Chinese-Made Product Ranks World’s Top Seller

CHINA has become the world's largest producer and seller of construction machinery, with exports expected to nearly triple from 2020 to 2025.

In the first half of the year, China's construction machinery exports increased by 21.7% year-on-year.

Excavating, loading, transporting, unloading… at a mine in Vietnam, over 120 pieces of construction machinery operate in an orderly fashion, busy yet efficient.

Green has become the most distinctive feature of this mine. All 120-plus pieces of equipment, from excavators, loaders, and bulldozers to mining trucks, are electric.

"Using Chinese electric construction machinery, our per-ton mining cost has directly decreased by 50%," the mine's manager said, unable to hide his excitement.

This year, influenced by the international energy crisis and the accelerated pace of green transformation, building "green mines" has become an industry consensus.

"In the field of electrification, Chinese construction machinery is in a leading position globally. Almost all leading international companies in the mining industry have established procurement centers in China," said Li Kailiang, Deputy Chief Engineer and Business Director of the International Business Department of Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd. What gives them their confidence?

—Powerful Equipment. 

LiuGong's excavators and loaders are specifically equipped with high-capacity, highly reliable dedicated battery systems designed for the high-temperature and high-humidity operating conditions in Vietnamese mines. Combined with flash charging technology, they can be fully charged in 45 minutes, providing 8 to 10 hours of continuous operation, enough for a full shift.

—Mature Supporting Systems. 

Some overseas markets require oversight of every battery from commissioning to retirement: registration is required upon activation, and the manufacturer is responsible for recycling upon retirement. "Relying on China's complete new energy industry chain, Chinese companies have mature experience in the full lifecycle management of batteries, enabling them to provide comprehensive services to overseas customers," said Li Kailiang.

—Comprehensive Solutions. 

Mines are mostly located in remote areas with weak public power grids. Chinese construction machinery companies provide integrated solutions, supported by "photovoltaics + energy storage + charging + mobile power transmission," constructing integrated green microgrids around the mines, allowing electric equipment to operate with "available power and reliable power" even in remote mining areas without grid access. “Once mining operations stop, the losses are enormous. Compared to foreign companies, we can integrate high-quality domestic resources to provide complete solutions, ensuring the smooth implementation of electrification solutions,” Li Kailiang explained.

Furthermore, China's construction machinery industry is also exporting its intelligent “soft power.” The deep integration of mature domestic mine management systems, fleet dispatching systems, and hardware helps overseas mines transform from a “human-intensive” approach to a “smart brain.”

The tangible benefits are the strongest driving force behind continued orders from overseas companies. Energy consumption often accounts for 40% to 50% of mine operating costs, while electric construction machinery consumes only one-third the energy of fuel-powered equipment. At the same time, electrification greatly simplifies the transmission system, significantly reducing maintenance and repair costs.

For multinational mining companies, Chinese construction machinery is not only “green to use,” but “born green.”

At LiuGong's smart excavator factory, a full range of products from 13 tons to 200 tons are flexibly produced on the same line, with an AI vision system detecting assembly deviations in real time. From materials to finished products, every data node is traceable. In March of this year, the factory produced over 1,500 excavators in a single month, a year-on-year increase of 77.5%, setting a new record.

"Relying on the construction of the smart factory, we use a large amount of green electricity in our production process, which directly helps downstream customers achieve high scores in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluations," said Li Kailiang. He added that LiuGong Electric's construction machinery exports performed exceptionally well in the first half of this year.

Data shows that my country has become the world's largest producer and seller of construction machinery, with the industry's export scale expected to nearly triple from 2020 to 2025.

Beyond simply "selling equipment" and "selling electrification solutions," Chinese construction machinery companies are now also offering intelligent solutions, "selling intelligence." "This year, our unmanned loaders will be put into operation in the UK and Australia, bringing customers a safer and more efficient intelligent construction experience," said Li Kailiang.

The unmanned electric rigid wide-body vehicle supports all-scenario operation and mixed manned and unmanned operation, and can maintain stable autonomous driving even in rainy, foggy, and dusty environments with visibility of only 20 meters. The newly upgraded 5G remote control technology can remotely and precisely control a 135-ton super-large excavator.

Data from the China Construction Machinery Association shows that in the first half of the year, my country's construction machinery exports reached US$34.373 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%. Exports to the EU totaled US$3.626 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.9%; exports to ASEAN countries totaled US$5.561 billion, a year-on-year increase of 23.6%; and exports to countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled US$14.723 billion, accounting for 42.83% of total exports, a year-on-year increase of 9.13%. The machinery industry, represented by construction machinery, achieved a total goods trade export value of US$559.33 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20%, accounting for 26.3% of the country's total goods trade.