China's excavator exports rapidly grow in Q1

China's major excavator manufacturers reported a rapid increase in their exports in the first quarter of the year, industry data showed.

From January to March, exports of the country's major excavator makers amounted to 28,643 units, up 13.3 percent year on year, according to data from the China Construction Machinery Association.

An employee checks mini excavators at Hunan Deli Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. in Yongzhou city, central China's Hunan Province, April 12. (Photo/Zhong Weifeng)

The rapid rise in exports of homemade excavators epitomizes the high-quality development of China's manufacturing enterprises. China is the world's biggest producer of major construction machinery products, including excavators, cranes and loaders.

Wu Yuanfeng, deputy general manager of Zoomlion Earth Working Machinery Co., Ltd. based in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, said exports of Zoomlion's major types of excavators surged over 200 percent in the first three months of this year, which is inseparable from its huge input in product R&D and manufacturing techniques.

In recent years, Zoomlion has built the sector's first intelligent manufacturing base boasting the whole production process of excavators in Changsha. The base has increased the average production capacity of excavators by nearly 70 percent and shortened the production cycle by 65 percent. “Zoomlion's medium and large excavators with high construction efficiency, which are fuel-saving and allow operations under complex conditions, win high recognition from overseas clients,” Wu said.

To expand overseas markets, Zoomlion will apply the latest technology to its products to be exported, focus on the high-end markets in Europe and America, improve intelligence and informatization of its products, and actively explore emerging markets, Wu added.

In addition to exporting high-quality excavators, Chinese excavator makers have also provided sound support services.

An employee assembles an excavator at a workshop of Lianyungang Luyou Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. in Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo/Wang Jianmin)

Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. (LiuGong), for example, has established sales channels and built an after-sales service system in each of its seven major sales regions in 102 countries, offering 24/7 services. LiuGong can provide maintenance and repair services to its clients within the shortest possible time, said Lin Shencai, director of LiuGong's excavator international business.

LiuGong's input in service is an important assurance for the company to win overseas clients, Lin said, adding that more investments in infrastructure construction and mineral exploitation in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia in recent years have provided opportunities for Chinese excavators. In the first quarter, exports of LiuGong's excavators increased by 16 percent. The average mean time between failures of the company's excavators is 1,700 hours.

Countries in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East have increased investments in areas like infrastructure construction and mineral exploitation to stabilize economic growth, which is a vital reason for the rising overseas demand for excavators and other construction machinery products, said Zhou Minliang, a researcher with the Institute of Industrial Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Leveraging their technical strength, reputation of products, and service systems thanks to years of efforts, Chinese machinery manufacturers have seized their opportunities to secure overseas orders, and seen an increase in the exports of excavators and other construction machinery products, Zhou added.

Excavators produced by Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been recognized in overseas markets.

A China-Europe freight train loaded with excavators and milling machines departs from Nanyang Railway Station in Nanyang city, central China's Henan Province, to Chelyabinsk, Russia. (Photo/Wang Wei)

Jiang Chaoxiang established a manufacturing factory of the Shandong Hightop Machinery Group Co., Ltd. in Ji'ning city, east China's Shandong Province, in 2021. In the first three months of this year, exports of Hightop's mini excavators surged 70 percent year on year, according to Jiang.

Jiang said Chinese SME excavators' successful expansion in overseas markets can be attributed to two main reasons - cost-efficient products and cross-border e-commerce. “We sell products to overseas markets through services including live-streaming e-commerce provided by the international site of Alibaba.com, and Hightop mini excavators are winning recognition of more and more clients,” Jiang added.

SMEs mainly sell a wide range of mini, small and medium-sized excavators with competitive prices for a wide areas of applications, and cross-border e-commerce platforms can help increase the exports of these products, said Wang Xiaodong, a senior operation expert of the international site of Alibaba.com, adding that the site advertises different types of excavators for buyers in different countries.

The global popularity of Chinese excavators reflects the recognition of China's strength in manufacturing, said Wan Zhe, a researcher with the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University.

Wan pointed out that the steady and sustained development of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past decade has created a sound external environment for exports of China's homemade excavators.