The 19th China International Machine Tool Show (CIMT2025), themed "Integrated Innovation, Digital and Intelligent Future", was held in Beijing from April 21st to 26th. This 6-day industry event, with a total exhibition area of 310,000 square meters, attracted more than 2,400 machine tool enterprises from 30 countries and regions. World-renowned machine tool companies gathered with their latest technologies and products, comprehensively demonstrating the cutting-edge trends in the machine tool industry and exploring the future path of digital and intelligent manufacturing under the in-depth integration of information technology and manufacturing technology. The exhibits covered core areas of the industrial chain such as machine tool hosts, numerical control systems, and functional components.
"This exhibition not only showcases the current technological breakthroughs and innovative achievements in the machine tool industry, but also points out the direction for the development of intelligent manufacturing in the future, indicating that the machine tool industry will move towards a higher level of intelligence and flexibility," said Hong Yong, a think tank expert from the China Digital-Real Integration 50 Forum, in an interview with Securities Daily.

### In-depth Integration of AI and Machine Tool Industry: Driving Intelligent Manufacturing Forward
At this exhibition, the in-depth integration of AI technology and the machine tool industry became the most eye-catching focus, with numerous innovative achievements emerging, accelerating the transformation of the machine tool industry from traditional manufacturing to high-end intelligent manufacturing.

Wuhan Huazhong Numerical Control Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huazhong CNC") grandly released the world's first new-generation intelligent numerical control system "Huazhong Type 10" at the exhibition site, fully demonstrating the strong power of AI empowerment.

At the Huazhong CNC booth, a reporter from Securities Daily issued the instruction "Jump to the diagnostic page, confirm" to the "Huazhong Type 10" intelligent numerical control system, and the screen switched to the diagnostic page after making corresponding decisions, with a series of diagnostic procedures presented.

Chen Jihong, Chairman of Huazhong CNC, said in an interview with Securities Daily that they have endowed the system with autonomous learning capabilities and innovatively built a technical architecture of "one intelligent base, two digital main lines, and three functional subsystems", creating a new paradigm for the advanced stage of intelligent manufacturing.

Chen Jihong introduced that the "Huazhong Type 10" is equipped with an intelligent base - the hardware layer is matched with AI chips and intelligent sensing modules, and the software layer is connected to large language models such as DeepSeek. In this way, CNC machine tools have autonomous learning capabilities, transforming from "executors" to "thinkers", and significantly improving processing efficiency and precision.

"At present, the system has the intelligent decision-making ability equivalent to that of an engineer with 2 to 3 years of work experience, and can continue to evolve through data training. Its open platform supports the local deployment of enterprise small models, effectively ensuring data security," Chen Jihong said. "These devices bring about the fission effect of intelligent manufacturing scenarios, achieving micron-level or even nanometer-level processing in the aerospace field, and greatly improving the yield rate and shortening the delivery cycle in the manufacturing of new energy vehicle parts, 3C products, and precision molds."

Standing in the center of the booth of Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group"), the reporter saw a huge industrial equipment standing tall, which is the world's first high-speed, high-precision intelligent heavy-duty vertical milling and turning machining center released by Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group.

A relevant person in charge of Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group told Securities Daily that this machine tool combines the new generation of artificial intelligence technology and uses maintenance methods such as AI large models to ensure efficient, healthy, and stable operation of the machine tool. In terms of functions, it can also realize autonomous perception, learning, optimization and decision-making, autonomous control and execution, and has functions such as remote monitoring and fault diagnosis. Moreover, its localization rate reaches over 95%, equipped with the latest domestic intelligent numerical control system.

Above the booth of Wuhan Huagong Laser Engineering Co., Ltd., the eye-catching sign "Laser Intelligent Manufacturing + AI" is particularly noticeable. The latest generation of 3D five-axis laser cutting intelligent equipment exhibited this time is equipped with an AI intelligent interaction system for the first time. The person in charge of the company's technical department introduced to Securities Daily that the system has currently realized the whole process digitization of "sales, teaching, use, adjustment, and maintenance".

