In the first half of 2025, China's exports of construction machinery maintained steady growth, with the growth rate basically the same as the same period of the previous year. There is still some growth potential in exports of key categories such as excavators, cranes and mixing machines. The layout of electrification, greenization and intelligence provides growth momentum for China's construction machinery exports, and frequent trade frictions also prompt enterprises to accelerate the exploration of diversified markets. The North American market has gradually recovered since the adjustment of the US equivalent tariff, but the combined tariff remains at a high level; Africa continues to drive overall growth as an emerging market. With a high base, China's exports of construction machinery will still face downward pressure in the second half of 2025 and are expected to maintain a modest growth for the whole year.
Overall situation of China's construction machinery imports and exports in the first half of 2025
According to the General Administration of Customs, the total trade volume of China's construction machinery products (89 HS codes, including 76 mainframe products and 13 parts) in the first half of 2025 was 29.65 billion U.S. dollars, up 9.2% year-on-year.
In terms of exports, in the first half of 2025, China's total exports of construction machinery products reached 28.28 billion U.S. dollars, up 9.4% year-on-year. Among them, the export value in June alone increased 11.0% year-on-year. Specifically: Exports of main machines were 20.31 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.2% year-on-year, and the volume of exports was 14.182 million units, down 5.1% year-on-year; Total exports of parts and components were $7.97 billion, up 12.7% year-on-year.
In terms of imports, China's total imports of construction machinery reached 1.37 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year, up 3.6 percent year-on-year. In June alone, imports rose 19.3 percent year-on-year. Specifically: Imports of main machines were $530 million, down 5.7% year-on-year; Imports of components were $840 million, up 10.5% year-on-year.
2 China's key export markets for construction machinery in the first half of the year
In terms of export destinations, China 's construction machinery products saw a year-on-year decline in cumulative exports to Europe and North America in the first half of the year. Exports to other continents maintained growth, with Africa showing the most significant increase. In 2024, China's exports of construction machinery to Europe are generally on the rise, but have continued to decline year-on-year since January this year, mainly due to the decline in markets such as Russia, Belgium and the Netherlands; Exports to North America have continued to decline since 2023, affected by the decline in demand in the US market; Cumulative exports to Africa saw the largest year-on-year increase, although due to a smaller base, it also shows that demand in Africa is constantly being released, reflecting the diversified development of China's construction machinery export markets.
From the perspective of exporting countries, the diversification strategy of China's construction machinery enterprises has achieved remarkable results in recent years, and the concentration of major markets has gradually decreased. The share of Russia in China's total construction machinery exports has been declining since it rose sharply in 2023 and surpassed the United States, and the share of exports to the United States has also been on a continuous downward trend in recent years.
(1) Russian market:
Russia, the largest country for China 's construction machinery exports, has seen persistently sluggish demand since the beginning of 2025. China' s cumulative exports of construction machinery to Russia in the first half of the year were $2.36 billion, down 23.9% year-on-year, a significant drop from the 5.2% year-on-year growth for the whole year of 2024. Among the main types of construction machinery exported to Russia, the export value of major categories such as loaders and excavators decreased significantly year-on-year. Among them, loaders, which accounted for the highest proportion, saw a year-on-year decline of 50.1%. Only rock drilling and tunneling pile drivers and tools, elevators and escalators, and other engineering and equipment maintained some growth momentum. In addition, China's exports of construction machinery parts to Russia have continued to grow, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 17.2% in the first half of the year. Exports to Russia have continued to decline due to external factors such as restrictions on terms of trade and the cyclical nature of the construction machinery equipment market, which is a normal market reaction.
It is worth noting that important talks were held between Russia and the United States in August, the direction of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the second half of the year remains unknown, and there is considerable uncertainty in Russia's domestic economic situation and import pattern. The export situation of our construction machinery in the Russian market is still unclear.
(2) The US market:
In the first half of the year, China's cumulative exports of construction machinery to the United States reached 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, down 8.5 percent year-on-year, continuing the downward trend since 2023. In terms of export categories, only industrial vehicles, which have the highest share, and cranes, which have the lowest share, have maintained some growth. Exports of all other categories have declined year-on-year, with both earthmoving machinery and road machinery falling by more than 35 percent.
