In recent years, although China’s foundry industry has developed rapidly and the gap with developed countries such as Europe, the United States and Japan has gradually narrowed, the core differences are still prominent. The core differences are first reflected in technology and craftsmanship: the energy consumption of cast iron parts in developed countries is only 1/2 to 1/3 of that in China, and the machining allowance of castings is much lower than that in China; the application of high-end materials and the popularization rate of digitalization and intelligence are ahead of China, and China still relies on imports for some high-end castings, with related technologies and localized software yet to be improved.
Environmental protection and industrial structure are another core difference: developed countries have stricter environmental protection standards and higher resource reuse rates, while China faces greater pressure on environmental compliance and insufficient popularization of used sand regeneration; in terms of industrial structure, China has a high proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises, and the casting scrap rate is much higher than that in developed countries, with weak talent training and insufficient industry-university-research collaborative innovation, while developed countries have formed a mature industrial cluster and technological ecosystem.
The core differences in policy orientation and market demand are significant: China’s policies focus on promoting the green and intelligent transformation of the industry, while developed countries focus on environmental supervision and fair market competition; on the market side, China focuses on the supply of castings for mid-to-high-end civilian fields, while developed countries focus on high-end equipment fields such as aerospace, with more stringent requirements for casting precision and reliability.
The core difference in the industrial chain and international layout lies in: China has a complete industrial chain but large fluctuations in raw material costs and faces trade barriers overseas, while developed countries have a strong industrial chain coordination and mature global layout, but some production capacity has contracted due to external factors. In general, China’s advantages lie in the industrial chain and market demand, while developed countries’ advantages lie in technology, environmental protection and management. These are the most core gaps between the two, and they are gradually narrowing.