China’s construction machinery industry bucks trend in 2021

China’s construction machinery industry bucked the trend over the past year, according to the China Construction Machinery Association.

Workers test the transmission component of a vehicle on an excavator production line at the Volvo Construction Equipment (China) Co., Ltd. in east China's Shanghai, Dec. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

The overall situation for the country’s construction machinery industry in 2021 was sound, said Lyu Ying, who serves as the deputy secretary general of the association. Exports of China’s construction machinery last year are expected to have reached $34 billion, nearly doubling the volume registered in 2020.

The total sales of the country’s excavators, a barometer of the vitality of the sector, registered steady expansion last year, with exports of the equipment booming.

Data from the association showed that China’s 25 leading excavator makers sold a total of 342,800 excavators in 2021. The numbers further revealed that 274,400 excavators were sold in the domestic market, down by 6.3 percent year-on-year, while exports of the equipment surged by 97 percent from a year ago to 68,400 units.

The overall sales volume for excavators in 2021 met expectations despite the drop in sales in the second half of the year, said Lyu.

The sound performance of the construction machinery sector can be attributed to its enhanced resilience, optimized structure, better quality, intelligent transformation, and abilities to cope with risks.

More than a decade ago, China had to imported 200-ton ultra-large excavators. Now, Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG), a leading Chinese machinery manufacturer, has built a 700-ton hydraulic excavator in China, breaking the foreign monopoly on ultra-large hydraulic excavators.