On April 20, 2025, the "2025 Machine Tool Manufacturing CEO Forum," hosted by the China Machine Tool & Tool Industry Association, was held at the Capital International Conference Center in Shunyi, Beijing. Over 200 participants from industry associations, global machine tool enterprise executives, experts, scholars, and media representatives from China, the United States, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, and China Taiwan gathered to engage in in-depth discussions on the current status, technological evolution trends, structural market challenges, and transnational cooperation opportunities in the global machine tool industry, fostering new consensus and injecting momentum into the industry's future development. Mao Yufeng, President of CMTB, delivered a keynote speech, while Wang Xu, Vice President of CMTBA, presided over the forum.
Divergent Recovery: A Multifaceted Picture of the Global Machine Tool Market
Industry association representatives from multiple countries (and regions) shared 2024 machine tool market data and outlooks. The global machine tool industry has shown a unique trend of "divergent recovery" after short-term fluctuations:
U.S. Market: Markedly affected by economic cycles. Douglas K. Wood, President of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), stated that the U.S. machine tool output value in 2024 was $7.059 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 13%; consumption reached $11.828 billion, an 8% decline. Despite a 3.8% annual order decline, three consecutive months of positive growth occurred at year-end (+12.4% in November 2024, +5.4% in December, and +5.7% in January 2025). Strong demand in aerospace, semiconductors, and new energy became the primary drivers, with technological focus on advanced automation, digital twin, and artificial intelligence.
Swiss Market: Faced significant downward pressure. Impacted by global economic recession risks, Swiss machine tool production and exports fell by 21% and 12%, respectively, in 2024, with major export markets like Germany, China, and the U.S. contracting to varying degrees. However, periodic demand in energy equipment, aerospace, and medical devices provided critical support. Christoph Breit, Secretary-General of SWISSMEM's Machine Tool Manufacturers Division, called for strengthened free trade collaboration to address supply chain volatility.
China's Role: The 'Stabilizer' and 'Innovation Hub' of the Global Machine Tool Industry
President Mao Yufeng emphasized that as the world's largest machine tool consumer (32.5% of global consumption) and producer (32.1% of global production), China has become a core driver of industry development. In 2024, China's manufacturing added value reached 34 trillion yuan, ranking first globally for 13 consecutive years, providing an extensive "testing ground" for application scenarios in the machine tool industry.
He noted that China is accelerating the green and digital transformation of manufacturing through policies such as the "Two News" (equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods) and the "Two Heavies" (implementation of major national strategies and security capacity building in key fields). Explosive demand for high-end machine tools in strategic emerging industries like new energy vehicles, aerospace, and semiconductors has attracted international leaders such as DMG MORI, Yamazaki Mazak, and TRUMPF to continuously increase investments in China. These companies view China not only as a key market but also as a strategic hub for technological iteration and global competition.
Mao Yufeng stated that China will unswervingly expand high-level opening-up, creating a stable and predictable policy environment and broader market space for global machine tool enterprises.
Navigating Uncertainties: Global Collaboration in Supply Chain Reconstruction
The forum deeply explored common challenges facing the global machine tool industry, focusing on the theme of "global collaboration in supply chain reconstruction": issues such as geopolitical conflicts, high trade barriers, cost-zero carbon goal dilemmas, cross-disciplinary talent shortages, and emerging market development urgently require solutions.
Geopolitics and Trade Barriers: U.S.-China technological competition, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the Red Sea shipping crisis have intensified supply chain uncertainties. Chuang Ta-li, Chairman of the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association, noted that Taiwan's machine tool exports are enhancing risk resilience through market diversification and the introduction of AI and IoT technologies; German enterprises are accelerating the "local manufacturing, local sales" model to avoid tariff risks.
Cost Pressures and Zero-Carbon Transition: Although net-zero carbon emission targets have increased short-term production costs, representatives from Japan and Germany unanimously called for strengthened R&D in green machine tool technologies, emphasizing that the "green machine tool + circular economy model" is becoming a new dimension of industry competition.
Talent Gaps and Technological Leapfrogging: Cross-disciplinary technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and synthetic biology are reshaping the machine tool industry ecosystem. While generative AI optimizes production processes and digital twin technology enhances equipment efficiency, shortages of AI and cross-disciplinary talent have become bottlenecks for innovation, with most enterprise representatives calling for deepened industry-university-research collaboration.
President Mao Yufeng pointed out that despite global economic uncertainties, China's market scale, policy dividends, and innovative vitality provide precious "certainty" for the global machine tool industry. He advocated that enterprises from all countries strengthen technological cooperation, standard mutual recognition, and talent exchange with an open mindset to jointly build an inclusive and win-win industrial ecosystem.
Conclusion
The 2025 Machine Tool Manufacturing CEO Forum not only established a dialogue platform for global industry leaders but also outlined the evolution path of the machine tool industry amid intelligentization and globalization. As moderator Wang Xu, Vice President, stated: "Let us transform today's ideological consensus into tomorrow's exhibition practices, the day after tomorrow's order achievements, and future development momentum." With the deep integration of China and global markets, machine tools—the "foundation of manufacturing"—will continue to empower manufacturing upgrades and lead the global industry toward an efficient, green, and sustainable future.
Customer service 1
Customer service 2