"Sany's mission is 'Quality Changes the World,' meaning we must use high-quality products and services to change the world's image of 'Made in China' as inferior quality," Sany Heavy Industry Chairman Liang Wengen often encourages Sany people with these words.

　　It is precisely by adhering to this mission that Liang Wengen led the Sany entrepreneurial team, starting from nothing in Lianyuan, Hunan, to gradually grow and develop, and build Sany into what is now China's largest and the world's fifth-largest construction machinery enterprise.

　　Exploring the Path to a Strong National Industry

　　Serving the country through industry is a powerful ambition and dream engraved in the genes of several generations of Chinese entrepreneurs. Twenty-seven years ago, the tide of reform and opening up awakened the passion flowing in Liang Wengen's blood, driving him to resolutely give up the "iron rice bowl." Liang Wengen and three like-minded partners went into business together.

　　When he borrowed money to found the Lianyuan Special Welding Materials Factory, which others jokingly called a "small shop," Liang Wengen initially defined serving the country through industry as "building a first-class enterprise and cultivating first-class talent," and had it made into a slogan hung at the factory gate. During the Spring Festival of 1989, the then Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee visited Lianyuan and, seeing the slogan, said: "You must also make first-class contributions." Thus the "two first-classes" were perfected into the "three first-classes." This grand corporate vision is the origin of the "Sany" brand.

　　In the 1990s, as reform and opening up gradually deepened from south to north and from west to east, China saw a climax of large-scale infrastructure construction. But looking around construction sites everywhere, they had basically become "exhibitions" of imported equipment. In fact, domestic brands did exist, but due to a lack of technology and brands, as soon as Chinese-made products appeared, they seemed to be labeled as inferior quality.

　　"A strong China cannot be without its own strong equipment manufacturing industry!" Facing the industry's backward situation and holding back this determination, Liang Wengen gave up the special welding materials business that had already achieved an output value of over 100 million yuan, profits of tens of millions, and the top market share in its segment, and resolutely entered the construction machinery industry.

　　With foreign technology strictly blocked, the Chinese had only to fight a "bloody path," aim at world-class standards, master the core technologies of key equipment, and thus transform "Made in China" into "Created in China," constantly catching up with the world's leading pace.

　　Sany started almost from zero and embarked on a arduous journey of independent innovation. To overcome problems with trailer pumps, for more than a year, Liang Wengen and Sany Chief Engineer Yi Xiaogang slept in the workshop every day, devoting themselves to studying the trailer pump. With this tenacity, Sany not only solved the trailer pump problems but also took the lead in the industry in achieving self-manufactured boom arms for pump trucks. Starting with the 66-meter pump truck, it long maintained the world record for the longest pump truck boom. Its concrete pumping technology and R&D innovation platform construction successively won the National Science and Technology Progress Award. In less than 10 years, Sany gained more than 50% of China's concrete machinery market share and, together with domestic brands, achieved a total market share of over 90%.

　　In addition, China's first 37-meter pump truck with independent intellectual property rights, the world's longest 86-meter boom pump truck, Asia's first thousand-ton-class all-terrain crane, and the world's heaviest 3,600-ton-class crawler crane—many Chinese firsts and world firsts—were continuously created through the wisdom and sweat of Sany people.

　　Looking back at the development of China's construction machinery industry, it is precisely the process of enterprises exploring new technologies. By solving various technical problems, Sany successfully achieved import substitution of products, bringing itself an average annual growth of 60% over 10 years and the industry an average annual growth of over 25%. By overcoming difficulties in core component technology and advanced control technology, it greatly improved equipment construction efficiency, reduced product costs and energy consumption, and created enormous value for customers, thereby maintaining high profitability and continuously demonstrating Chinese strength in global market competition.

　　Whether in the construction of the Three Gorges, the building of the "Bird's Nest," or on the construction site of the currently under-construction "China's tallest" Shanghai Tower, Sany is present. Especially after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Sany's mechanized rescue team went deep into the disaster area. When affected people regarded Sany equipment as their savior, Sany employees truly felt the power of serving the country through industry.

