On August 19, 2024, the press conference for the China (Beijing) International Construction Machinery, Building Material Machinery and Mining Machinery Exhibition (hereinafter referred to as BICES 2025) was grandly held in Beijing. At the conference, Su Zimeng, President of the China Construction Machinery Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association), delivered a keynote speech titled "The Operation of the Construction Machinery Industry in the First Half of 2024 and the Outlook for BICES 2025."

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

Good morning, everyone!

Welcome to today's press conference. First of all, on behalf of the China Construction Machinery Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association), I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the guests and friends from the media for your long-term care and support for the development of the construction machinery industry and the BICES exhibition in Beijing!

The press conference we are holding today for the China (Beijing) International Construction Machinery, Building Material Machinery and Mining Machinery Exhibition (hereinafter referred to as BICES 2025) marks the completion of the preliminary work for BICES 2025, a high-quality international exhibition event of the construction machinery industry held in China, and the exhibition has officially entered the countdown stage. Here, we are pleased to extend an invitation to friends from all over the world: BICES 2025 will be grandly held from September 23 to 26, 2025 at the Shunyi Hall of the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, the capital of China (hereinafter referred to as the New China International Exhibition Center). We warmly welcome and cordially invite all exhibitors, users, enthusiastic visitors, news media and friends from all walks of life to come to Beijing next golden September to exhibit, attend meetings, visit, conduct inspections, exchange, cooperate, go sightseeing and travel! We will once again welcome and receive friends from all corners of the world with full enthusiasm, considerate service and sincere friendship, and present an even higher-quality industry event!

By September 2025, BICES will have been successfully held in Beijing for a full thirty-six years and seventeen editions. Over the past sixteen editions, thanks to the strong support of relevant government departments, the vast number of exhibitors, users, news media and friends from all walks of life, and through the unity and cooperation of the organizers and all partner organizations, the exhibition has actively grasped industry development trends, gained an in-depth understanding of exhibitor and visitor needs, and continuously improved exhibition quality and service levels. Its quality, scale, results and influence have placed it at the forefront of construction machinery exhibitions worldwide. Rooted in China and oriented toward the world, BICES has not only helped exhibitors with technological progress, brand enhancement and market expansion, but has also provided a high-end platform for enterprises across the entire industrial chain and supply chain of global construction machinery, building material machinery, mining machinery and special-purpose vehicles to achieve value appreciation and cooperate and exchange with users. It has gained widespread recognition and active coverage by more than 200 news organizations, including mainstream media at home and abroad, as well as focused publicity through online and WeChat official account channels. BICES has become a bellwether for industry enterprises and institutions to showcase innovation achievements and demonstrate sustainable development capabilities, and has become a globally influential event for the construction machinery industry.

BICES 2023, held last year, attracted widespread attention from relevant people from all sectors. The exhibition space reserved by the organizers fell far short of demand, the booths of relevant enterprises were full of visitors and achieved fruitful results, and the more than ten thousand new technologies and new products from upstream and downstream of the industrial chain on display were full of highlights. More than one hundred events were unforgettable, and the exhibition welcomed more than 150,000 customers and visitors who came to visit, exchange and cooperate on site. During the exhibition, good news of signed contracts and cooperation projects came in frequently. Here, we sincerely thank the relevant national and local government departments for their strong support and help! We thank all exhibitors for their full support and trust! We thank comrades and friends on the machinery industry front and in the engineering construction field of our country, especially the former leaders, veteran comrades, experts and scholars, for their kind care and guidance! We thank the vast number of customers, visitors and media friends for their enthusiastic participation and concern!

Looking ahead to BICES 2025, key global construction machinery enterprises and institutions will once again gather at the New China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, and the exhibition will be even more spectacular and exciting. As for the detailed matters concerning BICES 2025, Secretary-General Wu Peiguo will give a special report shortly. Below, I will discuss the following two points regarding the operation of the construction machinery industry for your reference.

 I. Economic Operation of the Construction Machinery Industry in the First Half of 2024

In the first half of 2024, the construction machinery industry conscientiously implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, actively responded to the impact of many factors such as the continued decline of the domestic real estate industry and changes in the international market environment, overcame difficulties and worked hard with determination. The overall economic operation of the industry was stable, high-quality development was solidly advanced, and fruitful results were achieved in high-end, intelligent and green development.

(1) Sales of the twelve major categories of main products in the construction machinery industry showed signs of stabilizing at the bottom

In the first half of the year, the twelve major categories of main products included in the Association's statistics recorded cumulative domestic and international sales of 968,900 units, a year-on-year increase of 4.58%; among them, cumulative domestic sales were 597,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 0.31%; cumulative exports were 371,700 units, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%.

What deserves attention is that, with the accelerated implementation of macroeconomic regulation policies, excavators, loaders and other products closely related to infrastructure construction have shown a trend of bottoming out and rebounding. Domestic sales of excavators have achieved positive growth every month since May, showing an obvious bottoming-out trend.

Among the exports of the twelve major categories of main products, ten categories achieved positive growth, among which the growth rate of pavers was 89.5%; only excavators and truck-mounted cranes showed negative growth.

