
Despite the pandemic, Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition (CICEE 2021) became a huge success with 1,450 exhibitors showcasing their products and technologies on an exhibit area of 300,000 sqm, and a visitorship of nearly 3 lakh visitors.
Even when the world’s largest show organizers were reluctant to organize physical events due to the pandemic, the organizers of Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition went ahead with their plan to host the trade event CICEE 2021 on an extremely large scale, making it the world’s No.1 show in 2021.
Co-organized by China Machinery Industry Federation, Chinese Construction Machinery Society, and People's Government of Changsha Municipality, the 2021 Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition (CICEE) was successfully held in Changsha during 19 to 22 May.

Of the 1,450 enterprises, about 32 exhibitors were from the global top 50 companies of the construction machinery industry. They included Caterpillar, Sany, Zoomlion, Hitachi, Liebheer, Doosan, Liugong, etc.
The theme "Intelligent New Generation of Construction Machinery" saw all types of advanced equipment exhibited. On display were Zoomlion's carbon fiber composite concrete pump truck with the world's longest boom of 101 meters; a series of SANY intelligent road construction equipment; the latest versions of Liugong electrical loaders; Liebheer excavators with 5G technology; and CRCHI’s fully computer-controlled four-arm rockdrill jumbos. Among these, Zoomlion crawler crane with a height of 178 meters was extremely eye-catching.
CICEE 2021’s three lakh professional visitors included 30 foreign ambassadors and counsellors in China, and the director of the Academy of International Business. More than 10 national construction machinery associations/societies organized meetings and events. They included the China Machinery Industry Federation, China Construction Industry Association, China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, China International Contractors Association, Chinese Association of Construction Enterprises, China National Association of Chemical Construction Enterprises, China Highway and Transportation Society, China Construction Machinery Society.

Many representatives from large contractors came to purchase equipment. Nearly 100 project managers organized by directors of Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Zhejiang transportation investment companies attended the technical seminars.
Along with academicians from the German Academy of Engineering and the Japanese Academy of Engineering, over 10 academicians from industries of railway construction, road construction, intelligent manufacturing, and new materials, etc. presented their latest research in the related forums. Because of Covid-19, representatives from over 10 international construction machinery associations, including the Spanish Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Construction Machinery and Mining Equipment and AEM, could not attend the exhibition.
The trading volume at CICEE 2021 broke the record once again. China has the biggest construction machinery market in the world. In 2020, the world’s market share of Chinese construction machinery industry was more than 45%. With 30% Chinese enterprises, China is also making around 40% of the construction machineries in the world. It has the most globalized construction machinery industry in the world with most of the top 50 construction machinery companies having factories in the country, namely, Caterpillar, Hitachi, Liebheer, Volvo, and other big brands. Many large Chinese construction machinery enterprises have also established their R&D centers or manufacturing bases abroad by purchasing local companies or by making investments.
The innovation level of Chinese enterprises has been increasing with many machineries contributing to the infrastructure development of China and countries across the world. The most advanced technologies in the world have been invented in China, for example, the truck-mounted concrete pump with the longest 101-m boom, the 4000-ton crawler crane, and the high-level slewing horizontal jib tower crane with 50.96 million Joules.
Changsha is one of the most important construction machinery manufacturing locations in China with the presence of SANY and Zoomlion (2 of the top 5 construction machinery enterprises in the world); Sunward and CRCHI (listed in the top 50 global and in the top 10 Chinese construction machinery enterprises) and many more. The secretariat of Crane Technical Committee of the International Organization for Standardization moved to Changsha from London in 2012.
After the two successful editions of CICEE, the exhibition committee plans to further optimize more and better facilities, improve the services, and strengthen international cooperation to promote CICEE, and make it one of the biggest global construction machinery exhibitions.