Industry Market Status IC Market in Chinese Mainland in 2024 by Yun ZHANG, Investment Casting Branch of China Foundry Association and Zhigang LU, Tsinghua University High Value-added Casting T
he aviation industry is an important application field for high value-added casting. China is the fastest-growing aviation market. According to China's National Civil
Transport Airport Production Statistical Bulletin, in 2024, the passenger throughput of the Chinese mainland reached 1.46 billion, the cargo and mail throughput was 20.06 million tons, and the number of aircraft take-offs and landings was 12.40 million, all increasing by more than 15% compared to 2023 and exceeding the 2019 level, setting a new historical record. In August 2024, Boeing released its 2024 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) for China, which shows that the size of China's civil aircraft fleet will more than double by 2043, with an average annual growth rate of 4.1%. According to the forecast, China will need 8,830 new civil aircraft in the next 20 years, of which about 60% will be used to support fleet growth and 40% to replace old aircraft. China's civil aviation market has created opportunities for
the global aviation manufacturing industry, including for China itself. China has complete aircraft and engine manufacturing capabilities, advanced investment casting enterprises, and has been continuously making new progress in the research and development of military aircraft and engines. In the civil aviation sector, the C919 is a representative example. It was initiated in 2007, made its maiden flight in 2017, and officially began commercial flights in May 2023. Currently, the number of orders on hand has exceeded 1,200, and the corresponding domestic engines are also under active development. In addition, China's Industrial Gas Turbine (IGT) industry
is also making continuous progress. In October 2024, the self-developed 300MW F-class heavy-duty gas turbine successfully ignited.
aviation and IGT technologies have significantly enhanced China's
independent
The continuous breakthroughs in manufacturing
capabilities for
corresponding equipment and driven the sustained growth and rapid technological advancement of high value-added investment casting. According to statistics, high value-added investment casting in 2024 increased by 10.2% compared to 2023, reaching approximately 1.15 billion US dollars, mainly targeting the domestic market.
Automotive Casting China is the world's largest automobile producer and market. In 2024, automobile output and sales reached 31.28 million and 31.44 million units respectively, increasing by 3.7% and 4.5% year-on-year. China has remained the world's top producer for 16 consecutive years. Figure 1 shows the automobile output over the past 10 years. In 2024, automobile exports exceeded 6.4 million units, ranking first globally.
36 ❘ April 2025 ® Figure 2: The Production of New Energy Vehicles in Chinese Mainland China, with the world's largest population and well-
developed road infrastructure, has a consistently strong demand for automobiles, which has also driven the global automotive casting market. The investment castings for automobiles in Chinese mainland are targeted at both domestic and overseas markets. The output value of automotive castings in 2024 increased by 4.6% compared to 2023, reached 409 million US dollars. These enterprises have a relatively high degree of automation in their casting production, high levels of process management, and high requirements for the stability of raw materials and equipment. They play a positive role in promoting technological progress in the entire field of investment casting for civilian products. In the field of automotive castings, the impact of the development of new energy vehicles,
especially electric
vehicles, on the demand for castings should be noted. In China, the development of new energy vehicles is rapid, with
Figure 1: Production Volume of Automobile in Chinese Mainland
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