China continues to lead the world with its pandemic recovery and manufacturing performance. The PMI is still above 50 which now makes it eight consecutive months. The GDP has moved back into positive growth, a major milestone. Several more in-person manufacturing shows took place in October and early November indicating business as normal. Electric vehicles and robotics are poised to explode creating major opportunities for manufacturing technology. For more industry intel and tidbits, read on.
Between the middle of October and early November, several manufacturing industrial shows took place in Guangzhou (TRUCK EXPO 2020, three days), Kunming (KIDE 2020, three days), Haikou (The 5th Hainan New Energy & Electric Vehicles Exhibition 2020, three days), and Shanghai (PTC ASIA 2020, four days; and CIIE 2020, six days).
China’s new Automotive Industrial Policy states that the output of EVs will be 20% of the total automotive output by 2025. The current EV annual output is about 1.2 million units with an estimated annual output of 25 million-plus units by 2027. Wow!
According to the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers, more than 2.5 million automobiles were sold in October, an increase of 12% YOY. Production output was also about 2.5 million units, a YOY improvement of 11%.
October was a stellar month for electric vehicles as well, with a 70% YOY increase in sales and a 104% increase in production.
Shanghai Volkswagen is investing $2.52 billion for a new EV plant in Shanghai to build EVs based on its Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB). It is planned to produce 300,000 units annually of their mid-sized electric SUV.
In October, Tesla Shanghai shipped 7,000 units of their Model 3 to Europe with a final destination of 10 countries, including Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, and Sweden.
Industrial robotics are booming. China has now installed almost 800,000 units. YOY growth in this sector is 21%, with 71% being imported. Almost 30% of all industrial robots in China are used in the automotive industry.
Below are more data points from AMT’s Shanghai Tech Center’s Market Access and Sales Support (MASS) program. Each point represents specific known investments resulting in manufacturing technology sales opportunities:
Annual output of 1 million pieces of high precision hydraulic components
Annual output of 330,000 kits of new energy vehicle parts
Annual output of 100,000 units of miniature air-compressors
Annual output of 46 million pieces of precision stamping parts
Annual output of 104,200 special purposed motors and 89,200 sets of driving system controllers
For more information, contact Fred Qian at fredqian@AMTchina.org.
