The ConExpo, held every three years in the United States, has just concluded. As one of the world's top three construction machinery exhibitions, it is not only a showcase for the world's leading equipment and systems, but also a barometer of industry trends and a hub for international cooperation, carrying the expectations and competitions of global practitioners.
Not long ago, the booths of Chinese construction machinery enterprises were a quiet corner of the exhibition hall, but this year, they have become a magnet for popularity. From Zoomlion' high-end customization to XCMG's scenario-based solutions, from Sany's "sold out on opening day to Lingong's thousand-unit contracts, they have demonstrated to the world with solid contract achievements and technological progress that Chinese brands are no longer just participants but are constantly advancing towards leading the dialogue, defining trends, and exporting systems.
From low-key participation to overflowing orders
Chinese strength astounds the entire event
At this exhibition, Chinese construction machinery enterprises brought a series of products tailored specifically for the North American market. Each model precisely meets the local working conditions, and every technology showcases the hard power of China's manufacturing. Not only did they attract the attention of global overseas users, but they also sparked a signing frenzy on the spot, reaping a bountiful harvest.
Under the theme of "Thoughts Build the Future", Zoomlion held product presentation sessions every day, introducing the latest products and next-generation technologies to North American customers and the global market. The on-site response was extremely enthusiastic. During the exhibition, good news came one after another: no-road tire cranes were delivered on-site to North American customers, orders for earthmoving machinery continued to rise, and concrete machinery customers signed cooperation agreements one after another. Several high-end equipment models specially customized for the North American market, with their advantages of high efficiency, safety and intelligence, won high recognition from local customers.
Sany Group, with an exhibition area of 4,686 square meters, was the largest Chinese enterprise in terms of exhibition scale. According to Chen Xing, the marketing director of Sany Group's US company, all the over 30 pieces of equipment on display were sold out on the first day of the exhibition. By noon on the second day of the exhibition, it had received orders worth over 1.1 billion yuan, and the number of orders was still increasing. "These figures are a testament to the trust of global customers in Sany's products and the best proof of the competitiveness of China's manufacturing."
The exhibition area of XCMG Group was also packed with visitors. Liu Quan, the general manager of XCMG North America and the US company, said that hundreds of business representatives from North America, South America and other regions have voluntarily expressed their interest in becoming distributors of XCMG products. "Many customers said that compared with the previous exhibition, the products displayed by XCMG this year have achieved a complete upgrade. The speed of intelligent upgrade and technological iteration is astonishing."
Shandong Lingong was not to be outdone. It joined hands with its global partners and signed four major orders one after another at the exhibition. The total number of equipment signed reached 1,006 units. With these solid achievements, it demonstrated the market appeal of Chinese construction machinery.
From Product Output to Technological Advancement
China's Manufacturing Industry Breaks Through in the Process of Catching Up
If the overwhelming number of orders is a direct manifestation of the enhanced hard power of China's construction machinery enterprises, then the gradual export of the technological system indicates that Chinese enterprises have shifted from scale advantages to technological dividends, and are striving to catch up in the new race of the global construction machinery industry, gradually narrowing the gap with European and American enterprises, and achieving parity in some fields.
At this exhibition, Chinese enterprises no longer confined themselves to showcasing individual products but presented a comprehensive display of their technological explorations and solutions in intelligentization and greenization, allowing the world to witness the progress and potential of China's manufacturing. Tan Ruxu, the deputy general manager of Zoomlion Overseas Company, stated directly that electrification and intelligentization are the inevitable directions for the development of the global construction machinery industry. "In the era of intelligentization and greenization, Chinese enterprises are catching up vigorously in the new race and have been able to run neck and neck with international competitors, and even take the lead in some fields."
This leading position is reflected in the specific application of technologies. Feng Ruoyu, the senior brand manager of XCMG Group, said that Chinese enterprises have obvious advantages in the application of AI in professional scenarios. Technologies such as unmanned mining trucks and intelligent control have been implemented in engineering projects. "We emphasize the application capabilities for specific working conditions rather than just general models."
