November 15, 2007 -- China is expected to continue being the world's biggest machine tools consumer, according to the China Machine Tool and Tool Builders Association.

The annual output value of machine tools will be US$9 billion this year, consumption US$14.5 billion, and market occupancy over 50 per cent.

The country's import will reach US$7.1 billion this year, thanks to the implementation of preferential policies to encourage the import of more advanced technology and equipment.

Some of China's exporting products may be influenced by policies, but the export of some key products, especially numerical control machine tools, will keep growing. The export value of machine tools for metal processing will amount to US$1.6 billion.

The market share of homemade machine tools in China may exceed 50 per cent for the first time in 10 years.

Source: Asia Pulse