　　Facts have proven that Sany's strategy of catching up with world-class standards has provided the company with inexhaustible innovation momentum and profit sources. After years of effort, Sany's concrete machinery has become world number one, its excavating machinery has broken foreign monopolies to become China's number one, and other products such as piling machinery, crawler cranes, and port machinery have also become leading domestic brands. The comprehensive replacement of foreign brands by domestic brands has become a reality. Conversely, without the ideal of serving the country through industry and the belief in "pursuing first-class," Sany might still be struggling to survive in low-end, low-price, and low-margin markets.

　　Sany's import substitution actions have also greatly boosted the confidence of the national manufacturing industry, injected new vitality into China's construction machinery industry, and promoted the vigorous development of the entire industry. Today, China's construction machinery industry has grown into one of the most competitive industries in the world.

　　Integrating into the Broad Stage of Internationalization

　　The Sany entrepreneurial team deeply realized that to make Made in China into Created in China and to make the Sany brand a world brand, they must go to the global market, compete with first-class international companies, and "expand territory" overseas.

　　To go abroad, Sany first cooperated with the American company Deere & Company and acted as an agent for some of its products, until 2001 when Sany's first batch of products—hydraulic graders—were exported to Morocco. Along with product exports, Sany began setting up offices around the world.

　　Starting in 2006, Sany successively invested in and built R&D and production bases in India, the United States, Brazil, Germany, and other countries, with cumulative overseas investment exceeding US$450 million. Starting in 2010, Sany implemented an overseas base business division plus overseas region system, establishing six major international regions: Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, South Africa, North Africa, and Russia.

　　In 2012, Sany's overseas sales exceeded 10 billion yuan for the first time, and Sany truck cranes became the most popular mainstream products in the Middle East. That year, Sany also successfully acquired the internationally renowned concrete machinery company—Germany's Putzmeister—becoming the undisputed global number one in concrete machinery manufacturing.

　　In the process of internationalization, Sany also continuously received cooperation intentions from foreign companies, but Liang Wengen always adhered to two points: joint ventures are possible, but Sany must not lose its independent brand and corporate control; cooperation is possible, but Sany must not lose the right to enter any industry.

　　In fact, Sany's internationalization was never simply about exporting products from the start, but systematically exporting China's technology, services, culture, and successful development model, winning praise and dignity for "Made in China" internationally.

　　In the 2010 Chilean mine rescue, Sany's crawler crane was successfully selected by the local government and became the only Asian equipment to enter the rescue site. After the rescue, not only did the Chilean people and government express gratitude to Sany and China, but the whole world also looked at China with new eyes.

　　After more than 20 years of development, Sany has grown from nothing into an advanced equipment manufacturing enterprise with annual sales of over 80 billion yuan, total profits and taxes of over 10 billion yuan, and a market value among the global top 500 listed companies. Sany's products are sold in more than 100 countries around the world. Sany's acquisition of Germany's Putzmeister is regarded as a model of Sino-German corporate mergers and acquisitions, and Harvard University has also written Sany into its MBA cases.

　　"China has never lacked large enterprises, but it needs to cultivate a group of truly world-class enterprises." Now, Sany has become a profile through which more and more foreigners understand China, and a classic story of Chinese enterprises and Chinese people realizing the "Chinese Dream." The ideal of serving the country through industry continues to drive Sany to become bigger and stronger in equipment manufacturing, contributing a world-class equipment manufacturing brand to the country and the nation, while also inspiring more Chinese enterprises to represent China on the world stage.

　　"In the era of globalization, the economy has no borders, but enterprises and entrepreneurs have their own nationalities. I have been to many places in the world, and wherever I go, the first question people ask is not what your name is, but which country you come from. In every place in the world, among the vast multitude of people, the motherland is our name, our code, our honor, and our dignity," said Liang Wengen.