China’s Role in Global Capex Project Procurement by ANDAMAN PARTNERS Co-Founder Rachel Wu

In 2025, China exported 3.8 trillion U.S. dollars of goods, and it makes China the world’s largest exporter. More than 60% of those exports, around 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars, were mechanical and electrical products, up about 75% in a decade. China also leads the world in high-technology exports, with almost a quarter of the global total.

That strength shows up on the factory floor. My recent factory visits across northern China have reminded me how far China has climbed the curve in technology, quality and competitiveness in supplying complex mining equipment, for both capital projects and operations.

Data shows that more than 80% of global mining and heavy industrial capex projects experience budget and schedule adjustments during execution. That pressure is one reason more capex procurement is moving to China.

Chinese manufacturers are making strong technological leaps, but sourcing multi-million-dollar machinery from China isn’t about finding the lowest price anymore. In 2026, its entirely about managing lifecycle risk.

Effective mining and heavy industrial capex projects bring Chinese manufacturing, fabrication and standards into their design stages early on. At the same time, they embed their own technical, compliance and ESG oversight directly into the Chinese manufacturers planning, engineering and execution cycle. This ‘pull and push’ ensures alignment and delivers total value, not just paper savings.

For project managers and procurement teams, the real question is whether your procurement capability can flex to handle this level of complexity.

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