In 2026, the overall market size of China's machine tool industry bid farewell to the decline and entered a new round of growth cycle. As one of the most important machine types in the machine tool industry, the machining center market has also witnessed growth, among which 5-axis machining centers are growing even faster, and their share in the machining center market continues to increase.
In the segmented field of 5-axis machining centers, a significant improvement in the performance of domestic equipment is a major feature. Against the backdrop of sustained growth in downstream demand, domestic 5-axis machining centers have been further popularized in most downstream application scenarios and are more deeply involved in market competition with international brands, with many domestic manufacturers achieving excellent performance. While demand expansion and domestic technological progress are encouraging, the competition in the precision 5-axis machining center market will become more intense with the rapid iteration of downstream market demand and the increasing number of competitors in the industry. In the future, the ability to quickly respond to market demand will determine the long-term competitiveness of 5-axis machine tool enterprises, and the core foundation for quickly responding to demand and continuously refining product competitiveness lies precisely in the enterprise's forward design and independent R&D capabilities. Therefore, the competition among domestic 5-axis machining centers will no longer be limited to the performance and price level of the whole machine, but will also gradually extend to the independent control of core functional components.
01. Market Size: Machining Centers Show Steady Growth, 5-Axis Grows Faster
From the perspective of the overall market, in 2025, the market size of China's machining centers was approximately CNY 55.7 billion, of which vertical machining centers (including vertical 5-axis) accounted for about CNY 27.7 billion, nearly half of the total; a cumulative growth of about 5.7% compared to CNY 26.2 billion in 2023; in the first half of 2026, it reached about CNY 16 billion, already approaching 60% of the full-year scale in 2025, and the market continues its growth trend.
Market Size and Structure of China's Machining Centers from 2023 to 2026H1
Data source: MIR DATABANK
Note: Machining centers include vertical, horizontal, gantry machining centers, and drill-tap centers, etc.; among which vertical machining centers include 3-axis vertical machining centers and 5-axis vertical machining centers.
From the perspective of the segmented structure of machining centers, 5-axis is the fastest-growing part. In 2025, the market size of China's 5-axis machining centers reached CNY 11.7 billion, with an average annual growth of about 13% compared to CNY 9.1 billion in 2023, the growth rate is significantly higher than the overall machining center market, and its share in machining centers has also increased from about 18% to 21%; among them, vertical 5-axis accounts for about 60% to 70% of the 5-axis market, which is the main structure of 5-axis. In the first half of 2026, the market size of 5-axis machining centers was about CNY 7.4 billion, which has exceeded 60% of the full-year scale in 2025, and the growth rate has further increased.
Market Size and Structure of China's 5-Axis Machining Centers from 2023 to 2026H1
Data source: MIR DATABANK
Note: Vertical 5-axis only includes 5-axis vertical machining centers; other 5-axis includes horizontal 5-axis and vertical-horizontal conversion 5-axis.
The sustained growth of 5-axis is on the one hand driven by the continuous improvement of equipment cost-effectiveness brought about by technological progress and scaled production, and 5-axis is moving from "high-end dedicated" to "popularized application"; on the other hand, it comes from the continuous improvement of downstream industries' requirements for the processing efficiency and accuracy of complex parts. MIR DATABANK estimates that the market size of China's 5-axis machining centers will reach about CNY 14.7 billion in 2026, and is expected to step onto the scale of CNY 20 billion in 2030.
02. Downstream Demand: Traditional Industries Provide a Bottom Line, Emerging Industries Open Up Incremental Space
Currently, 5-axis machining technology is accelerating its popularization, and more and more downstream industries are beginning to replace 3-axis with 5-axis, and the demand for 5-axis machining continues to grow in more industries. From the perspective of downstream applications, aerospace, automotive, and precision molds are the three traditional downstream sectors of 5-axis machining centers, contributing a total of about 74% of 5-axis sales in 2025. Among them, aerospace accounts for about 34%, and complex curved surface parts such as blisks and casings in this industry have strict requirements for accuracy and strong rigid demand; automotive accounts for about 22%, and the new energy transition brings new processing objects such as motor housings and integrated die-cast structural parts. Although the requirements for rigidity are not high, there are high requirements for production efficiency; precision molds account for about 18%, and mold processing is changing from multi-stage processing to one-time forming, and the demand for process integration continues to increase.
