Machine makers sharpen globally competitive edge
Chinese construction machinery manufacturers, an active force advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, are attracting growing attention for their technological prowess and rapid international expansion.
Data from the China Construction Machinery Association show the sector generated $17 billion in exports last year, including $7.41 billion from Belt and Road countries and regions, about 43.7 percent of the total.
Despite a year-on-year drop of 10.6 percent in the sector’s total exports in 2016, machines exported to Belt and Road countries and regions, including India, Thailand, Australia, the Philippines, Pakistan and Algeria, maintained solid growth momentum.
In particular, the value of construction machines exported to Pakistan surged 180.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, enabling the neighboring country’s ranking on China’s machinery export chart to rise from No 41 in 2015 to No 17 in 2016.
Leading Chinese industrial players, such as Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology, and Shantui Construction Machinery, have improved their global business, service and logistics networks and expanded their overseas distribution and component supply systems.
Their efforts have helped to sharpen Chinese manufacturers’ competitive edge and improve their reputation in global markets, according to the association.
Among them, Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group has further developed its overseas business network, establishing eight production bases, 10 component parts centers and five research and development centers.
To date, its global business network comprises more than 6,000 technological experts and 5,000 marketing specialists, involved in sales, maintenance and training services in 176 countries and regions.
A series of overseas acquisitions have injected more vigor into the company. Its acquisition of a 52 percent stake at machinery manufacturer Schwing Group, headquartered in Germany, paved the way for the Chinese company to join the ranks of the world’s top manufacturers, local media reported.
After it took up component parts manufacturers Fluitronics in Germany and AMCA in the Netherlands, it established a new business residence in Germany’s Nordrhein-Westfalen region for the company’s European operations in 2013, which also serves as its European R&D and purchase center.
Its production facility in Brazil, which came into operation in 2014, is capable of rolling out 7,000 construction machines annually. More sales outlets in Indonesia, South Africa, India and Eastern Europe are under construction.
For another manufacturing giant, Guangxi Liugong Group, overseas sales contributed more than 30 percent of its total business revenue in 2016.
Its Asia-Pacific training center in Thailand, which started operations last year, helps to localize all the company’s major products and key components.
To date, China-made construction machines and equipment have been exported to more than 200 countries and regions. The Chinese manufacturers’ operations have covered some 170 countries and regions. Exports and business revenues from abroad contributed roughly one quarter of the sector’s total.