginning of this year. This is not only due to the improvement of the industry's own strength, but also due to the improvement of the demand side. The new round of large-scale equipment updates and the exchange of old for new consumer goods bring development opportunities. In terms of equipment updates, the Implementation Plan for Promoting Industrial Equipment Updates issued this year proposes that by 2027, the investment scale in industrial equipment will increase by more than 25% compared to 2023. Under policy support, in the first five months, investment in equipment and tools procurement increased by 17.5% year-on-year, and investment in manufacturing technology transformation increased by 10.0%. Driving the continuous release of equipment demand, in May, the added value of broadcasting and television equipment manufacturing and communication equipment manufacturing industries increased by 30.7% and 15.7% respectively; CNC forging equipment increased by 17.2%, and electronic industry specific equipment increased by 11%. In terms of exchanging old for new, with the implementation of supporting policies for consumer goods in various regions, coupled with the advance of the 618 online shopping promotion, sales of new energy vehicle products have increased. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the trading volume of new energy passenger vehicles increased by 38.4% in May. At the same time, external demand is gradually recovering. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts in its latest World Economic Outlook report that global trade, including goods and services, will grow by 3% this year. The Director General of the World Trade Organization, Ibrahimovic, believes that global trade recovery has made progress thanks to the resilience of global supply chains and a stable multilateral trade framework. Taking the shipbuilding industry as an example, a report released by the China Shipbuilding Industry Association shows that since 2021, the global new shipbuilding market has entered a new cycle of development, with market recovery tending towards a high and stable level, and mainstream shipyards continuously breaking through in accepting orders. The association predicts that China's shipbuilding industry will receive approximately 55 million deadweight tons of new orders this year. Supply upgrading and demand increasing. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, the shipbuilding industry exported a total of 2363 ships in the first five months, a year-on-year increase of 25.0%; The export volume reached 120.98 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 100.1%. "In addition, China's automotive, railway, shipbuilding, aerospace and other industries' R&D investment continues to increase, and the international competitiveness of products continues to strengthen. The proportion of exports has increased, the scale has expanded, and the structure has been optimized." Sun Xiao said. In the first five months, the delivery value of automobile exports increased by 19.4% compared to the same period last year; The railway, shipbuilding, aerospace, general equipment, specialized equipment, metal products and other industries saw a growth rate of 8.0% to 34.0%, all of which were higher than the average level of all large-scale industries; The export delivery value of industries such as automobiles, electrical machinery, railways, ships, aerospace, and specialized equipment has increased in proportion to all industrial exports above designated size. "The development of industrial robots and truss robots will help Sany Heavy Energy establish a 5G fully connected flexible intelligent manufacturing factory." Peng Xu, Chief Digital Officer of Sany Heavy Energy, said that due to the relatively complex equipment manufacturing business, which is mostly customized and flexible production, digital transformation is difficult. Each order for wind turbines requires personalized production based on customer needs. A production line often needs to be compatible with the production of various specifications of wind turbine products, such as 3 MW to 15 MW. The renovated intelligent factory can achieve 2 hours of offline production, 1 fan, and 10 seconds of complete transformation, achieving the goal of cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and lean management. Guan Bing believes that since the beginning of this year, the development trend of equipment manufacturing industry has been good. However, it should also be noted that the external environment is becoming more severe and complex, and issues such as low profitability of enterprises still need to be addressed. It is crucial to continuously promote the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the equipment manufacturing industry, and promote the deepening and implementation of industry transformation and upgrading. Adhere to innovation leadership and promote the equipment manufacturing industry towards high-end development. China has established national level manufacturing innovation centers for additive manufacturing, robotics, advanced rail transit equipment, agricultural machinery equipment, and intelligent connected vehicles, continuously forging global innovation capabilities and improving basic research, achievement transformation, and engineering application capabilities. Adhere to the integration of data and reality, and promote the digital and intelligent transformation of key areas. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the scale of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has exceeded 3.2 trillion yuan, and intelligent equipment such as unmanned loaders, road pavers, and passenger cars equipped with intelligent driving assistance functions have been put into use successively. "We will focus on the digital needs of key areas, accelerate the engineering and industrialization of intelligent equipment, transform and upgrade a batch of existing equipment, upgrade and replace a batch of new equipment, and develop a batch of cutting-edge equipment," said Wang Weiming, Director of the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Adhere to green development and accelerate the pace of industry green transformation. In terms of the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, a large number of traditional equipment manufacturing industries have undergone green upgrading and transformation, among which the green transformation of the power industry has shown remarkable performance. In terms of green emerging equipment, energy-saving technologies and equipment products are continuously promoted and applied, and the manufacturing industry of environmental protection equipment continues to develop. Guan Bing stated that looking ahead, the equipment manufacturing industry is expected to continue its good development trend. In the first five months, investment in equipment manufacturing increased by 12.2%, 2.6 percentage points higher than manufacturing investment. The sustained high growth of investment not only drives the recovery of production, but also provides strong impetus for subsequent growth. (Lai Xin She)