In 2024, there will be three major accelerations in China's construction machinery industry: overseas acceleration, intelligent acceleration, and green acceleration. Behind these accelerated developments is the fact that industry leaders have relied on innovation, iteration, and intelligent manufacturing capabilities in fierce industry competition over the years, ultimately enhancing the global competitiveness of the entire industry.

Su Zimeng, President of the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, stated that since 2024, the transformation of the construction machinery industry has continued to accelerate, with industry enterprises accelerating their digital transformation and intelligent upgrading. Green manufacturing, green products, and green construction are being promoted in an orderly manner.

The intelligence of products has enhanced the overseas competitiveness of the industry. Three or four years ago, the proportion of overseas revenue of Chinese construction machinery enterprises was still between 10% and 20%. By the end of 2024, leading enterprises such as Zoomlion, XCMG Machinery, and Sany Heavy Industry will approach or even exceed 50% of their overseas revenue. I believe that in the coming years, it will still be a stage for China's construction machinery industry and leading enterprises to accelerate their 'going global' and continuously increase their global market share, "said Wang Yongxiang, Co President of Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd., to a reporter from Shanghai Securities News.

Dual intelligence and digitalization, improving quality and efficiency

Only by mastering the 'internal strengths' of intelligence and digitization can we achieve globalization and high-quality development. This is a comprehensive transformation, "said Sun Changjun, Vice President of Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd., in an interview with reporters

During the 2024 Shanghai BMW Expo, Zoomlion specially chartered a plane and invited over 300 overseas merchants from more than 30 countries to fly to Changsha to visit the Zoomlion Smart Industry City in person. Some overseas merchants lamented that the intelligence and digitization that cannot be seen in top European and American enterprises can be seen in the Zhonglian Smart Industry City.

At present, all four major host parks of Zhonglian Smart Industry City have been completed and put into operation, achieving comprehensive digital transformation and intelligent manufacturing upgrading from hosts to components. In this smart industrial city that has perception and thinking, through the deep integration of digital technologies such as intelligent scheduling, industrial artificial intelligence, digital twins, and full process intelligent logistics with manufacturing, it is possible to produce an average of one excavator offline every 6 minutes, one scissor type aerial work machine every 7.5 minutes, one crane every 18 minutes, and one boom pump truck every 27 minutes.

Sun Changjun stated that currently, the intelligent and digital technology and production lines of China's construction machinery industry have jumped to the forefront of the world. "We are replicating the Zhonglian Smart Industry City to more places.

At present, intelligence and digitization have almost become the "standard configuration" for leading enterprises in China's construction machinery industry.

As of June 2024, 33 lighthouse factories of Sany Heavy Industry have been completed and put into production. Sany Heavy Industry's "Beijing Pile Machinery Factory" and "Changsha No. 18 Factory" have obtained the "Lighthouse Factory" certification, providing a reference for global manufacturing enterprises in the field of digital development. At the same time, the company has successfully designed and built its first overseas "lighthouse factory" in Indonesia, achieving full network connectivity and low manpower production.

In terms of digitalization, Sany Heavy Industry's industrial Internet platform has realized real-time online access to 18000 devices and 51000 cameras. Through data analysis and algorithm model, the system has been optimized to reduce costs and energy consumption. Energy saving projects carried out during the operation have saved more than 100 million yuan/year in total.

Green leadership, entering the high-end market

In the view of China's construction machinery industry, "green development is the foundation of high-quality development and a powerful tool for entering the high-end market.

According to statistics from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, electric construction machinery represented by electric loaders, forklifts, and lifting work platforms have seen significant growth. In the first half of 2024, a total of 5114 electric loaders were sold, a year-on-year increase of 361%.

Nowadays, the electrification penetration rate of Hunan Zoomlion Intelligent High Altitude Operation Machinery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zoomlion Intelligent High Altitude Machine") has exceeded 90%.

It is precisely by seizing the two major opportunities for transformation and upgrading in the high-altitude operation machinery industry - focusing on lithium-ion new energy and creating high-end products for arm type high-altitude operation machinery - that Zoomlion Intelligent High Altitude Machinery has achieved leapfrog development and become the sixth largest high-altitude operation machinery manufacturer in the world.

Previously, high-altitude work machinery commonly used lead-acid batteries, which had to be filled with distilled water once a month, and each battery had 16 water filling holes, making maintenance work for downstream customers unbearable. In the second year of the company's establishment, Zoomlion Intelligent High Tech was the first to launch lithium battery series products, promoting the development and technological upgrading of new energy products in the industry, "said the person in charge of Zoomlion Intelligent High Tech.

XCMG Machinery stated that under the guidance of the national "dual carbon" strategy and the background of stricter environmental policies, construction machinery industry enterprises are accelerating the pace of upgrading old and new products, gradually phasing out high energy consuming and low efficiency equipment, and vigorously developing various new energy products such as pure electric and hybrid power.

In the first half of 2024, XCMG Machinery's new energy products entered the fast lane of growth, with a year-on-year increase of 26.76% in revenue. Among them, the revenue from new energy loaders increased nearly twice year-on-year, accounting for 23.3% of the total revenue, and the industry's sales remained stable at the top.

Zhejiang Dingli stated that in the future, the company will launch more high value-added, differentiated, electrified, and intelligent high-end new products with independent intellectual property rights, further optimize product structure, and explore new growth engines.

The acceleration of intelligence and electrification in the construction machinery industry has enhanced the competitiveness of the industry chain in going global. These significant changes reflect that the high-quality development of advanced manufacturing in China has become an inevitable trend.

Rapid increase in overseas expansion, global development

In recent years, the overseas revenue scale and proportion of China's leading construction machinery enterprises have continued to increase significantly, and overseas revenue has gradually accounted for half of the total revenue of various enterprises.

In the first three quarters of 2024, Zoomlion's overseas revenue was 17.644 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.42%, and the proportion increased to 51.31%. Since 2024, the company has been planning and implementing more and more new overseas branches, accelerating the development of the European and American markets, and completing the layout of multiple first level branches. As of now, the company has over 5000 overseas employees, with a localization rate of about 90%, and has completed the layout of about 400 overseas branches, "said a relevant person from Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology.

According to disclosure, XCMG Machinery's internationalization revenue accounted for 46.7% in the first three quarters of 2024, and its marketing network covers more than 190 countries and regions worldwide.

According to the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, based on the export value denominated in RMB, the export value of China's construction machinery from January to November 2024 was 339.829 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.63%.

Behind the warm data, China's construction machinery industry is undergoing three major qualitative changes in going global.

Firstly, China's construction machinery industry is expanding its overseas market from Southeast Asia, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and other regions to developed countries and regions such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea, gradually seizing the high-end market.

Zoomlion stated that in the first three quarters of 2024, the company achieved rapid growth in the European and North American markets, with customers in these markets experiencing accelerated breakthroughs.

Secondly, China's construction machinery industry is gradually moving from partial product exports to full product exports.

A construction machinery product sold overseas often requires localization of over a hundred details to comply with local customs and regulations. Currently, only about half of China's construction machinery products go abroad, and there is still great room for category expansion, "said a person from an engineering machinery enterprise.

Finally, more and more host manufacturers and supply chains are choosing to "group and go global", creating a full chain of research and development, manufacturing, and service going global, deepening their cultivation, and achieving win-win results with the local market.

Key domestic enterprises are adjusting their global production capacity plans, implementing localization strategies, and accelerating their global layout. The overseas market sales of domestic brand industries are expected to maintain a growth trend and will be an important growth point for the construction machinery industry in the future, "said a representative from XCMG Machinery.