The hydraulic industry in China is large but not strong

The hydraulic industry in China is large but not strong. The main problem is the surplus of low-end hydraulic parts, and the competition is very fierce; However, there is a serious shortage of high-end variable hydraulic components, and a large number of hydraulic products still need to be imported every year.

For example, in 2011, the import volume reached a high of 3.4 billion US dollars, accounting for 50% of the GDP of that year; In recent two years, due to the decline of excavator market demand, the import volume has declined, but it is also about 2.5 billion dollars, accounting for 30% of the industry output value in 2013

At the same time, according to the statistics of China Hydraulic Association, construction machinery is the largest downstream application industry of hydraulic products. According to the estimate, about 1/3 of domestic hydraulic products are used in construction machinery, which is similar to the hydraulic industry in Japan; Hydraulic excavator in construction machinery is the product with the most hydraulic components and the highest requirements.

Hydraulic parts are the key mechanical basic parts, and their development level directly determines the performance, quality and reliability of the host products. In order to change the situation that China's hydraulic industry is large but not strong, national policies have been issued to explicitly support the development of the hydraulic industry. In November 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Twelfth Five Year" Development Plan for the Machinery Basic Parts, Basic Manufacturing Process and Basic Materials Industry, which clearly proposed to significantly improve the overall level of the "three basic" industry, improve the supporting capacity for the equipment manufacturing industry, and realize the transformation and upgrading of the equipment manufacturing industry. The Plan proposes to focus on the development of 11 types of mechanical basic components, including high-pressure hydraulic components and high-power hydraulic components; Third: High pressure plunger pump/motor of 31.5 MPa and above, high pressure hydraulic valve, hydraulic electronic controller, high frequency response electro-hydraulic servo valve and proportional valve of 31.5 MPa and above working pressure, hydraulic torque converter, digital hydraulic pump and oil cylinder, high speed and high-power hydraulic coupling speed regulating device, and continuously variable transmission device for agricultural machinery.

In addition, the key basic materials to be developed include cast iron for high pressure precision hydraulic castings, and the materials for hydraulic castings are listed in 12 landmark basic materials: including high pressure plunger pump/motor housing, high pressure integral multi way valve body, high power hydraulic coupling pump wheel and casing castings of ductile iron and vermicular iron.