Under the background of global economic integration, China’s construction machinery industry is experiencing a profound transformation from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’. This process not only marks the elevation of Chinese products in the global market, but also reflects the remarkable progress of Chinese enterprises in technological innovation, brand building and international cooperation.
Over the past decades, China’s construction machinery industry has experienced rapid development and become one of the largest markets in the world. With the vigorous promotion of domestic infrastructure construction, the demand for various types of construction machinery has surged, prompting the rapid growth of local enterprises. However, the ‘Made in China’ in this period relied more on the scale and cost advantages, rather than technology and brand influence. Faced with competition from international markets, especially from developed countries in Europe and the US, Chinese companies gradually realised that it was not sustainable to rely only on price competition.
Entering the second decade of the 21st century, the Chinese government put forward the ‘innovation-driven development strategy’, encouraging enterprises to increase investment in R&D and enhance independent innovation capability. Leading enterprises in the construction machinery industry responded positively and began to pay attention to technology research and development and talent training, and through the introduction of international advanced technology combined with independent research and development, they continue to launch high-end products with independent intellectual property rights. These products have reached or even surpassed the international similar products in terms of performance, reliability, intelligence level, etc., which has won the recognition of global customers for the Chinese brand.
At the same time, China’s construction machinery enterprises have also begun to focus on brand building and marketing strategy, through participation in international exhibitions, the establishment of overseas branches, strengthen cooperation with local dealers and other ways to broaden the international market channels. Some well-known brands such as XCMG, Sany Heavy Industry and so on have successfully entered Europe, North America and other high-end markets, and Caterpillar, Komatsu and other international giants on the same stage, showing strong competitiveness.
In addition, with the promotion of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, China’s construction machinery enterprises have ushered in new development opportunities. A large number of infrastructure construction needs of countries along the route for Chinese products to provide a broad export market, but also promote industrial cooperation and technical exchanges between Chinese enterprises and countries along the route, accelerating the internationalisation process of China’s construction machinery industry.
It is worth noting that Chinese construction machinery enterprises are still facing many challenges in the internationalisation process, including intellectual property protection, international trade barriers, cross-cultural management and other issues. In order to cope with these challenges, enterprises need to further strengthen international cooperation, comply with international rules, improve their own management level and service quality, and at the same time actively participate in the development of international standards to enhance the right to speak in the international arena.
In short, from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’, the internationalisation of China’s construction machinery industry is a road full of challenges and opportunities. Only continuous innovation, continue to enhance the core competitiveness, in order to secure a foothold in the global market, to achieve from the manufacturing power to the manufacturing power of the magnificent turn. In the future, with technological advances and the deepening trend of globalisation, China’s construction machinery industry will play a more important role in the global industrial chain, contributing to the development of the world economy.