大中华区工业：4月自动化——工业活动温和增长；工业机器人表现稳健 行业概览

activities growth; industrial robots solidIndustryOverview IndustrialactivitiesslightlyslowedMoMinApril Greater ChinaIndustrials +5.7% YoY in March). By category, value-added growth of the manufacturing/miningsector was +4.0%/+3.8% YoY in April (vs. +6.0%/+5.7% YoY in March). The value-added from utilities sector grew 5.3% YoY April (vs.+3.5% YoY in March).Manufacturing FAldeclined 4.3% YoY in April (vs. +4.8% YoY in March). In March, profits of China's industrialenterprises grew 15.8% YoY (vs. +15.2% YoY in Jan-Feb). Inventory turnover days came inat 21.5, as of end-March 2026 (vs. 22.7 days in Feb), up 0.3 day YoY.Industrial robot production up 15% YoY in AprilIn April,passenger vehicle productionvolume was-2.6%YoY (improved fromflattishYoY Ming Hsun Lee, CFA >>Research AnalystMerrill Lynch (Hong Kong) minghsun.lee@bofa.comFiona Liang >>Research AnalystMerill Lynch (Hong Kong) fiona.liang3@bofa.comYikai Liu, CFA >>Research AnalystMerill Lynch (Hong Kong) in March). Solar cell production volume declined 26% YoY in April (vs. -21% YoY in March) That said, production volume of industrial robots rose 15% YoY to 93k units (vs. +24%YoY in March). Value-added of the 3C sector grew 16% YoY in April (vs. +13% YoY inMarch).According to China Customs, machine tool imports volume grew 1% YoY in April(vs. +14% YoY in March). In March, China's machine tool orders from Japan grew 42%YoY (vs. +40% YoY in Feb).Special/general/electricalequipment'svalue-addedgrowth yikai.liu@bofa.comSummer Wang, CFA >>Research AnalystMerrill Lynch (Hong Kong) summer.wang@bofa.comKenjin Hotta >>Research AnalystBofAS Japar kenjin.hotta@bofa.com Value-added growth of special equipment/general equipment/electrical equipment camein at 6.2%/5.5%/3.1% YoY in April (vs. +6.2%/+6.3%/+5.4% YoY in March). In April, metal cutting machine tool production grew 7.5% YoY (vs. +4.7% YoY in March).Expectrecoverytocontinuein2026FAtooutperformPA 3C:Computer, Communication,and Our recent FA channel checks reveal that orders growth of most FA companies picked upin April (see report: FA channel check: order growth accelerated in April). Demand growth otherConsumerElectronicsFA:factory automation from semiconductor sector picked up in April, while demand from the battery and 3Csectors remained solid. We expect a continued mild recovery in China's overallautomation market in 2026,with FAlikely outperforming PA.We now expect China'sautomation market to grow0.7% YoY in 2026, vs.a 1.0%YoY decline in 2025.Weexpect China's FA market to grow 3.2% YoY in 2026, supported by the continued soliddemand from electronics and battery, but forecast China's PA market to decline 0.6%YoY in 2026, dragged by the weak demand from chemicals/petrochemical. FAl:Fixedasset investment IR: Industrial robot k: thousand NBS:National Bureauof Statistic OEM: original equipment manufacturer PA:processautomation PMl:purchasing managers index Exhibit 1: China automation indicator Industrial value-added increased 4.1% YoY in April (vs. +5.7% YoY in March) Mar-25Apr-25May-25Jun-25Jul-25Aug-25Sep-250ct-25Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26Feb-26Mar-26Apr-26 Exhibit 2: Industrial robot monthly productionIR production increased by 15.1% YoY in April (vs. +24.4% in March) Production volume increased 7.5% YoY in April (vs. +4.7% YoY in March) Manufacturing PMI edged down to 50.3 in April (from 50.4 in March) 60 growthValue-added growth for manufacturing sector was 4.0% YoY in April (vs. +6.0% YoY in March) YoY growthInventory up 5.2% YoY, as of end-March 2026 (vs. +6.6% YoY in Feb) Abbreviations used in the report AbbreviationFull name DisclosuresImportant Disclosures of potential price fluctuation, are: A - Low, B - Medium and C - High. INVESTMENT RATINGS reflect the analyst's assessment of both a stock's absolute total returnpotential as well as its attractiveness for investment relative to other stocks within its Coverage Cluster (defined below). Our investment ratings are: 1 - Buy stocksare expected to have a total return of at least 10% and are the most attractive stocks in the coverage cluster; 2 -Neutral stocks are expected to remain flat orincrease in value and are less attractive than Buy rated stocks and 3 - Underperform stocks are the least attractive stocks in a coverage cluster. An investment rating12 month total return expectation for a stock and the firm's guidelines for ratings dispersions (shown in the table below). The current price objective for a stockshould be referenced to better understand the total return expectation at any given time. The price objective reflects the analyst's view of the potential priceappreciation (depreciation).Investment ratingTotal return expectation (within 12-month period of date of initialRatings dispersion guidelines for coverage clusterRi INCOME RATINGS, indicators of potential cash dividends, are: 7 - same/higher (dividend considered to be secure), 8 - same/lower (dividend not considered to be secure) and 9 -pays no cash div