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Machinery industry to slow slightly

By Nicholas Ning (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-04 13:51

Growth in China's machinery industry will slow slightly this year as state measures to cool the economy take effect, the country's top economic planning body said.

The sale of big construction equipment is expected to decline from the peak last year, theNational Development and Reform Commissionsaid in its latest report.

Increased demand from the power, steel, cement and oil refinery industries, which were the major drivers of the machinery sector in recent years, should slow this year, while general machinery parts such as bearings should maintain rapid growth, the report said.

"The economic environment is generally favorable for the machinery industry," the planners said, citing accelerated urbanization, reconstruction of rural areas and the country's export-oriented policies.

"All these factors will create a huge market for the machinery industry," the report said, forecasting a growth of around 20 percent for the entire machinery industry this year.

Sales related to the sector, including power generators, machine tools and automobiles, grew 28.8 percent last year to 5.4 trillion yuan (US$692 billion). The combined profit was 302.3 billion yuan, an increase of 37.3 percent from the year before.

China exported more machinery than it imported for the first time last year as more and more overseas companies set up plants or expanded their existing production capacity here. Machinery exports jumped 36.3 percent to US$142.4 billion.