(2) Construction machinery export value continued to show steady growth on a relatively high base

In the first half of 2024, China's import and export trade value of construction machinery amounted to US$27.134 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.13%. Among them, the import value was US$1.297 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.65%; the export value was US$25.837 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.38%. The trade surplus was US$24.54 billion, an increase of US$867 million year on year.

Calculated according to the export value denominated in RMB, the export value in June increased by 8.27% year on year. In the first half of the year, the export value increased by 7.24% year on year.

(3) The main economic indicators of key contact enterprises of the Association remained relatively stable

In the first half of 2024, the operating revenue of key contact enterprises of the Association operated at a high level, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 0.14%; total profit continued to achieve restorative growth, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 3.87%; accounts receivable increased by 1.61% year on year, and inventory decreased by 6.14%. The overall operational risk of the industry was controllable.

In addition, in the first half of the year, the number of employees of key contact enterprises of the Association increased by 1.05%, and total wages increased by 10.7%. Employment remained stable. In particular, in the face of floods and natural disasters, industry enterprises took active action, participated in emergency rescue and disaster relief, and better fulfilled their social responsibilities.

(4) The industry's transformation toward high-end, intelligent and green development continued to accelerate

Although market demand in some areas of construction machinery is currently under pressure, we are pleased to see that, in response to the high-end, diversified and personalized characteristics of construction machinery market demand, in order to meet the different needs of the vast number of users, further enhance the industry's core competitiveness, seize the commanding heights of future competition and build new competitive advantages, industry enterprises have overcome multiple adverse effects and continued to accelerate digital transformation and intelligent upgrading; green manufacturing, green products and green construction are being advanced in an orderly manner.

According to Association statistics, electric construction machinery represented by electric loaders, forklifts and aerial work platforms has grown significantly. In the first half of 2024, cumulative sales of electric loaders were 5,114 units, a year-on-year increase of 361%; sales of electric forklifts in the first half of the year were 468,557 units, an increase of 24.2% over the same period last year, accounting for 70.8% of total forklift sales; the electrification rate of aerial work platforms exceeded 90%. With the substantial improvement in R&D and manufacturing capabilities for batteries, electric drives and control systems, electric non-road dump trucks, excavators, cranes, bulldozers, concrete machinery and others have been put into batch production and use.

A number of large-scale and intelligent construction machinery products have been continuously introduced to the market, playing an important role in major engineering projects and infrastructure construction.

(5) Main problems and challenges

Looking at the first half of this year, demand for some product lines in construction machinery was sluggish and orders were insufficient, resulting in fierce market competition, declining product prices, and the problem of difficult account recovery still existing. According to the Association's statistics on sales of the twelve categories of products, excluding forklifts, the combined sales of the other eleven major products in the first half of the year decreased by 10% year on year, among which export volume increased by 2.23% and domestic market sales decreased by 18.6%. Nine categories of products showed negative sales growth. Enterprise operations and the industry's recovery and improvement still face many difficulties and challenges. In addition, the momentum of world economic growth is insufficient, and the complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment are rising. It is recommended that all enterprises in the industry continue to grasp changes in the domestic and international situation, continue to adhere to the market mechanism and demand-driven approach; adhere to strategic guidance, open cooperation, focus on the main business and refined management; adhere to a problem-oriented approach and bottom-line thinking, and achieve steady progress and innovative development; actively transform the development model, adjust the structure, improve quality and increase efficiency, develop new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions, and contribute to building a modern industrial system and promoting the industry's high-quality development to continuously achieve new results.

 II. Outlook for the Operating Trends of the Construction Machinery Industry

Looking ahead to the second half of 2024, the basic trend of China's economy's overall long-term recovery and improvement has not changed, and favorable factors supporting the stable operation and high-quality development of the construction machinery industry continue to gather and increase. With the intensification of macroeconomic regulation, the superimposed effects of policies will take effect, and in particular, large-scale equipment renewal will release effective market demand for construction machinery. The development environment of the construction machinery industry will steadily improve. Although the adverse effects brought by changes in the external environment are increasing and the international situation is severe and complex, thanks to China's construction machinery technology, products and services being increasingly recognized and accepted by international users, and the continuous improvement and upgrading of industry enterprises' overseas business layouts, the industry's export value will still maintain a relatively high level in the second half of the year.

It is expected that in the second half of the year, the overall economic operation of the construction machinery industry will continue to maintain a trend of stabilizing and recovering, and making progress while maintaining stability. In the long run, the industry's development confidence and determination coexist, and opportunities and challenges coexist, but opportunities outweigh challenges, and favorable conditions outweigh adverse effects. Overall, the construction machinery industry will show a stable and positive trend.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China and is also a crucial year for the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The construction machinery industry must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Party and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, firmly grasp the primary task of high-quality development, firmly seize the new industry development opportunities brought by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, actively adapt to new changes in the market environment, strengthen confidence, unite as one, work hard in a practical manner, and act proactively, so as to make new contributions to comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization.

Finally, once again, we welcome exhibitors, users, visitors, media and friends from all walks of life across the country and around the world to actively participate in and support BICES 2025, and share the new achievements of the industry's high-quality development! Let us take new steps in seeking common development; and achieve new fruitful results in mutual benefit and win-win cooperation!

From September 23 to 26, 2025, we look forward to meeting you in Beijing!