For a long time, the United States has been the top single country market for China's construction machinery exports. In 2023, due to the rapid growth of the Russian market, the US market dropped to second place. In the first half of 2025, trade frictions between China and the United States occurred frequently. Despite the reduction of the "reciprocal tariff" rate, the average tariff rate of China's construction and agricultural machinery exported to the United States still reached around 55%, and the export situation remained severe.
(3) Asian markets:
In the first half of 2025, China's cumulative exports of construction machinery to the Asian market reached 12.26 billion US dollars, accounting for 43.4% of the global total exports. It was the largest continental market for China's construction machinery exports, with a cumulative year-on-year growth of 15.8%, continuing the growth trend since 2021. With the exception of a 0.8% year-on-year decline in exports to Japan, cumulative exports of construction machinery to other major Asian exporters all maintained year-on-year growth. Indonesia remained China's largest export market for construction machinery in Asia, with cumulative exports to the country amounting to $1.37 billion in the first half of the year, up 28.2% year-on-year.
In terms of product categories, China's exports of all types of construction machinery to the Asian market increased year-on-year, except for other construction vehicles and equipment. In the first half of the year, cumulative exports of components, which accounted for the highest proportion of exports, increased by 10.8% year-on-year, an improvement from a year-on-year increase of -1.8% in 2024. Excavators remained the largest category of China's main construction machinery exports to Asia.
(4) EU and UK markets:
In the first half of 2025, China 's exports to the EU and UK markets were $3.26 billion, down 2.7 percent year-on-year. Due to the EU's anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on China's aerial work platforms, exports of industrial vehicles, which account for the largest share of the main engine, to the EU and UK markets decreased by 26.7% year-on-year during the same period. But major categories such as construction machinery parts and earthmoving machinery still maintained some growth momentum, among which exports of other construction vehicles and equipment increased by 145.7% year-on-year in the first half of the year.
Europe is an important traditional market for China's construction machinery exports. During the pandemic, China's construction machinery exports to the EU and the UK markets grew rapidly, and in 2022, the total export value reached more than twice that of 2020. Since 2023, high base and high stock have put some pressure on China's construction machinery exports to Europe. However, China's construction machinery technology has been improving in recent years, and the current electrification, greenization and intelligentization transformation is in line with the policy orientation of the EU's Net Zero Industry Act, which opens up new growth space for China's construction machinery exports to Europe. Given the current complex and volatile geopolitical situation, there are still many uncertainties regarding the future export trend of China's construction machinery to the EU and the UK markets.
(5) African markets:
In the first half of 2025, China's exports of construction machinery maintained steady growth, with the growth rate basically the same as the same period of the previous year. There is still some growth potential in exports of key categories such as excavators, cranes and mixing machines. The layout of electrification, greenization and intelligence provides growth momentum for China's construction machinery exports, and frequent trade frictions also prompt enterprises to accelerate the exploration of diversified markets. The North American market has gradually recovered since the adjustment of the US equivalent tariff, but the combined tariff remains at a high level; Africa continues to drive overall growth as an emerging market. With a high base, China's exports of construction machinery will still face downward pressure in the second half of 2025 and are expected to maintain a modest growth for the whole year.
Overall situation of China's construction machinery imports and exports in the first half of 2025
According to the General Administration of Customs, in the first half of 2025, the total import and export trade volume of China's construction machinery products (89 HS codes, including 76 mainframe products and 13 parts) was 29.65 billion U.S. dollars, up 9.2% year-on-year.
In terms of exports, in the first half of 2025, China's total exports of construction machinery products reached 28.28 billion U.S. dollars, up 9.4% year-on-year. Among them, the export value in June alone increased 11.0% year-on-year. Specifically: Exports of main machines were 20.31 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.2% year-on-year, and the volume of exports was 14.182 million units, down 5.1% year-on-year; Total exports of parts and components were $7.97 billion, up 12.7% year-on-year.
In terms of imports, China's total imports of construction machinery reached 1.37 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year, up 3.6 percent year-on-year. In June alone, imports rose 19.3 percent year-on-year. Specifically: Imports of main machines were $530 million, down 5.7% year-on-year; Imports of components were $840 million, up 10.5% year-on-year.
Overall, despite fluctuations in the global economic situation and trade environment, China's construction machinery exports are expected to maintain a good growth trend. With continued deepening in emerging markets and steady improvement in product technology, China's competitive position in the global market is expected to be further consolidated in 2025, and the export value of construction machinery for the whole year is expected to increase by 12%, maintaining a good export momentum.