The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) and China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) organized a press conference on ‘globalizing Chinese construction machinery, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Chinese Embassy in France, at Intermat.
The press conference, moderated by the vice president of CCCME, highlighted developments in the Chinese construction machinery industry, enterprises and top brands, expertise and service capabilities for global markets. Chinese construction machinery manufacturers shared their opinions on “one belt one road” policy, globalization development, innovations, industrial developments and trends.
A series of activities have been carried out to promote the Chinese Construction machinery, including reports, a dedicated Chinese pavilion at Intermat 2018, which showcased sophisticated R&D systems, intelligent manufacturing equipment, and the high performing products and after-sales services.
The Belt and Road Strategy
The Belt and Road strategy is a cooperative initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, to build the "New Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". It is aimed at peaceful development, economic partnership with countries along the Belt and Road, with mutual political trust, economic integration, and culture tolerance. According to statistics, the total population along the Belt and Road is around 4.4 billion with an economic aggregate of around USD 21 trillion. Therefore, implementation of the Belt and Road concept has brought new opportunities for China's construction machinery industry.
“Be a high-end equipment supplier, propel One Belt, One Road initiative,” said Tan Shunhui, Party Secretary and Chairman of China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co. Ltd (CREG), as he shared his company’s close understanding of international markets with a focus on innovation.
CREG has 18 manufacture bases across China and 5 international service bases for its wide range of TBMs, and plays its part as a Chinese enterprise in global development. Till April 2018, it has provided over 40 units of TBMs to the overseas markets, entering 14 countries and regions including Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Vietnam, Lebanon, UAE, Italy, Laos, India, Iran, Taiwan, and Algeria. The company promotes localization, facilitates local employment, economic development, and business technology exchanges.
The Chairman of China Sinomach Heavy Industry Corporation Peiguo Wu, in his speech, informed that the Sinomach Group, formed in 1997, has taken the first place in China's top 100 machinery industry for many years and is the largest central enterprise group with the most extensive coverage, the most complete business chain, and with the strongest R&D capabilities. In the 48 countries along the Belt and Road route, the Group has 773 projects that have been completed or are being implemented.
“We trust that we can promote the development of the host country, improve people’s lives, enhance mutual friendship, and make great contributions for a win-win cooperation,” said the chairman. “We are willing to work with friends both at home and abroad and we welcome people of insight to build and share the high-end platform of Sinomach to build a sustainable future.”
Chairman of LiuGong Europe & LiuGong Dressta Machinery Howard Dale, shared LiuGong’s investments and market development in Europe, prior to which he gave a brief background of the company.
LiuGong was established in Liuzhou, China, in 1958 and went global in 2003. It has 19 product lines with a global industrial and commercial footprint having set up 8 regional subsidiaries in 5 continents; 3 overseas manufacturing facilities (in India, Brazil, Poland); 5 regional R&D centres (in China, India, Poland, USA, and England) and 19 dealers in 20 countries.
“We are celebrating 60-years of growth, commitment and innovation,” he said. “The European construction equipment industry is characterized by increasing competition, rapid product innovation and a well-established manufacturing presence. For excavators alone, there are currently 8 global brands with 11 manufacturing plants across Europe, producing excavators from 7 to 80-ton range. With an ‘importer only’ strategy, LiuGong’s growth potential would have be limited in Europe; our ability to provide competitively priced products for varied market requirements, would have become increasingly complex as we expanded into more European countries.”
Dale informed that LiuGong has identified a 5-point investment plan to establish a platform to realize its growth objectives and enable its dealer network to provide the levels of support and satisfaction that the customers expect and deserve. With the acquisition of the Dressta business from HSW, Poland, in 2012, LiuGong became the 1st Chinese company to acquire an overseas CE business. “With our European manufacturing strategy, we are able to satisfy EU legislation requirements for engine emissions, safety and provide tailored specifications for the varied markets and we produce products that meet and exceed European quality standards,” said Dale.
After 50 years of innovation and R&D, XCMG products currently cover 8 fields and 50 industries of engineering machinery. XCMG also provides solutions for global engineering construction and sustainable development. It is the recipient of several awards, has 2,156 registered patents, and has developed more than 100 domestic products, with a focus on R&D and technological innovation. It has served more than 100 countries and regions with engineering machinery products and solutions with leading technology and superior quality.
XCMG adheres to the principle of localized production and sales, with marketable products and equipment solutions for clients in countries along "the Belt and Road". The company currently has branch companies in Russia, India, Poland, and assembly plants in Uzbekistan, Poland, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, etc. XCMG owns 100 distribution and spare parts branches, and 20 offices along the Belt and Road, making it a reputable representative for ‘made in China’.
As early as 2010, XCMG began to expand the European market and sought partners in Europe to jointly develop and build this important market. In 2012, XCMG teamed up with German Schwing, a leader of global concrete machinery industry to set up XCMG SCHWING Machinery Co. Ltd, an alliance between giants, and has partnered with a number of European companies.
The establishment of the European R&D center provides a solid foundation for XCMG to pool local talent resources, understand the needs of clients in Europe in depth, and provide engineering mechanical solution packages. Said Yang Dongsheng, “A spare parts center will also be built in Europe, with which we will widen the service scope of XCMG and improve the timeliness and accuracy of the spare parts supply. We have also established a more stable cooperative relationship with dealers in Holland, Belgium, and Germany, to provide superior products for local dealers and clients, and France will become an important strategic marketing destination for XCMG from 2018.”