An engineer from Beijing KND Numerical Control Technology Co., Ltd. also demonstrated its latest AI intelligent numerical control system to the reporter. With simple operation interface and command input, the system can quickly respond and realize efficient scheduling of complex production processes.

"This system is a next-generation intelligent numerical control system solution that deeply integrates CNC with AI large models, machine learning, and industrial internet. It has significant advantages such as high usability, single-machine intelligence, and production digitization, which can significantly reduce labor costs and improve work efficiency, and will be applied to the next generation of intelligent CNC machine tools," the engineer said.

### Upsurge of Flexible Manufacturing: Multiple Technologies Empowering Production Transformation
In addition to AI technology, flexible manufacturing has become another hot spot at the exhibition.

"Currently, the machine tool market presents the characteristics of diversification, multi-level, dispersion, and rapid changes, which is quite different from the traditional stable market development model. With the in-depth integration of cutting-edge intelligent technologies such as digital twins and artificial intelligence with the machine tool industry, efficient flexible production in various application scenarios is continuously being implemented," Cao Zhe, chief investment officer of Beijing Aiwen Zhilue Investment Management Co., Ltd., said in an interview with Securities Daily.

Flexible manufacturing is a mode that flexibly adapts to production changes. It endows industrial machine tools with the ability to quickly switch processing tasks and automatically adjust parameters, adapting to multi-variety and small-batch production, and improving production flexibility and efficiency.

At the booth A101 in Hall 2 of the Exhibition Center, the reporter saw Ningbo Weili Robot Technology Co., Ltd. displaying its heavy-duty five-axis flexible handling system, 3S-W flexible intelligent workstation, and DFMS digital flexible manufacturing system. The staff of the company told Securities Daily that the company's DFMS digital flexible manufacturing system is based on current business and actual customer needs, and through digital technical means, deeply integrates industrial automation technology, information technology, and control technology, thereby empowering the traditional flexible manufacturing system and realizing more accurate plan management and complete set manufacturing.

The flexible production control system of Lidin Intelligent Equipment (Qingdao) Group Co., Ltd. also attracted many audiences to stop and watch. "Our system is independently designed and developed, supporting the analysis and calculation of more than 1,000 parameter change points. It can automatically adjust the execution order of production plans to maximize production capacity and optimize order delivery time. At the same time, its digital twin technology can restore the production site 1:1, monitor and adjust the production line scheduling from multiple dimensions of time and space," the company's staff said.

Among the exhibits of Foshan Huashu Robot Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Huazhong CNC), a white mechanical arm picked and placed items accurately and smoothly, and its operation instantly attracted many audiences to stop and watch. The person in charge of the company's technical department introduced: "This is our flexible workstation, which integrates collaborative robots and silos, and can be adapted to multiple scenarios. Its advantages are mainly reflected in four aspects: dual-mode intelligent switching, high-precision and high-speed operation, compact and flexible layout, and zero-threshold intelligent control."

Empowered by flexible manufacturing systems, flexible production lines have also become a highlight of the exhibition. Shanghai Jiao Tong University Zhibang Technology Co., Ltd. brought a flexible production line based on high-precision AGV. Its high-precision composite AGV combined with customized industrial software forms an automated logistics system for parts and tools, which can realize RFID material traceability and intelligent scheduling control, and can meet mixed-line production and adapt to various types of machines and assembly equipment.

### Industrial Machine Tools Entering a Golden Period of Intelligent Upgrading
Bu Rixin, partner of Chuangdao Investment Consulting, said in an interview with Securities Daily that as "the tools for making tools" and "the foundation of self-improvement", industrial machine tools are at the core hub of the modern industrial system and are strategic basic industries related to national security and development.

