SHAOXING KEQIAO FANEVER IMPORT AND EXPORT CO., LTD , https://www.sxfanever.com
The production of plastic raw materials and finished plastic products is heavily dependent on advanced plastic machinery. With the rapid growth of China's plastics industry, the plastic machinery sector has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments within the broader machinery industry. Over the past few years, this industry has maintained an annual growth rate of around 30%, with manufacturing capacity reaching approximately 200,000 sets per year—placing China at the top globally. Despite this impressive scale, the output value of Chinese plastic machinery only accounts for about 9% of the world total, while its output represents 25% of global production. This discrepancy highlights a significant gap in value creation. Each year, there is an estimated market gap of 10 billion yuan, with over 60% of high-end plastic machinery still needing to be imported.
In key sectors such as large-scale ethylene projects, electronics, automotive, and packaging, critical equipment like plastic granulation units, precision injection molding machines, and multi-layer blow molding systems are often sourced from abroad. Similarly, medical and health-related machinery, including biaxially stretched film production lines and precision extruders, largely depends on imports. This reliance underscores the technological challenges faced by domestic manufacturers.
Most of the current domestic plastic machinery remains focused on low-end, basic applications, which are insufficient for producing high-quality, high-value plastic products. A major reason for this limitation is the lack of independent intellectual property and core technologies—often referred to as the "Chinese core." As one industry saying goes: if you remove the imported key components and core technologies, what’s left is just a pile of steel.
As experts have pointed out, the plastics machinery market primarily serves the plastics processing industry. Many domestic companies focus on producing simple daily-use items or basic industrial goods, lacking the capability to use advanced press technology to enhance product quality. Most remain satisfied with general-purpose equipment, and without strong demand from product manufacturers, it becomes difficult for press makers to gain market recognition for their innovations. This weak feedback loop significantly hinders the development of core R&D capabilities.
In essence, the core of plastic press technology lies in providing optimal process conditions and technological routes for plastic products. However, due to historical separation between industrial management, machinery manufacturing, and product production, the integration between these areas remains weak. Machinery manufacturers tend to focus on mechanical and electrical talent recruitment and improving processing capabilities, while neglecting research into plastics processing technologies. Without a deep understanding of material properties and processing conditions, true innovation in plastic machinery is hard to achieve.
To develop core technologies and improve the overall level of domestic plastic machinery, collaboration among all stakeholders is essential. Plastic raw material and product manufacturers must move beyond low-end production and strive for higher quality, both for community needs and corporate growth. Plastic press companies should closely integrate with the plastics industry, increase technical investment, and develop advanced equipment such as large-scale injection molding machines, composite systems, and multi-layer hollow molding machines. Additionally, they should focus on integrating microelectronics into machinery development, gradually achieving computerized control of key processes like injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, and calendering. These high-end technologies and control systems require breakthroughs in core technology and represent the only path forward for China's press industry.