The 16th China (Beijing) International Construction Machinery Exhibition (BICES 2023) was held in Beijing on September 20, 2023, after a four-year hiatus. The exhibition showcased the highlights and innovative trends of the construction machinery industry.
Su Zimeng, president of the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, said that the exhibits at BICES 2023 cover the entire construction machinery industry chain and supply chain. The exhibition fully demonstrates the new momentum and opportunities that China's strong construction machinery market brings to the development of each enterprise, and it also demonstrates the new breakthroughs and achievements made by industry enterprises in serving the "Belt and Road" and other international markets.
Unmanned products are coming into use
In this "mecha feast" of BICES 2023, more than 1,300 domestic and foreign companies participated, showcasing nearly 20,000 new products and technologies developed in the past two years. It is worth noting that each major brand at this exhibition highlighted its research and development achievements in the field of intelligence.
Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. displayed the world's first commercially available unmanned autonomous electric loader, which has been delivered to a customer in the cement industry. At the exhibition site, the unmanned electric loader was controlled by the management cloud platform to carry out material transfer operations 2,000 kilometers away, and its efficient self-service operation capabilities won the applause of the audience.
Lin Mingzhi, chief engineer of Liugong, said that Liugong has always focused on the "five-in-one" development path of "electrification, digitization, interconnection, unmanned, and sharing", carried out research and development in related fields, and strived to break through "stuck" technologies. Deepen research and development organizational transformation, and focus on building a global leading equipment manufacturing R&D team.
"Extending human power" is the theme of Liugong's exhibition this time, which fully reflects Liugong's broader perspective and higher level of vision at the new starting point of its 65th anniversary. In the first half of this year, Liugong Co., Ltd. achieved a total operating revenue of about 15.04 billion yuan, an increase of 9.22% year-on-year, especially the overseas business operating revenue increased by 57.64% year-on-year, laying a solid foundation for achieving the annual performance target.
Liugong Chairman Zeng Guangan said that Liugong brand will attach more importance to innovation and technology, emphasize dialogue and communication, pay attention to user needs, and emphasize corporate social responsibility, demonstrating the attitude and determination of a traditional construction machinery manufacturing enterprise to transform into a technology-innovative equipment manufacturing enterprise.
Su Zimeng said that electrification and intelligence have become important development trends in the construction machinery industry. We are very pleased to see that, represented by Liugong, Chinese construction machinery manufacturers are actively seizing the opportunities of the new round of technological revolution, industrial transformation and green low-carbon development, driving the industry to move towards high-end, intelligent and green development, and constantly innovating through technology, changing the global construction machinery landscape.
The Rise of New Energy Products
At the 16th China (Beijing) International Construction Machinery Exhibition (BICES 2023), Xugong Group Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd. unveiled 15 main engine products, accounting for about 60% of the total number of exhibited products. These included pure electric unmanned three-axle rigid mining trucks, the world's largest tonnage hybrid all-terrain crane that can be registered as a green vehicle, and all-weather, heavy-duty, long-range large-tonnage high-pressure lithium battery forklifts. Among them, the hybrid all-terrain crane XCA300L8-HEV can efficiently convert oil and electricity in extended-range mode, saving annual operating costs of 80,000 to 100,000 yuan.
The exhibition of new energy main engine products was just a glimpse of Xugong's green development strategy actions. One and a half years ago, Xugong officially released China's first "dual carbon" planning guideline for the construction machinery industry, the "Xugong Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Action Planning Guideline". The 2023 Xugong Machinery's half-year financial report showed that Xugong's new energy product revenue increased by 174.9% year-on-year.
New energy products were also a highlight of the Changsha construction machinery brands at the exhibition. During the exhibition, Zoomlion Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. unveiled four new electric products, including a 1.8-ton electric excavator ZE18GE, an electric loader ZS080VE, a 21-ton electric multi-function breaker ZE205GE, and a 47.5-ton electric grabber ZE450GME.
Su Zimeng, president of the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, said that the pace of green transformation in the construction machinery industry is accelerating. Including electric construction machinery, new energy construction machinery continues to develop rapidly. The proportion of electric forklifts in the total number of forklifts has exceeded 62%, the proportion of electric lifts has reached more than 91%, and electric excavators, loaders, and mining dump trucks have been mass-produced. The industry has seen the market competitiveness of leading enterprises continue to strengthen, the development level of specialized and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises continue to improve, and the industrial clusters have developed in their own unique ways.
Su Zimeng suggested that construction machinery enterprises should actively respond to the national "dual carbon" development strategy and promote the orderly promotion and application of green products, green manufacturing, and green construction technologies. He hopes that relevant departments will promptly propose and promote measures to encourage the acceleration of the research and use of new energy construction machinery, including electric construction machinery. He especially hopes that they will study and propose measures to effectively reduce the manufacturing costs of electric construction machinery through policy guidance and technological progress, especially in response to the relatively high initial purchase costs of electrified construction machinery at present.
Creating new international competitive advantages
While transforming to intelligence and greenness, internationalization has become an important support for the development of the construction machinery industry.
Recently, the half-year performance report of Anhui Heli Co., Ltd. showed that in the first half of the year, Anhui Heli achieved operating revenue of 8.613 billion yuan, an increase of 7.33% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to the parent company of 6.58 billion yuan, an increase of 52.51% year-on-year, setting a new record since its listing.
Anhui Heli Co., Ltd. CEO Zhou Jun said that despite the complex and changing international environment in recent years, Heli has always actively responded to the country's going-out strategy. The company has successively established five overseas centers in Europe, Southeast Asia, America, the Middle East and Russia, and plans to build two more overseas centers in Australia and South America this year.
Heli's internationalization strategy has begun to show results, and the role of overseas centers as "bridgeheads" is becoming increasingly prominent. Currently, the company has established a sales agency network in over 80 countries and regions overseas, and its products have been sold to over 150 countries and regions overseas. In the first half of the year, export revenue of 2.9 billion yuan, an increase of 34% year-on-year, and the proportion of revenue also increased from 27% to 34%.
In the construction machinery industry, going out to open up the international market is already seen as the only way to break out of the industry cycle and build world-class enterprises.
The 2023 interim report of Sany Heavy Industry showed that it achieved international sales revenue of 22.466 billion yuan, a significant increase of 35.87% year-on-year, and its international revenue accounted for 56.88% of its operating revenue. The group's profits mainly come from overseas markets, which not only reduces the downward pressure on the domestic market, but also improves the profitability of traditional businesses.
For the overseas market, Liugong Vice President Luo Guobing believes that the overseas market has grown rapidly in the past few years, and enterprises that have carried out international business, including Liugong, have seized the development opportunities. He said that in the face of increasingly fierce competition, not only need to improve in terms of technical innovation, product quality and performance, cost control, marketing network and after-market support, but also need to improve global strategic thinking and full value chain capabilities, and then provide comprehensive solutions for global customers, in order to gain competitive advantages in the global market.
China's construction machinery industry is actively moving towards intelligence, greenness and internationalization, which has been recognized by its peers around the world. Ding Yuzhen, president of Hyundai Diwanen Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., a well-known global construction machinery brand, said that the overall strength of China's construction machinery industry is constantly improving, which is also very good for foreign brands. It has made the market competition enter a state of healthy circulation. Diwanen attaches great importance to the Chinese market and will continue to promote product promotion in the Chinese market in the future.
