China's Infrastructure Ambitions Are Keeping the Construction Equipment Market in Sustained Motion
China's construction equipment market is not just growing. It is changing in character in ways that will define the competitive dynamics of the industry for the next decade and beyond. At the center of this change is a sweeping national commitment to decarbonization that is reshaping both what gets built and what equipment is used to build it. Green hydrogen projects, renewable energy installations, and the electrification of equipment fleets are creating new demand streams and new competitive requirements across the market.
Understanding this green transition is essential to understanding where the China construction equipment market is heading as it grows from 739,713 units in 2023 toward 835,431 units by 2029.
Know More: China Construction Equipment Market - Strategic Assessment & Forecast 2024-2029
Green Hydrogen Infrastructure Creating New Construction Demand
China has committed to a low-carbon future at a scale that is generating substantial construction activity in its own right. With 57 green hydrogen projects currently underway and targets to increase green hydrogen's share of total national hydrogen output to 15% by 2030, the physical infrastructure required to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen represents a meaningful and growing source of equipment demand.
Sinopec is among the leading players in this space, developing two of the world's largest green hydrogen projects alongside a 400-kilometer hydrogen pipeline to Beijing, with ambitions to produce more than two million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2025. Projects of this scale require wheeled loaders, excavators, pipe-laying equipment, and cranes across extended construction timelines, adding a category of construction demand that was negligible just five years ago.
China's national hydrogen infrastructure strategy extends beyond individual projects to include pipeline network development and standardized construction guidelines aimed at building a robust hydrogen energy ecosystem by 2025. As this infrastructure buildout accelerates, it will generate sustained construction equipment demand in a segment where the equipment requirements differ in some respects from conventional construction, creating opportunities for manufacturers that can tailor their offerings to hydrogen infrastructure specifications.
Renewable Energy Investment at Unprecedented Scale
China's commitment to spending USD 150 billion per year on renewable energy until 2030, primarily in solar and wind industries, with annual investment expected to rise to USD 250 billion by 2050, is one of the most significant infrastructure investment programs in human history. The construction requirements of this program, encompassing solar farm foundations, wind turbine installations, transmission line construction, grid infrastructure upgrades, and energy storage facilities, are generating equipment demand that spans excavators, cranes, material handlers, and specialized lifting and positioning equipment.
The renewable energy investment program is directly connected to China's carbon neutrality target of 2060 and its commitment to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030. These policy-backed timelines create a predictable multi-decade investment schedule that equipment manufacturers can plan around, in contrast to the cyclical uncertainty of private construction markets.
Electric Forklifts Leading the Fleet Electrification Trend
The electrification of construction and material handling equipment fleets is advancing faster in China than in most other major markets. Electric forklifts now account for 67.87% of total forklift sales in China, driven by a combination of government policy support for low-emission equipment, the economic advantages of electric operation including lower fuel costs and reduced maintenance requirements, and the improving performance characteristics of electric drivetrains as battery technology advances.
The State Council's March 2024 release of the Action Plan for Promoting Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Old-for-New is directly accelerating this transition by incentivizing the replacement of older, less efficient equipment with modern, energy-saving alternatives. This policy creates additional near-term demand for electric equipment across multiple categories as businesses respond to financial incentives for upgrading their fleets. For equipment manufacturers that have invested in electric product lines, this policy environment represents a significant commercial opportunity.
Waste-to-Energy as an Emerging Equipment Demand Category
China's urbanization has generated a waste management challenge of enormous scale. Urban domestic waste production grew from 108 million tons in 1996 to 235 million tons in 2020, and the construction of waste incineration facilities has expanded dramatically in response, with the incineration rate rising from 14.52% to 62.29% between 2006 and 2020. Each new waste incineration facility represents a construction project requiring wheeled loaders and excavators for site preparation and material handling throughout the operational life of the plant. As China's urban population continues to grow and waste management infrastructure continues to expand and upgrade, this segment will generate a consistent and growing stream of equipment demand through 2029 and beyond.
Know More: China Construction Equipment Market - Strategic Assessment & Forecast 2024-2029
