According to customs data, in the first half of 2023, China's construction machinery import and export trade volume reached USD 26.311 billion, a year-on-year increase of 23.2%. Among this, the import value was USD 1.319 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 12.1%; the export value was USD 24.992 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.8%, with a trade surplus of USD 23.67 billion, an increase of USD 5.31 billion year-on-year.

In June 2023, the import value was USD 228 million, a year-on-year decrease of 7.88%; the export value was USD 4.372 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%. The total import and export value in June was USD 4.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.46%.

In terms of imports, from January to June 2023, imports of parts and components amounted to USD 919 million, a year-on-year decrease of 3.53%, accounting for 69.7% of total imports. Imports of complete machines amounted to USD 400 million, a year-on-year decrease of 26.9%, accounting for 30.3% of total imports. The main categories with import growth included: crawler excavators, stackers, bulldozers below 320 horsepower, etc. The main categories with import decline included: tunnel boring machines, other engineering vehicles, pile drivers and engineering drilling rigs, rock drilling machinery and pneumatic tools, loaders, concrete mixing machinery, bulldozers above 320 horsepower, off-highway dump trucks, pavers, etc.

In terms of exports, cumulative exports of complete machines amounted to USD 17.637 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37.3%, accounting for 70.6% of total exports; exports of parts and components amounted to USD 7.355 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.76%, accounting for 29.4% of total exports. The main categories with export growth in the first half of the year included: crawler excavators, electric forklifts, loaders, internal combustion forklifts, elevators and escalators, other truck cranes, off-highway dump trucks, etc. The main categories with export decline included: manual pallet trucks, pile drivers and engineering drilling rigs, concrete pump trucks, etc.

Note: The USMCA free trade area consists of the United States, Canada, and Mexico

In the first half of this year, exports of high-tech construction machinery maintained rapid growth. Among them, exports of truck cranes (over 100 tons) increased by 139.3% year-on-year; exports of bulldozers (over 320 horsepower) increased by 137.6% year-on-year; exports of pavers increased by 127.9% year-on-year; exports of all-terrain cranes increased by 95.7% year-on-year; exports of asphalt mixing equipment increased by 94.7% year-on-year; exports of tunnel boring machines increased by 85.3% year-on-year; exports of crawler cranes increased by 65.4% year-on-year; exports of electric forklifts increased by 55.5% year-on-year.

In terms of exports to the six continents in the first half of the year, Europe saw the largest export growth, with an export value of USD 7.048 billion, an increase of 60.9%, accounting for 28.2% of exports. Asia accounted for the largest share of exports, with an export value of USD 9.992 billion, accounting for the highest proportion of total exports at 39.98%, a year-on-year increase of 19.1%; exports to Africa were USD 2.199 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%, accounting for 8.8%; exports to South America were USD 2.072 billion, an increase of 17.8%, accounting for 8.29%; the categories with lower export growth included: North America at USD 2.655 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.34%, accounting for 10.62%; exports to Oceania were USD 1.025 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.04%, accounting for 4.1%.

Looking at the distribution and changes of major regional export markets, in the first half of the year, exports to Africa and Latin America were USD 4.372 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%; exports to ASEAN were USD 3.857 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.31%; exports to the EU and the UK were USD 3.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%; exports to the USMCA free trade area were USD 3.064 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%, accounting for 12.26%.

In terms of major export destination countries, exports to the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey all increased by more than 120%. In addition, exports to Mexico and the Netherlands increased by more than 60%. Exports to Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, and Japan declined.

In the first half of the year, the export value to each of the top twenty major export destination countries exceeded USD 400 million, and the twenty countries together accounted for 69% of total exports. From January to June 2023, China's exports of construction machinery to countries along the "Belt and Road" totaled USD 11.907 billion, accounting for 47.6% of all exports, a year-on-year increase of 46.6%. Exports to BRICS countries were USD 5.339 billion, accounting for 21% of total exports, a year-on-year increase of 91.6%. Among them, the main source countries of imports remained Germany and Japan, with cumulative import values in the first half of the year both approaching USD 300 million, each accounting for more than 20%; South Korea followed with USD 184 million, accounting for 13.9%; imports from the United States were USD 101 million, a year-on-year decrease of 9.31%; imports from Italy and Sweden were around USD 70 million each.

Main characteristics of construction machinery product imports and exports in the first half of 2023:

1. Construction machinery exports remained at a relatively high level. Affected by international market demand, overall exports grew by 25.8% in the first half of the year, with an average monthly export value of USD 4.187 billion. Starting from March, export value exceeded USD 4 billion for four consecutive months.

It should be noted that the export value in June was the lowest among the past four months, but still above USD 4.3 billion. Although the year-on-year growth rate was only 10.6%, this was partly due to the higher base in June of the previous year.

2. Imports showed an initial trend of stabilization. In 2022 and January-February 2023, import value was below USD 200 million for several consecutive months, while from March to June, import value stabilized above USD 200 million. The decline further narrowed, from -19.8% in the first quarter to -3.62% in the second quarter, indicating a significant narrowing of the import decline. In the first half of 2023, the average monthly import value stabilized above USD 200 million.