Distribution of Downstream Industries in China's 5-Axis Machining Center Market from 2024 to 2025
Data source: MIR DATABANK
What is even more worthy of attention is the increment brought by emerging industries.
Semiconductor equipment is one of the directions with high certainty. In 2025, the scale of China's semiconductor industry was about CNY 1.45 trillion, a year-on-year growth of 11.5%, and it is expected to reach about CNY 2.55 trillion in 2029. Parts such as vacuum chambers, gas distribution plates, showerheads, and turbomolecular pump impellers in process equipment such as etching and deposition have complex structures, diverse materials, and extremely high requirements for cleanliness and consistency, continuously releasing the demand for high-precision 5-axis.
The demand for liquid cooling driven by AI computing power is growing rapidly. In 2025, China's AI server shipments exceeded 580,000 units, a year-on-year growth of 29%, and it is expected to exceed 1 million units in 2029. The increase in computing power density promotes the accelerated popularization of liquid cooling systems. Components such as GPU liquid cooling cold plates and liquid cooling manifolds have complex flow channels and high accuracy requirements, becoming new scenarios for 5-axis machining.
Humanoid robots are in the stage of moving from pilot to mass production. In 2025, China's humanoid robot shipments exceeded 10,000 units, and it is expected to approach 70,000 units in 2029. Parts such as integrated joint modules, dexterous hands, and structural housings are small in size and complex in surface, driving the demand for small-sized vertical 5-axis and mill-turn compound 5-axis.
At the same time, the 5-axis equipment itself is also evolving: processes such as turning and grinding are accelerating their integration with 5-axis milling, and single machines are extending towards automated cells and flexible production lines. These emerging industries currently still account for a low proportion of 5-axis demand, but they grow fast, have new processes, and iterate frequently, which puts forward higher requirements for the process development capabilities and response speed of equipment manufacturers.
03. Competitive Landscape: Jingdiao Technology Leads the 5-Axis Market for a Long Time
While demand is expanding, domestic 5-axis enterprises are making rapid progress in technology, products, and services, their ability to compete on the same stage with international brands is continuously strengthening, the overall strength of the industry is continuously improving, and leading enterprises are also growing along with the industry.
In the 5-axis machining center market, Jingdiao Technology has long maintained the first place. From 2023 to the first half of 2026, Jingdiao Technology's sales share in China's 5-axis market has always ranked first, maintaining at about 10%; in the main segmented market of vertical 5-axis, Jingdiao Technology's advantage is more prominent, and its sales share has been maintained at about 15% all year round.
Competitive Landscape of China's 5-Axis Machining Center Market from 2023 to 2026H1
Data source: MIR DATABANK
Jingdiao Technology's ability to lead for a long time mainly benefits from three aspects of advantages.
First, stable products and reliable performance. Jingdiao Technology features high speed and high precision. Its 5-axis series such as JDGR and JDMR cover the processing needs from small precision parts to medium and large structural parts. The product structure covers various types such as cradle rotary table type, moving beam gantry type, swing head type, and mill-turn compound type, and launched its first horizontal 5-axis high-speed machining center JDHTR800 at the end of 2025, facing the batch processing of aluminum die-cast parts for new energy vehicles; it has been verified by a large number of customers in terms of accuracy retention and long-term operation stability.
Second, accumulated a large amount of industry application experience. In the machine tool industry, building equipment is only the first step, and solving customer problems and meeting customer needs are more important steps. Jingdiao Technology takes "helping customers use Jingdiao machines well" as its goal and has built a multi-level technical service system: providing customers with on-site technical consulting for materials, tools, processes, etc., jointly developing stable processing technologies with customers for difficult orders, and setting up technical research groups to study industry solutions. Its public samples have covered more than ten industries such as medical devices, optics, semiconductors, aerospace, automotive, and humanoid robots, accumulating a large amount of processing technology experience.
