The rise of domestic machine tools: From following to leading!

As the top event in the machine tool industry, CIMT2025 China International Machine Tool Exhibition, with a total exhibition area of 310,000 square meters, has set a new record for the largest scale of global machine tool exhibitions in the past decade. Chinese machine tool enterprises launched a batch of new products and technologies with independent intellectual property rights at this exhibition, becoming a beautiful sight at the event. From the once "imitation" model to the current gradual transition towards the "innovation-driven" stage, domestic enterprises have taken a firm and powerful path of transformation and upgrading. Some products have reached the same level as foreign exhibits in core indicators such as functionality and precision, and even surpassed them, indicating a new breakthrough in the development of China's machine tool industry at a certain stage. China's machine tool industry is also accelerating its progress from "following" to "keeping pace" and "taking the lead".

However, while seeing the achievements, we should also keep a clear head. China's machine tool industry still faces many challenges, and its core technology research and development capabilities need to be further enhanced. The upstream and downstream of the industry need to enhance collaborative innovation, form a powerful development synergy, and continuously seize the commanding heights of industry development.

High performance, integration, intelligence and green energy conservation have become the main themes

In the current era of accelerated transformation in the manufacturing industry, machine tools, as the "mother machines" of manufacturing, have drawn much attention for their development direction. The CIMT2025 China International Machine Tool Exhibition showcases the development trends of the machine tool industry, including high precision, high speed, high efficiency, complexity, intelligence, and green energy conservation.

At the exhibition, foreign exhibitors showcased their "best skills" one after another, demonstrating their strong hard power in terms of high precision, high speed and high efficiency. The repeat positioning accuracy was ±0.8μm, the processing accuracy was ±1μm, and the surface roughness reached Ra0.01μm, which is equivalent to 1/8000 of a human hair. With a rapid movement speed of up to 120 meters per minute and an acceleration of up to 1g, it significantly enhances processing efficiency and cycle time. Products in various composite forms such as multi-axis linkage, turning/milling/grinding compound, and additive and subtractive compound are constantly being innovated. The exhibits of foreign exhibitors, through the integration of multiple processes such as multi-axis, turning, milling, grinding and electrical discharge machining, can complete the entire process of complex parts with a single clamping, effectively reducing clamping errors and process conversion time, promoting the development of processing and manufacturing towards intensification and flexibility, and improving the processing accuracy and efficiency of complex parts.

Taking leading foreign numerical control system enterprises as typical representatives, innovative applications such as intelligent numerical control systems, adaptive processing technologies, and predictive maintenance solutions have been launched, promoting the upgrade of machine tools from automation to autonomous decision-making and intelligent regulation. This has effectively enhanced production efficiency and product quality stability, providing strong support for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

With the in-depth advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, green and energy-saving technologies have also become a new focus of competition in the machine tool industry. Green manufacturing technologies such as high-efficiency and energy-saving motors, cutting fluid recycling devices, and intelligent energy management systems have been widely applied. The energy consumption of machine tools has significantly decreased, and the recycling rate of cutting waste has greatly increased. Concepts such as green design and low-carbon processes run through the entire product life cycle, promoting the transformation of the machine tool industry towards a resource-conserving and environment-friendly type.

Domestic machine tools are on par with international giants

Domestic machine tools have achieved major breakthroughs in key indicators such as high performance, integration and intelligence, and the gap with imported equipment is narrowing day by day. Some indicators have even surpassed them, injecting strong impetus into China's machine tool industry to move towards a medium and high-end level.

Domestic machine tools have been continuously delving into the field of precision control technology and have achieved remarkable results. The UPT250B ultra-precision single-point diamond lathe exhibited by the General Technology Machine Tool Research Institute has a spindle rotation accuracy of less than 30nm, a linear motion axis positioning accuracy of less than 0.3μm, and a repeat positioning accuracy of less than 0.2μm. The spindle rotation accuracy of Zhejiang Bogu Intelligent's ultra-precision hard turning machine tool that uses turning instead of grinding is less than 0.1μm, the positioning accuracy of the linear motion axis is less than 1μm, and the repeat positioning accuracy is less than 0.2μm, demonstrating the strong precision strength of domestic machine tools.

In ultra-high-speed processing, domestic machine tools also perform outstandingly. The first domestically produced 100,000 r/min ultra-high-speed electric spindle released by Guangzhou Haoyi at the exhibition has filled the domestic gap and provided strong support for the development of ultra-high-speed processing technology in China. The ultra-high-speed five-axis gantry machining center exhibited by Shanghai Tuopu has achieved lightweight and energy conservation through advanced technologies such as composite materials, linear motors, and intelligent compensation. Its rapid traverse speed can reach up to 120m/min, and the ultra-high-precision five-axis gantry machining center can also achieve a rapid traverse speed of 80m/min.

