A few days ago, by the "China Construction Machinery" magazine, the global construction machinery manufacturers 50 summit jointly produced the "global construction machinery manufacturers 50 list" announced, 13 Chinese companies on the list, 5 from Changsha, of which Sany Heavy Industry, Zoomlion has been ranked in the top 10 for 5 consecutive years, Sunward Intelligence, Railway Construction Heavy Industry has developed steadily, and Xingbang Intelligence has risen from the 48th to the 44th in the previous year. This also shows that in the face of increasingly fierce competition in the market environment, Changsha construction machinery has developed steadily with high quality, and "Made in Changsha" has stood up as the backbone of a large country.

Strong strength: Changsha, the world's top 50, occupies 5 seats

According to the list released this time, the top 50 global construction machinery manufacturers are from 12 countries including United States, Japan, China, Sweden and Germany, including 13 companies from China.

Changsha has 5 companies on the list, with Sany Heavy Industry and Zoomlion continuing to rank among the top 10 in the world, ranking 7th and 10th respectively.

The reporter's inquiry found that this is also the fifth time since the two companies were listed in the top 10 in the world at the same time in 2020, and they have entered the top 10 at the same time. In the ranking of this list, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, which began to be on the list in 2017, ranked 33rd this time; Another leading company, Sunward, ranked 43rd.

In the changes in this list, it is particularly worth mentioning that Xingbang Intelligence, a leading aerial work platform company that was on the list for the first time last year, has increased its ranking from 48th to 44th in the previous year.

The increase in the number of people on the list is a reflection of the overall development of Changsha construction machinery. In 2023, the total output value of cluster-scale enterprises will exceed 220 billion yuan, ranking first in the country for 14 consecutive years. Since the beginning of this year, with the recovery of the market, the overall growth rate of Changsha construction machinery has been larger.

Focus on innovation: forge new quality productivity with research and development

In the face of increasingly fierce market competition, continuous innovation can ensure high-quality development and have stronger market competitiveness.

Not long ago, the 2024 First Brand Power Innovation Forum was held in Guangdong, and the forum released the "2023 Top 500 Chinese Enterprises in Patent Strength List". Among them, Zoomlion ranked 30th on the list, ranking first in the industry, and its innovation strength was fully demonstrated.

As of the end of March 2024, Zoomlion has applied for more than 16,000 patents, including nearly 7,000 invention patents, ranking first in the machinery and equipment industry in terms of the number of effective invention patents and ranking first in the industry in terms of comprehensive strength in intellectual property rights. Zoomlion has also won the China Patent Gold Award for 4 times, ranking first in the industry. In addition, Zoomlion also has patent layout in Germany, Brazil, Italy, United States, India, Japan, Turkey and other countries, and its intellectual property protection covers more than 80 countries and regions around the world, providing strong support for overseas business development.

According to the data released by Sany Heavy Industry, the company attached great importance to R&D investment last year, and invested 5.865 billion yuan in R&D for the development of new products, new technologies, low-carbon, digital intelligence and global products, so as to promote the iterative transformation of the company's technical strength and lay the foundation for the company's long-term development.

A new type of research and development institution - Hunan Guozhong Zhilian Construction Machinery Research Institute has also been listed, jointly established by 14 units in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, the institute is led by the Changsha Municipal Government, Changsha has high hopes for the national construction machinery innovation center with Guozhong Zhilian as an operating entity. "The institute has 'unveiled' a number of major projects and produced results." Zhang Shouquan, assistant general manager of Hunan Guozhong Zhilian Construction Machinery Research Institute Co., Ltd., revealed.

Up to now, Changsha construction machinery industry cluster has more than 20 national and more than 100 provincial innovation platforms, providing a strong guarantee for the high-quality development of Changsha construction machinery.

Rooting: Broaden and deepen overseas markets

From the perspective of high-quality development, overseas markets are an important direction for the future development of leading construction machinery enterprises.

Recently, in Tabuk Province in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, Zoomlion held a customer day activity, attended by more than 150 customer representatives from the local and surrounding areas, and signed a contract of nearly 100 million yuan on the same day.

It is understood that Zoomlion has invested a lot of money and energy in overseas markets, and has established more than 30 first-class airports around the world, with more than 350 second-level outlets, and the total number of localized employees in overseas markets has reached more than 3,000, which has greatly improved the ability of overseas companies to resist risks and develop markets.

The development model of Changsha construction machinery leading enterprises in overseas has gradually moved from simple export and simple mergers and acquisitions to end-to-end in-depth operation, and the strategic layout and business model of enterprises in overseas markets directly affect the profit level of overseas markets.

In addition to the strategic layout of 5 overseas subsidiaries, more than 200 overseas service points, and Poland manufacturing base, Xingbang Intelligent has also started preparations for the construction of Mexico manufacturing base and the establishment of other overseas regional subsidiaries (more than 10 in total is expected by the end of 2024). Overseas markets accounted for more than 40% of sales, a year-on-year increase of 82.6%.

"Because of the layout in advance, the number of overseas employees of Zoomlion is basically doubling at a rate. Our current personnel structure is mainly local, for example, 80% of overseas engineers are locals. Huang Chengya, deputy general manager of Zoomlion Overseas Company, introduced that Zoomlion has more than 30 subsidiaries overseas, covering Russia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, Australia, Europe and other places, and these companies basically cover more than 90% of the global construction machinery market.

With the continuous expansion of overseas markets, Changsha construction machinery's ranking in the world is expected to go further.