"The numerical control system is the 'brain' of industrial machine tools, supporting the global industrial machine tool industry with a scale of 200 billion yuan and the manufacturing industry with a scale of dozens of trillions of yuan," Yu Fenghui, a senior researcher at Pangoal Institution (Beijing) Information Consulting Co., Ltd., said in an interview with Securities Daily.

In recent years, thanks to the rapid development and upgrading of the domestic manufacturing industry, as well as the continuous progress and innovation of technologies in the CNC machine tool industry, China's CNC machine tool industry has shown a rapid development trend. According to data from Guanyan Report Network under Guanyan Tianxia (Beijing) Information Consulting Co., Ltd., the market size of China's CNC machine tool industry reached about 409 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 8.77%. In 2024, the market size of China's CNC machine tool industry reached 432.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.75%.

From "Made in China 2025" clearly promoting breakthrough development in key areas such as high-end CNC machine tools and robots, to the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Intelligent Manufacturing" proposing to vigorously develop intelligent manufacturing equipment, a series of policies have pointed out the direction for the CNC machine tool industry. The state also gives high policy support to high-end manufacturing, especially the field of high-end CNC machine tools. In terms of supporting high-end CNC machine tool research and development and industrialization projects, the Industry Department has issued key tasks such as industrial strategic backup for dual-importance construction: ultra-long-term national debt support for high-end CNC machine tools, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and auto parts research and development and industrialization.

"With the surge in demand for processing complex and precision parts in high-end manufacturing industries such as aerospace, automobiles, and energy, traditional CNC machine tools can no longer meet the requirements of high precision, high efficiency, and flexible production. The market is forcing enterprises to accelerate the transformation to intelligence and high-end," Zhan Junhao, partner of Fuzhou Gongsun Ce Public Relations Consulting Co., Ltd., said in an interview with Securities Daily.

Zhou Ji, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the National Manufacturing Power Construction Strategy Consulting Committee, said that promoting the new industrialization process with artificial intelligence technology has become the core technical path for the innovative development of the manufacturing industry, and the new generation of intelligent manufacturing is a key link in this path.

"The next decade will be a critical period for the development of intelligent CNC machine tools, a typical equipment of the new generation of intelligent manufacturing," Zhou Ji said.

Intelligent machine tools deeply integrate artificial intelligence technology into the processing process, accelerating the intelligent transformation of the domestic machine tool industry. At the industrial chain end, Huazhong CNC has joined hands with 18 leading machine tool enterprises including Qinchuan Machine Tool Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qinchuan Machine Tool") and Baoji Machine Tool Group Co., Ltd. to equip 20 intelligent machine tools loaded with "Huazhong Type 10".

With the deepening of industry-university-research cooperation, universities and research institutions play an important role in tackling key technologies. Qinchuan Machine Tool has jointly established a high-end CNC machine tool innovation consortium with 12 enterprises and 3 universities, committed to the research and development of precision CNC gear grinding machines and their core functional components, as well as high-end CNC systems.

He Jiyong, dean of Zhangru Research Institute, said in an interview with Securities Daily that although China has made remarkable achievements in the intelligent upgrading of CNC machine tools, it still faces some challenges. The localization rate of core components such as high-end CNC systems and servo motors is low; there is a shortage of intelligent professionals, and enterprises have insufficient digital transformation capabilities; the industry standard system is不完善, and the compatibility between equipment and systems needs to be improved.

Wei Guohong, member of the China Robot CR Education and Training Standard Committee, said that with the improvement of new infrastructure such as 5G and industrial internet, the intelligent upgrading of CNC machine tools will usher in a broader space. Enterprises need to continue to increase R&D investment, break through key core technologies, and strengthen talent training; at the same time, the introduction of favorable policies will promote the coordinated development of the industrial chain. It is believed that with the joint efforts of all parties, China's CNC machine tools will realize the leap from "a big manufacturing country" to "a powerful intelligent manufacturing country".