The Shandong HTMC800T swivel head turning and milling compound machine tool has a positioning accuracy of ±3μm and a repeat positioning accuracy of ±1μm. In the field of complex curved surface processing, its precision performance is comparable to that of imported equipment, providing a new domestic equipment option for industries with extremely high precision requirements such as aerospace and precision molds, and breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign equipment in this field.

The emergence of these compound devices indicates that China's machine tool industry is gradually breaking the foreign monopoly in the field of compound processing technology, injecting new impetus into the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry.

With the deep integration of new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things with the machine tool industry, the intelligent level of domestic machine tools has also achieved a leapfrog improvement.

Huazhong Numerical Control has released the world's first intelligent numerical control system with autonomous learning capabilities, "Huazhong 10". Through the "1+2+3" innovative architecture, namely 1 intelligent base, 2 digital main lines, and 3 intelligent subsystems, it has achieved the transformation of machine tools from "passive execution" to "active decision-making". Its built-in DeepSeek large model can optimize processing parameters in real time, significantly reducing the programming time for complex parts from half an hour manually to three minutes. The processing efficiency can be increased by up to 20%, greatly enhancing production efficiency and reducing production costs.

The high-speed, high-precision and intelligent heavy-duty vertical milling and turning machining center launched by Wuhan Heavy Machinery Group, relying on the "Wuhan Heavy Cloud" industrial Internet platform, deeply integrates artificial intelligence, digital twin and big data technologies. Through the independently developed intelligent numerical control system and multi-dimensional sensor network, real-time data on equipment vibration, temperature and energy consumption are collected, and a dynamic digital twin model is constructed to achieve autonomous optimization of processing accuracy and fault prediction. Its AI diagnostic module can identify risks such as tool wear and component aging in advance, proactively trigger maintenance procedures, shorten the fault response time to the minute level, optimize the maintenance cycle by over 30%, and effectively increase the overall equipment efficiency (OEE) by 40%, providing a successful example for the intelligent transformation in the heavy machinery processing field.

These achievements fully demonstrate that domestic machine tools have the strength to compete with imported equipment in terms of intelligence, providing strong support for the digital and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry and helping China move from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing power.

The hidden concerns behind the joy

Behind the many highlights of domestic machine tools, deep-seated problems that have long accumulated in the industry still exist, becoming a "stumbling block" for domestic machine tools to move towards the high-end market.

Judging from the overall situation of the domestic high-end products on display at CIMT2025, they are complete in categories and diverse in specifications. In terms of performance such as precision, they are not inferior to foreign exhibits and fully possess the strength to serve the high-end manufacturing industry. However, due to the lack of new technological tracks, foreign machine tool products still have relatively high technical and market thresholds. New technologies and products of domestic machine tools are launched relatively late, lacking sufficient evaluation and market application. During market promotion, there are still varying degrees of "trust crises".

Mainframe enterprises are "afraid to use" and "unwilling to use" the numerical control system and its core and key functional components. User enterprises also hold a similar attitude towards the mainframe, resulting in a relatively low level of market trust. In high-end fields such as aerospace, automobiles, and integrated circuits, when it comes to high-precision and high-consistency processing, domestic machine tools have exposed some deficiencies in processing efficiency, precision durability, reliability, and stability. This makes it difficult to gain full trust from customers even if there are new technological breakthroughs due to the lack of sufficient practical tests, and the road to market expansion is full of difficulties.

The comprehensive process services provided by China's machine tool enterprises mainly focus on the processing technology of key components for the production of products, product assembly technology, and process equipment related to production quality, while paying insufficient attention to the application demands of customers. We are unable to provide customers with efficient and precise full-process and full set of process service solutions, including factory planning, flow of people and materials, equipment layout, processing technology of user parts, and informatization.

In this situation, it is neither possible to meet the diverse needs of customers nor conducive to the rapid iteration and upgrading of products and the development of new products based on customer demands. When competing with international enterprises that possess comprehensive and integrated service capabilities, Chinese machine tool enterprises are clearly at a disadvantage, which is not conducive to their application and expansion in the high-end market.