At the exhibition, XCMG innovatively released the core products of the PRO series, which feature functions such as parameter customization, visual interaction, and self-diagnosis of faults, making complex operations clear at a glance and precisely controlled. This has advanced intelligence and efficiency simultaneously, representing a comprehensive leap in human-machine interaction capabilities. The 35 models of equipment tailored for the North American market that it will exhibit are integrated into actual working conditions such as earthwork, mining, and high-altitude operations. What customers see is not isolated machines but a complete construction combination that can directly create value.
Engineers from Zoomlion operated the remote control of the 5G tower crane intelligent control system on the exhibition site. Through the display screen, people could see that in the Changde Industrial Park in Hunan Province, thousands of miles away, the tower crane lifted and lowered, rotated, and hoisted heavy objects in real time, then smoothly returned to the ground according to the remote control instructions. The unmanned mining equipment system displayed by Zoomlion has achieved large-scale operation of over 100 sets of unmanned mining trucks in China. The system realizes autonomous dispatching and collaborative operation of the fleet through autonomous learning and reinforcement learning algorithms, reducing human intervention and significantly enhancing safety and efficiency.
Sany Heavy Industry showcased an AI service assistant that uses AI data analysis to quickly identify and diagnose faults, embedding the judgment capabilities of "on-site engineers" into the equipment terminals, effectively alleviating the long response cycle for after-sales service in the North American market.
Industry insiders point out that the application of technologies such as reinforcement learning enables Chinese construction machinery to autonomously learn operation paths in complex working conditions rather than relying solely on preset rules. This exploration of technology that aligns with the future trend of automation fully demonstrates the progress of Chinese enterprises in the integration of algorithms, manufacturing, and scenarios, and marks that Chinese construction machinery has moved from "output of manufacturing capabilities" to "output of technical systems".
"Customers don't have time to deal with complex processes," said Andrew Ryan, president of LiuGong North America. "They need a partner that can be involved throughout the entire project cycle - from the first shovel of earth to the final grading. Our goal is to provide customers with durable and efficient equipment solutions through a unified service network."
From "Strangers" to "Local Roots"
Chinese Brands Achieve All-round Growth
The gains from this year's US exhibition are not only orders and technical recognition, but also the all-round growth of Chinese construction machinery enterprises from "going global" to "taking root locally", with significant improvements in brand influence and local operation capabilities.
Once, Chinese brands faced the predicament of low recognition and insufficient acceptance in the North American market, with a notable gap compared to mainstream European and American brands; now, this situation has been significantly improved. Rong Yan, the brand manager of Sany Group's overseas headquarters, said that the competitiveness of Chinese brands has significantly increased, and the product quality has gradually approached the level of international mainstream brands. At the same time, they have unique advantages in cost control and service response.
Matt Conger from the German engineering technology company Voith also admitted that the technical content and reliability of Chinese construction machinery brands have significantly improved in recent years, and they have become important players in the global construction machinery field, "not inferior to traditional giants such as Caterpillar and Case". He hopes to further establish connections with Chinese enterprises through the exhibition.
To better establish a foothold in the North American market, Chinese enterprises are continuously advancing their localization strategies: Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd. has been relying on its North American R&D center to continuously improve its localization layout, establishing multiple operation sites in Milwaukee, Houston, and other places, and building a full-chain collaborative system covering R&D, manufacturing, sales, and services. Through localized operations and customized products, they can respond to customers and serve the market more effectively and promptly, while also continuously enhancing their competitiveness in the local market. XCMG has reserved millions of spare parts in the United States, with over 95% of its employees being local, ensuring round-the-clock service support for local customers. Many other enterprises have been strengthening the construction of local R&D teams, improving the agent system, and laying out after-sales service networks, using localized operations to bridge the gap with customers and achieve a coordinated development model of "R&D globally, production regionally, and services locally".
From once being a "marginal onlooker" to now being an "important participant"; from merely "exhibiting products" to comprehensively "outputting technical systems"; from simply showcasing scattered orders to signing bulk cooperation agreements, this US exhibition clearly demonstrated the growth trajectory and practical achievements of China's construction machinery industry. Compared with the established construction machinery enterprises in Europe and America, Chinese enterprises still have gaps in terms of technological accumulation and brand heritage, but every step of their growth is solid and every breakthrough is worthy of recognition. Although the exhibition has come to an end, the new journey of globalization for China's construction machinery industry is about to embrace its most powerful momentum.