The machinery manufacturing industry is a foundational sector of the national economy; its development directly affects the development of all sectors of the national economy, as well as the national economy and people's livelihood and the strengthening of national defense. Therefore, all countries place the development of the machinery manufacturing industry in a position of primary importance. As competition in the international market for machinery products intensifies, major companies are incorporating high and new technologies into the development of machinery products as an important means of gaining a competitive edge.
    After more than half a century of effort, China's machinery industry has gradually developed into a manufacturing sector with considerable comprehensive strength, and has preliminarily established its position as a pillar of the national economy. At present, indicators such as the number of enterprises above designated size, the number of employees, fixed assets, and industrial output value in China's machinery industry still rank first among all industrial sectors nationwide.
    On the 19th, it was learned from the China Machinery Industry Federation that China's machinery industry is currently in a period of stability with underlying concerns. Although China's machinery industry operated steadily overall last year, achieving a slow recovery and moderate growth, it has still not entered a track of sound development, and maintaining stable growth and safeguarding the overall situation remains the top priority for the industry's development this year.
    On the one hand, international competition is becoming more intense, and downward pressure on China's economy remains considerable; on the other hand, China's macroeconomic environment is conducive to the stable development of the entire industry, and favorable factors also exist, such as a stable policy environment that helps the industry advance structural adjustment.
    In the first three months of this year, the cumulative shipment value completed by China's entire machinery industry grew by nearly 5% year on year. Industry experts believe that China's machinery industry has made new progress in the ongoing processes of transformation and upgrading and structural adjustment, and that products with advantages in international market competition will continue to expand. It is expected that China's machinery industry imports and exports will be better than last year. Imports will still show low-speed growth; on the export side, due to the large base in early last year, the year-on-year export growth in the first quarter of this year was limited, so it may pick up month by month by mid-year, and is expected to grow by about 8% for the full year.
    In response to the decline in the growth rate of machinery product exports, relevant experts suggest that relevant departments should attach great importance to the difficulties encountered in machinery product exports. Many difficulties, such as trade protectionism, RMB appreciation, and rising costs, are rapidly weakening the competitiveness of China's machinery industry. Given that the machinery industry is a major support for the upgrading of China's foreign trade structure, it is suggested that relevant departments use tax levers to support the healthy and sustainable development of the machinery industry.