As the combined force of technological innovation and market opportunities takes shape, the era is endowing the machine tool industry with a brand-new vitality. At this pivotal moment, the 14th China CNC Machine Tools Exhibition (CCMT2026) is about to make a grand debut. Since the launch of its call for exhibitors, the exhibition has garnered intense global industry attention and widespread participation. Building on the remarkable achievements of CCMT2024, this event will elevate the experience further, vividly portraying a new era of intelligent manufacturing and once again showcasing the strong appeal of the Chinese machine tool market.

CCMT2026 will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong, Shanghai from April 21 to 25, 2026.

Interpret the Smart Manufacturing New Era

  The main part of the CCMT2026 theme will continue to use 'Digital • Interconnection • Intelligent Manufacturing' as its core. Behind this unchanging theme lies the continuous evolution of intelligent manufacturing in the digital era. From its initial sprouting, digital interconnection and intelligent manufacturing technologies have been rapidly iterating. Today, they have long moved beyond their original forms, constantly transforming the unimaginable into tangible intelligent manufacturing, whether in terms of precision metrics or the degree of intelligence.

  The essence of next-generation intelligent manufacturing is to integrate intelligence and green elements into new-generation equipment. In terms of intelligent technology, machine tools are deeply integrating with emerging technologies such as digital twins, artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things, enabling the continuous enhancement of modern machine tool performance. Precision machine tools have achieved machining accuracy at the nanometer level, along with excellent stability and reliability, high degrees of automation and intelligence, and expanding application fields, all undergoing dimensional upgrading. In green manufacturing, transmission efficiency optimization and accelerated substitution of environmentally friendly materials have significantly improved the industry's energy efficiency. In the industrial ecosystem, intelligent manufacturing has triggered a chain reaction across the industrial chain, with materials, components, complete machines, processes, and testing cl osely interconnected, and the synergistic effects of the entire industrial chain becoming increasingly prominent.

  Technological breakthroughs continue to drive the evolution of the ecosystem. The new era of intelligent manufacturing is undergoing a critical phase of system restructuring and accelerating development. Intelligent control systems, servo systems, and high-precision transmission have become core components, directly determining the response speed, accuracy, and flexibility of intelligent manufacturing equipment. Whoever masters the equipment and software can exert influence over process databases, interface protocols, and inspection standards—the ability to 'define standards' has become a long-term competitive advantage in manufacturing.

  During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China will comprehensively implement the 'AI+' initiative, using artificial intelligence to lead a transformation in scientific research paradigms, strengthen the integration of AI with industrial development, and provide all-around empowerment to thousands of industries. In the machine tool industry, on one hand, AI will empower the machine tool sector comprehensively, significantly improving production efficiency while also overcoming long-standing, difficult-to-solve technological challenges. On the other hand, 'AI + Machine Tools' will empower manufacturing. The intelligentization of production tools will greatly accelerate the transformation of manufacturing into smart manufacturing.

The billion-level market continues to expand

In the Chinese market, policy-driven supply upgrades have brought the industry a historic opportunity. On September 1, 2025, the National Standardization Administration and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the \"Scheme for Building a High-Quality Standard System for Industrial Mother Machines.\" This scheme not only sets quantitative targets such as revising and formulating no less than 300 standards by 2026 and achieving a 90% conversion rate of international standards, but more importantly, it establishes a full-industry-chain standard framework covering six levels and 34 major categories, including basic general standards, design and supporting standards, manufacturing equipment, manufacturing processes, inspection and testing, and industry applications. In recent years, a series of supportive policies to promote the high-quality development of machine tool and cutting tool industries have been successively introduced by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and various local governments. The industry is gradually moving from \"domestication\" to \"high-endization.\

From the current market situation, China has long maintained its position as the world's largest producer and consumer of machine tools, with a market potential in the tens of billions of yuan that is enormous. In recent years, emerging market demands have fully erupted, continuously giving rise to new arenas. The rapid development of emerging strategic industries such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robots has brought new growth impetus to the industrial mother machine industry. In the new energy vehicle sector, the promotion of integrated casting technology has driven demand for large five-axis gantry machining centers, with components such as batteries, motor housings, battery boxes, and reducer housings of new energy vehicles becoming new growth points for five-axis machine tools. The explosive growth of the humanoid robot industry has put higher demands on precision machining equipment; the processing of core components such as precision reducers, lead screws, and guideways requires ultra-high-precision grinding equipment with micrometer-level precision requirements. The development of the low-altitude economy is also worth noting, as electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft extensively use carbon fiber composite materials and metal composite structures, which have put forward new demands for additive-subtractive composite machining equipment. And so on.

As the sister exhibition of CIMT (China International Machine Tool Exhibition), CCMT (China CNC Machine Tool Exhibition) has established a strong brand presence in the global industry. Notably, CCMT 2024 achieved breakthrough development upon its restart after the consecutive cancellations of CCMT 2020 and CCMT 2022. The exhibition area was significantly expanded, visitor numbers reached a new all-time high, product innovations and technological highlights were abundant, and on-site signing activities were exceptionally active. This grand exhibition fully reflected the development trends and era characteristics of global machine tool and cutting tool technologies and the Chinese machine tool and cutting tool market at that time. Two years later, the industry has taken another significant step forward. CCMT 2026 will fully showcase the most cutting-edge technological advancements and deeper industrial upgrading in the current machine tool and cutting tool sector. Here, it will continue to bring you witness to the industry's shining moments, helping every participant experience firsthand the powerful production capabilities of intelligent manufacturing and correctly grasp the path and direction of future intelligent manufacturing development.