Which Tech Breakthroughs Are Powering Automation Machinery’s Growth?

Against the backdrop of the global manufacturing industry accelerating its transformation towards intelligence and greening, automation machinery, as the core equipment supporting industrial upgrading, has stepped into a new stage of high-quality development driven by policies, technologies and market demands. According to the 2025 Global and China Industrial Automation Equipment Market In-depth Research Report, the global industrial automation equipment market size is expected to reach about 650 billion US dollars in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 7.5%, among which the contribution of automation machinery to the market growth is as high as 60%.

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Policy Support: Multiple Measures to Boost the High-quality Development of Automation Machinery

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with seven departments, issued the Implementation Opinions on the "AI + Manufacturing" Special Action, which clearly puts forward the requirement of accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence and automation machinery, and promotes the transformation of intelligent manufacturing from "automation" to "autonomy". Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will further implement the intelligent manufacturing project, continue to carry out the gradient cultivation of intelligent factories, and support leading enterprises to explore future manufacturing models, which will strongly drive the demand for high-end automation machinery in the market.

In addition, the local government's support policies for advanced manufacturing clusters are also constantly increasing. By guiding capital and resources to focus on the high-end automation field, it has spawned a strong demand for high-precision and high-reliability automation solutions. Up to now, China has built more than 35,000 basic-level, more than 8,200 advanced-level and more than 500 outstanding-level intelligent factories. In these intelligent factories, automation machinery has been widely used, driving the large-scale application of more than 1,700 key intelligent manufacturing equipment and industrial software.

Technological Breakthroughs: Core Technology Iteration Empowers the Upgrade of Automation Machinery

The continuous iteration of core technologies has become the core driving force for the upgrading of automation machinery. On the one hand, the integration of artificial intelligence technology has made automation machinery have stronger perception, decision-making and execution capabilities. At the 2026 CES exhibition, many automation machinery enterprises launched products integrated with AI technology. For example, the high-precision multi-axis linkage machining center launched by a domestic enterprise can realize intelligent identification and automatic processing of complex parts, with the machining accuracy reaching the micron level, which strongly supports the production of core components of humanoid robots.

On the other hand, the breakthrough of key components has significantly improved the performance of automation machinery. The application of high-precision servo motors, harmonic reducers and other components has made automation machinery more stable and efficient in operation. According to the data from the China Machine Tool & Tool Builders' Association, in 2025, the revenue of metal cutting machine tools, a key category of automation machinery, increased by 10.5% year-on-year, and the output increased by 12.7%, which has become an important support for the mass production of robot core components.

Market Demand: Emerging Fields Become New Growth Engines for Automation Machinery

The market demand for automation machinery is undergoing profound structural changes, with emerging fields such as new energy, automobile manufacturing and electronic information becoming new growth engines. In the field of new energy, the rapid development of photovoltaic modules and energy storage equipment has driven the demand for special automation equipment. The automation production line for photovoltaic cells can realize the whole process of automatic loading and unloading, coating and testing, which greatly improves the production efficiency and product quality.

In the field of automobile manufacturing, with the acceleration of the electrification and intelligence transformation of automobiles, the demand for automation machinery such as robot welding, spraying and assembly lines is increasing. A domestic automobile manufacturing enterprise has introduced an intelligent automation assembly line, which can realize the flexible production of multiple models, reducing the production cycle by 30% and the defect rate by 25% . In the field of electronic information, the demand for micron-level precision and ultra-high-speed production has promoted the wide application of precision motion control and visual inspection automation machinery, which has strongly supported the production of high-end electronic products such as chips and displays.

Export Growth: Chinese Automation Machinery Shines in the International Market

The international competitiveness of Chinese automation machinery is constantly improving, and the export volume is showing a steady growth trend. According to the data from the China Machine Tool & Tool Builders' Association, in 2025, the export volume of China's machine tool industry reached 21.01 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%, among which the export volume of technology-intensive metal forming machine tools soared by 34.1% . These data fully show that Chinese automation machinery has won the recognition of the international market with its high cost performance and excellent quality.

The export market of Chinese automation machinery is becoming more and more diversified. In addition to the traditional European and American markets, the exports to emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East are growing rapidly. Benefiting from the transfer of global manufacturing industry, the demand for standard automation machinery in Southeast Asian countries is increasing, which provides a broad market space for Chinese automation machinery enterprises.

Future Outlook: Automation Machinery Will Usher in a Broader Development Space

Looking forward to the future, under the dual drive of policy and market, automation machinery will usher in a broader development space. On the one hand, the continuous advancement of technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital twins and industrial Internet of Things will further promote the intelligent and digital transformation of automation machinery, making it more in line with the needs of flexible production and lean management. On the other hand, the continuous expansion of application scenarios will drive the continuous innovation of automation machinery products.

Industry insiders pointed out that in the next three to five years, the global automation machinery market will maintain a high growth rate, and enterprises with core technologies and complete solutions will occupy a favorable position in the market competition. With the continuous improvement of China's manufacturing level, Chinese automation machinery enterprises will play a more important role in the global market and contribute to the high-quality development of the global manufacturing industry.