According to the latest data jointly released by the General Administration of Customs of China and the China Packaging Federation, from 2020 to 2024, China's packaging machinery import and export market showed distinct features of “growing total volume with structural differentiation,” and the continuous expansion of the trade surplus has drawn significant industry attention. In 2024, The total import and export volume of China's packaging machinery has historically broken through the threshold of $5.758 billion, surging by 10.83% year-on-year. Among them, the trade surplus reached $3.488 billion, an increase of 32.95% compared with the previous year. These figures not only reflect China’s increasingly crucial role in the global packaging machinery industry chain but also signal an upcoming new round of structural transformation. In 2025, the market momentum remained strong, with the total trade volume of packaging machinery reaching ​ 2.002billionfromJanuarytoApril,maintainingatradesurplusof 1.375 billion.

Import Market: High-end Demand Drives the Rise in Average Prices.

During 2020–2024, China’s import value of packaging machinery fluctuated, increasing initially and then declining, with imports totaling ​

313 million from January to April 2025. Notably, the average import price witnessed a five−year consecutive increase,soaring from 10,774.32 per unit in 2020 to $43,780.80 per unit in 2024—a 302% surge. This trend underscores domestic enterprises’ urgent demand for high-end packaging machinery. As industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, and daily chemicals increasingly require higher packaging precision, intelligence, and production efficiency, companies have ramped up procurement of advanced equipment featuring high-speed filling, intelligent inspection, and flexible manufacturing capabilities. For instance, to meet the new GMP certification requirements, many pharmaceutical companies have invested heavily in fully automated sterile packaging production lines from Germany and Italy. Meanwhile, multinational enterprises in the daily chemical sector have imported high-precision digital printing packaging equipment from Japan to achieve personalized packaging. Additionally, the implementation of China’s “14th Five-Year Plan” for high-end equipment manufacturing has accelerated the elimination of outdated production capacity, driving the upgrading of imported equipment towards high-end and intelligent solutions.

Export Market: Coexistence of Increasing Volume with Low Prices and Breakthroughs in High-end Segment.

From 2020 to 2024, China’s packaging machinery export value increased with fluctuations, yet the average export price remained persistently low compared to imports. From January to April 2025, exports reached ​ 1.689billion,but the average price per unit stood at only 217.89—less than 1/200th of the import average. Currently, China’s exported packaging machinery mainly comprises mid-to-low-end equipment, such as semi-automatic sealing machines and simple filling devices, primarily shipped to emerging markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. These products have captured market share with price advantages but offer limited profit margins due to their low technical content and added value. In Southeast Asia, for example, local enterprises prioritize basic functionality and price, enabling Chinese companies to quickly penetrate the market. However, they face fierce competition from emerging manufacturing countries like India and Turkey. Moreover, rising global trade protectionism, including technical barriers and anti-dumping investigations, poses challenges to Chinese exports. Nevertheless, some leading domestic enterprises have increased R&D investments to enter the high-end market. A Guangdong-based packaging machinery firm, for instance, successfully exported its intelligent logistics packaging system to Europe and the United States, with an average export price exceeding $100,000 per unit, marking Chinese companies’ steady march towards the high end of the value chain.