Sany excavators take the lead in going global.
In the exhibition hall of Sany Group located in Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, a pump truck with a yellow body and red long arm attracts particular attention. This is China's first long boom pump truck with independent intellectual property rights developed by Sany, which records a period of history where China's national construction machinery brands competed with foreign brands on the same stage and finally achieved a reversal.
"Amazing! Chinese construction machinery equipment is winning the global market." Jin Hao, editor-in-chief of West Africa China News in Côte d'Ivoire, said while filming.
On October 31st, media representatives participating in the event "Opportunities in China, Splendid Africa - 2024 Overseas Chinese Media Leaders' Changsha Tour" walked into Sany to conduct on-site visits to the new developments, changes and formats of China's construction machinery industry.
In recent years, Chinese construction machinery enterprises have actively "gone global" and performed increasingly brilliantly in overseas markets. Data from China Construction Machinery Association shows that in the first half of 2024, the import and export trade volume of China's construction machinery was 27.134 billion US dollars, of which the export volume was 25.837 billion US dollars. This data reflects the competitive advantages of China's construction machinery industry in the international market and the strong growth of exports.
While export volume has grown significantly, Chinese construction machinery enterprises have also upgraded from "product export" to "industrial going global", paying more attention to in-depth integration with local overseas markets. By establishing production bases, R&D centers and service institutions overseas, they deepen localized operations and explore internationalization paths suitable for their own development.
Taking the booming African market in infrastructure construction as an example, Chinese construction machinery enterprises invest and build factories in Africa, help cultivate local technical workers, and improve Africa's equipment manufacturing level and project management capabilities. As one of the earliest Chinese construction machinery enterprises to enter the African market, Sany Group regards Africa as an important market for its global strategy.
Up to now, Sany has 15 subsidiaries in Africa, resident branches in more than 30 African countries, with an employee localization rate exceeding 50%, 13 high-quality agents, and equipment covering more than 50 African countries and regions.
In 2023, Sany South Africa Headquarters Base broke ground in Johannesburg, with a project investment of 300 million rand (about 115 million yuan). Positioned as a regional manufacturing center, logistics center and talent center, it plans an annual production capacity of 3,000 excavators and other equipment to serve the entire African region.
"Chinese construction machinery manufacturers keep up with global trends, actively introduce innovative solutions, improve product quality and expand product coverage, and take multiple measures to promote Chinese construction machinery equipment to win the global market." Jin Hao suggested that Chinese construction machinery enterprises "going global" should provide personalized products and market cooperation plans according to the needs of various countries and regions around the world, further strengthen local talent training and operations, and continuously enhance core competitiveness.
"Sany's excavating machinery, port machinery, lifting machinery, concrete machinery and pavement machinery have steadily ranked first in market share in the Philippines." Chen Chunchun, supplement editor of the Philippine Business World, believes that Chinese construction machinery manufacturers strictly control product quality, and high reliability is an important factor for Chinese construction machinery equipment to win the global market.
