History and Future of Japanese Construction Machinery Industry

Japan's construction machinery industry started in the 1950s. At present, Japan has developed into the second largest construction machinery manufacturing power in the world. In the 1950s and 1970s, the construction machinery industry in Japan developed most rapidly. This period is also the period of the fastest economic development, the fastest urbanization rate, the fastest growth of investment in real estate development and the fastest growth of investment in various infrastructure construction in Japan after World War II.

(I) Japan had the fastest economic growth and the fastest urbanization rate in the 1950s and 1970s

In the 1950s and 1970s after World War II, Japan's economy continued to grow at a high speed for about 20 years, with an average GDP growth rate of about 15%. These 20 years are also the fastest period of economic development in Japan after World War II. It was in the 20 years of sustained and rapid economic growth that Japan's urbanization rate (urbanization rate = urban population/total population) increased the fastest, from about 30% in the early 1950s to about 76% in the late 1970s.

(2) Japan's real estate development investment and infrastructure investment grew fastest in the past 20 years

Real estate is mainly divided into commercial real estate (such as hotels, commercial buildings, office buildings, factories, etc.) And residential (such as apartments, villas, etc.). Commercial real estate demand is mainly determined by the degree of macroeconomic activity; residential demand is mainly determined by the population growth of cities and towns.

In the 1950s and 1970s, the rapid development of Japan's macro-economy led to a sharp increase in the demand for commercial real estate. During this period, the investment in commercial real estate development grew fastest; In the process of rapid urbanization, a large number of people have shifted from rural areas to cities, which has led to a rapid increase in housing demand in Japanese cities and towns, which has led to the rapid growth of investment in residential development in Japan, and the growth rate is also the highest in this period.

Together, Japan's real estate development investment has the highest growth rate in the past 20 years or so, averaging around 20%.

It was also during this period that Japan carried out large-scale infrastructure construction due to the needs of economic development. For example, in the field of railways, Japan has built a famous high-speed railway, the Shinkansen (the first one was completed in 1964). During this period, the Japanese government formulated and implemented a series of infrastructure construction plans.

Due to the Japanese government's large-scale infrastructure construction, Japan's investment in the infrastructure sector grew at the highest rate during this period, with an average growth rate of more than 20%.

Due to the acceleration of Japan's urbanization rate in the past decade, the demand for housing in Japan has continued to rise. In most years from 1997 to 2006, the growth rate of residential sales area was more than 20%, and the growth rate of residential development investment was more than 25%. It is expected that in the next 15 years or so, the urbanization rate in China will continue to increase rapidly, with an annual increase of about 1.2%-1.3%. According to the calculation of the National Bureau of Statistics, if the urbanization rate increases by 1% every year, about 12 million people will be transferred from rural areas (to cities and towns) every year. Based on the per capita demand of 30 square meters, about 400 million square meters of new housing area will be needed every year (in 2006, the total sales volume of all kinds of housing in China was more than 500 million square meters). This is only the housing demand of the population transferred from rural areas to urban areas every year. If we consider the new housing demand brought by the growth of urban population, the annual housing demand will be even greater.

It is expected that the demand for domestic commercial housing (residential, commercial real estate, etc.) will continue to grow at a high rate in the next decade, and the annual growth rate of investment in real estate development may remain above 20%.

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