The outstanding performance of domestic machine tools at the CIMT2025 machine tool Exhibition has given us hope for their rise. However, to truly capture the high-end market, it is necessary to enhance one's own technological strength, comprehensive process service capabilities, and accelerate the pilot-scale verification of products, as well as boost market trust and confidence. Only in this way can domestic machine tools gain a firm foothold and secure a place in the market when competing with international machine tool giants.

The breakthrough of the machine tool industry

As the "mother machine of industry" in manufacturing, the technological level of machine tools is closely related to the national security strategy and the core competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. However, for a long time, China's machine tool industry has been trapped in a predicament of weak basic and common technologies and excessive reliance on foreign countries for high-end technologies. Especially in the field of high-end CNC machine tools, there is a significant gap compared with the advanced level of the West.

Against the backdrop of the current volatile global situation and the profound transformation of the manufacturing industry, it is imperative for the machine tool industry to achieve self-reliance and control. Collaborative technological innovation has become one of the key paths to break through the predicament and overcome technological barriers.

Technological innovation should not be just a slogan. Instead, it requires the concerted efforts of all industry colleagues, a firm focus on the direction, key breakthroughs, and perseverance. We must have the determination not to give up until the goal is achieved. We should not only focus on the in-depth development of basic and common technologies, but also master the "killer" technologies that can defeat the enemy in one move. At the same time, we must also pay close attention to the breakthroughs in applied technologies.

First, while promoting technological innovation, we should also enhance the matching of industrial policies. On the basis of establishing good cooperative relationships through project-driven approaches, efforts should be made to promote the establishment of institutionalized requirements such as domestic procurement of high-end products and the proportion of domestic production, providing stable expectations for the research and development and manufacturing of high-end products by machine tool enterprises. Drawing on the experience of the "pre-research - technology application - model development" system, "synchronous pre-research" should be carried out for the technical demands of new product research and development in key areas and common application basic technologies. This will prevent technical problems belonging to different scientific research stages such as applied basic research, applied technology, and engineering from being dealt with all at once, and solve the problem of the innovation source of domestic high-end machine tools. Promote standard research on innovative products and digital technology applications, leverage China's information technology advantages, and create "new track" overtaking opportunities for the machine tool industry. In terms of policies on import and export as well as bidding and tendering, they should converge with innovation policies to jointly promote the batch application of high-end machine tools, numerical control systems and functional components.

Second, strengthen the tracking and monitoring of the machine tool industry chain and the analysis of industrial innovation data. In response to the prominent issues of insufficient and distorted statistics of industrial and technological information data in the machine tool field, we should benchmark against the world's advanced standards, dynamically collect and analyze relevant information on international and domestic machine tool research, technology, and enterprises, track the continuous or discontinuous changes in professional technology that are emerging, grasp the capabilities and trends of existing and potential competitors, and understand the changes and trends in market demand. Provide decision-making basis; Strengthen the collection, organization and analysis of scientific and technological achievements in the industry, establish a maturity assessment mechanism that conforms to the characteristics of the industry, integrate the "science, industry and finance" cycle, optimize and build new platforms for the industrialization of innovative achievements in the machine tool field, such as industrial brains and supply and demand platforms, to accelerate the iterative upgrading and application of innovative achievements in machine tools.

Third, accelerate the maturation of products and technologies while establishing pilot-scale verification standards. During the process of product and technology maturation and industrialization, it is necessary for institutions or platforms to formulate standards from a third-party perspective, evaluate products fairly and impartially, provide a "diagnosis" for the iterative upgrade of high-end machine tools, accelerate the technological iteration of products and build the trust and confidence of high-end users in domestic products. These platforms should have the ability to connect with enterprises of numerical control systems and functional components, original equipment manufacturers (Oems), customers, and universities and research institutes. They should be capable of supporting the promotion of basic common technologies, "killer" technologies, and application technologies. At the same time, they should also possess service capabilities such as professional assessment, independence, objectivity, fairness, comprehensiveness, and pilot-scale verification standards.

At present, relying on the government, leading enterprises, universities and research institutes, many innovation centers or pilot-scale verification platforms have been established in China. However, from the perspective of development and operation, most platforms have yet to form a favorable ecosystem of collaborative innovation among "users - mainframe manufacturers - numerical control systems and functional components - universities", and also lack self-sustaining operational capabilities, thus failing to effectively enhance the market application confidence of high-end machine tools.

Therefore, the platform still needs continuous support, gathering the advantages of all parties to form a powerful innovative synergy, becoming a "technological leap router" for high-end CNC machine tools in related fields, and promoting China's transition from a major machine tool manufacturing country to a powerful one.