Gathering of Industry Experts
More than 200 experts from government and construction machinery industry attended the conference, including Minister Counselor of The Chinese Embassy in France (Ms.Gao Yuanyuan), President of CCMA (Mr. Qijun), VP of CCMA (Suzimeng), INTERMAT Exhibition Director (Isabelle Alfano), General Secretary of SEIMAT (Pascal Petit Jean), Senior VP of AEM (Albert Cervero), Asian Executive GM of AEM Kaien Li), GM of XCMG (Dongsheng Yang), Chairman of China Sinomach Heavy Industry Corporation (Peiguo Wu), Chairman of Sunward Intelligent Equipment Group (Qinghua He), Chairman of CREG (Shunhui Tan), GM of Shantui Construction Machinery Co. (Lulin An), Board Member of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co. (Yongjun He), CEO of Zoomlion (David Cipolla), Chairman of LiuGong Europe & LiuGong Dressta Machinery (Howard Dale), GM of Yongmao Holdings Co. (Tian Sun), VP of Weichai Power Co. (Shaohua Li), DGM of Changsha Economic and Technical Development Group (Xin Ma), President of Off Highway Driveline Technologies and Global Aftermarket Business at Dana Holding Corporation (Aziz Aghili), GM of Yanmar Engine (Shanghai) Co. (Jun QI), and General Sales Manager of Kohler Engine. More than 40 international journalists from China, USA, UK, France, Italy, Span, Russia, India, Africa, Middle East, and South America attended the event.
“The first immediate strategy after the acquisition was to take advantage of the greater synergies we had with Zoomlion, and to directly enter the Chinese market and mainly to open a factory in China, usable for CIFA’s supply chain delocalization. We wanted to take advantage of the booming Chinese construction market, and we also wanted to establish a low-cost base for products sold in other markets, increasing both our competitiveness and margins,” said Cipolla,
“The second important strategy was to invest in our Italian factories, to increase brand positioning of CIFA to further develop our product R&D to add to our portfolio of exclusive technologies, which include carbon fiber and hybrid technologies. Thanks to our focus on developing new technologies, today, CIFA and Zoomlion are the only companies that design and produce machines in the concrete construction field with the use of carbon fiber technology in the booms, with saving of weight and a longer and stronger boom, and hybrid-electric technology, with important saving of fuel, noise and pollution,” he added.
Focusing on key countries along the One Belt, One Road, Zoomlion has gradually promoted localized operation, management and component support for overseas subsidiaries, in order to reinforce the operation of subsidiaries and provide better services for the local market.
“Zoomlion has expanded the product lines and upgraded the functions of major overseas bases. CIFA of Italy will expand from a regional company specializing in concrete machinery to a comprehensive global company covering the production and manufacturing of engineering and construction products not limited to concrete field, in Europe and Middle East,” informed the CEO.
Shantui also broke new ground and made great achievements, with a series of new products and new technologies. Its bulldozers have achieved a record high market share both at home and abroad, and overseas sales revenues have increased significantly. Shantui’s competitive advantage in the Belt and Road market has become more pronounced, and its industrial structure has become more rational, and the product line layout has been optimized.
While continuing to consolidate the markets of developing countries and countries along the Belt and Road, Shantui focuses on the development of high-end markets in Europe and the USA and has achieved major breakthroughs. “13 years have passed since Shantui entered the European market in 2005. During this period, we have delivered Shantui equipment to users in different fields such as Dam construction, highway projects, municipal engineering, mining areas, and forest development,” stated Lulin An.
“After nearly 10 years of R&D, Shantui’s hydrostatic bulldozer technology continues to mature. C, J, K, three series of platforms and 6-hp level hydrostatic bulldozer products have been developed to meet the needs of different working conditions, and, so far, we have exported to more than 20 countries and regions,” he added.
General Manager of Yongmao Holdings Co. Tian Sun informed the gathering that Fushun Yongmao Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. was established in 1996 and is one of the Top 10 tower crane manufacturers in the world. Its main products include the top kit series (ST), flat top series (STT), luffing series (STL) and derrick series (QD). Yongmao products are majorly used in the construction of power station, airport, bridge, highway, Dam, mega infrastructure, high-rise building etc.
After more than 20 years of continuous improvement, Yongmao has become a well-recognized brand in the international construction machinery industry. Yongmao products reach more than 80 countries and regions in the world. Said Tian Sun, “Yongmao tower crane is the first professional tower crane manufacturer from China to enter the European Union and the US market. It has obtained EU CE certification, Singapore MOM type approval, Korea KOSHA certification, and dozens of other product certifications. In recent years, with the deepening of the national One Belt One Road policy, Yongmao tower cranes have been widely used in international markets.”
In 2009, the company established a technology R&D center jointly with Harbin Institute of Technology to carry out development and design of cranes and develop new products; it has the largest tower crane testing yard in Asia, and has more than 60 patents.
Yongmao provides tower crane solutions for various complex working conditions. For example, Yongmao has specially designed and manufactured internal jacking on external climbing system to meet the limitations of the customer’s super high-rise building construction and operation platform area. Yongmao also designed and manufactured small radius curved track moving tower crane to meet the construction requirement of the client for irregular vertical surface.
Yongmao provides moving tower cranes for use in ports. It has a tailormade cabinless wireless controlled tower crane for long-distance operation. To overcome the difficulty of dismantling of tower crane in midair with a limited space, Yongmao came out with a self-dismantle device. For tower cranes to withstand high wind speed in coastal areas, Yongmao created a special design of double layer mast configuration.
For after-sales service, Yongmao has an international service network in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, Finland, Australia, Russia and other countries and regions.
