Recently, the General Administration of Customs released the export situation of light industry textile machinery from January to April. Among them, from January to April, the total export value of food processing machinery was 780 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 32.5%. Among them, the export value in April was 210 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 44.8%; The total export value of packaging machinery was 1.25 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. Among them, the export value in April was 320 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%.

Food machinery refers to the mechanical equipment and devices used in the process of processing food raw materials into food (or semi-finished products). Food machinery can be mainly divided into two categories: food processing machinery and packaging machinery. Food processing machinery includes screening and cleaning machinery, crushing and cutting machinery, stirring and homogenization machinery, forming machinery, separation machinery, evaporation and concentration machinery, drying machinery, baking machinery, freezing machinery, extrusion and puffing machinery, conveying machinery, etc. Packaging machinery includes packaging equipment, packaging printing machinery, packaging container manufacturing machinery, packaging material processing machinery, etc.

The food industry is a pillar industry of China's national economy, and food machinery is an industry that provides equipment for the food industry. Before the 1950s, food production and processing mainly relied on manual operations, which were basically traditional workshop production methods. There are only a few food processing plants with industrialized production methods in some large coastal cities, and the equipment used is almost entirely foreign. In the 1950s and 1970s, the food processing industry and food machinery industry experienced great development. A large number of food processing plants were built in the first and second stages across the country, especially in the production and processing of flour, rice, and edible oil. In most major grain processing plants, preliminary mechanized industrial production methods have been achieved. In line with the development of the food industry at this stage, the food machinery industry has also experienced rapid development. A large year of development has been built in various parts of the country, resulting in a batch of domestically produced factories specializing in the production of grain and food machinery. After the reform era of the 1980s, the food industry experienced rapid development. At this stage, by digesting and absorbing advanced food machinery technology from abroad, the development level of China's food machinery industry has been greatly improved. After entering the 1990s, a new round of technological transformation projects was carried out. In this round of technological transformation, many grain processing plants and food processing plants have updated their equipment, either directly introducing a complete set of advanced foreign equipment, or adopting new mechanical equipment produced by domestic manufacturers through digestion and absorption. It can be said that these two rounds of technological transformation projects have played a great role in promoting the development of the food machinery industry, and the food machinery industry has completely formed an independent mechanical industry.

With the continuous development of globalization and international trade, more and more countries and regions need to import food machinery to meet their production and processing needs. In addition, as people's demands for food quality and safety continue to rise, the market demand for food machinery is also constantly growing. China's food machinery technology is moderate, cost-effective, and of good quality, which is very suitable for the economic conditions of developing countries and regions. After more than 20 years of development, the improvement of domestic packaging machinery technology has enhanced the international competitiveness of domestic packaging machinery and equipment, creating conditions for the export of packaging machinery and equipment in China. At the same time, it has changed the long-term dependence of high-end packaging equipment on imports in China and exported to mechanical manufacturing powers such as Germany, the United States, and Italy.

According to Chinese customs data, the export quantity of food processing machinery in China was 9.85 million units in 2022, an increase of 270000 units compared to the same period in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 5.1%. The export value of China's food processing machinery in 2022 was 2116.783 million US dollars, an increase of 34.5265 million US dollars compared to the same period in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%. The 2022 China Packaging Industry Operation Report shows that the 14th Five Year Plan for the Development of China's Food and Packaging Machinery Industry shows that the total output value of enterprises above designated size in China's food and packaging machinery industry will reach 150 billion yuan by 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of around 8%. The export value will reach 12 billion US dollars by 2025, and international competitiveness will be significantly improved.