Third, mastering the R&D of core technologies and key functional components. From CAM software and CNC systems to core functional components such as motorized spindles, Jingdiao Technology has achieved independent R&D and scaled production, which makes it more proactive in dealing with external supply risks and responding to market changes.
04. Core Components: Forward R&D Supports Rapid Response
5-axis machine tools are the "industrial mother machines" of high-end manufacturing, and core functional components such as CNC systems, motorized spindles, rotary tables, and servo drives directly determine the performance of the machine tools. In recent years, the state has also included high-end CNC systems and high-performance functional components in the construction focus of the high-quality standard system for industrial mother machines. For domestic 5-axis manufacturers, adhering to forward R&D and achieving independent control of core components has changed from a "bonus item" to a "must-answer question".
Jingdiao Technology is one of the few domestic 5-axis machine tool enterprises that possess the full-chain independent R&D and scaled production capabilities of "CAM software - CNC system - servo drive and motor - motorized spindle - direct drive rotary table", and the autonomy level of core functional components is at the leading level in the industry.
Specifically, on the software side, JDSoft SurfMill, independently developed by Jingdiao Technology, is a digital manufacturing software platform launched after 30 years of technological accumulation and innovation, supporting the programming and simulation of various forms of processing equipment such as 5-axis; on the control side, it has completed independent R&D in multi-axis motion control, precision servo drive and high-speed spindle drive, precision servo motor and direct drive torque motor, encoders, etc.; on the execution side, Jingdiao Technology has independently developed more than 10 models of high-speed precision motorized spindles, with a maximum speed of up to 36,000 r/min, and has independently mastered the high-precision and high-torque 5-axis direct drive rotary table technology. Taking the 5-axis high-speed machining center JDGR400T as an example, its standard configuration includes the Jingdiao JD50 CNC system, JDSoft SurfMill software, and a direct drive dual-axis rotary table, and is equipped with the Jingdiao on-machine inspection system, and can be equipped with an automatic feeding system to realize automated processing. On this basis, Jingdiao Technology's product matrix is expanding from vertical 5-axis to horizontal processing, high-precision processing, and multi-scenario complex part processing.
Forward R&D and independent control of key functional components are difficult but full of value, which is specifically reflected in two aspects: first, risk resistance, key components are not subject to external supply, and delivery and service are more guaranteed; second, fast response, software, control, drive, and spindle collaborate within the same technical system, and new process requirements can be transformed into equipment functions faster. Taking the batch reaming of throttle valve die-cast parts as an example, Jingdiao Technology achieves stable batch production with the help of its independently developed on-machine inspection system, the coaxiality of the hole is less than 0.01mm, and the part yield rate is increased from 70% to 98%; in the deep cavity corner clearing of the engine block mold insert, the DT programming technology of the independently developed CAM software can accurately calculate the shortest tool loading length, enabling the R1mm small tool to complete the corner clearing, and the surface tool mark is controlled within 10μm.
This rapid response capability has been reflected in Jingdiao Technology's industry layout. In the aerospace field, the 5-axis business maintains high-speed growth and can process high-difficulty parts such as impellers and blisks; in the semiconductor field, it can stably process hard and brittle material parts such as monocrystalline silicon, ceramics, and graphite. Public samples cover silicon showerheads, silicon rings for etching, graphite bases, etc., among which the 365 free-form surface blades of the 8-stage impeller of the magnetic levitation turbomolecular pump can complete all feature processing in one clamping, and the blade fine processing efficiency is increased by 61% compared with traditional processes; in the humanoid robot field, it has cooperated with many customers and launched a variety of 5-axis equipment with compound functions.
As domestic manufacturing continues to upgrade, the market's demand for high-precision and high-efficiency 5-axis machining centers will become increasingly larger, and demand changes will also become faster and faster. In this process, only enterprises that possess the ability of independent control of core components and truly integrate software, control, spindles, and industry processes can quickly respond to market demand and take the initiative in the increasingly fierce competition.