No longer just the first market, but now also the first factory. And what a factory: the "factory of factories". For some time now, China has been the first market outlet for industrial machinery, including the Italian ones, but now it has also become the first producer.
This evolution will have important consequences on the Italian system: the instrumental mechanics sector has always been a flagship of our manufacturing, and always the undisputed leader of exports, still growing even in 2011 despite the crisis.
Along with clothing, in fact, mechanics is the only one that closes the accounts with foreign countries positively: 17 billion in 2010. But in the light of yet another Chinese exploit, it is starting to feel the first effects of the crisis.
The aggregate turnover of the sector in 2010 remains almost 10 billion lower than the 'peak' reached in 2008 (42,4 billion). And exports too (22,9 billion in 2010) remain lower than those of 2008 by 4,9 billion.
For all of these sectors, China, with over two billion of imports from Italy, was the first market in 2010, ahead of Germany (9,1 billion). It is therefore easy to predict, now that China produces its own machinery, difficult times for our exports.
