After the glitz has faded, all that remains behind the construction machinery industry is a wasteland.

　　In the first decade of this century, benefiting from rapid economic development, the "boom" in the real estate market, and the rapid growth of fixed asset investment, the construction machinery industry once became one of the fastest-growing industries in China. Over the decade, large enterprises such as Zoomlion (000157, stock bar), Sany Heavy Industry (600031, stock bar), XCMG, LiuGong (000528, stock bar), and Lingong emerged. Around 2011, stimulated by the 4 trillion yuan investment, construction machinery manufacturers greatly expanded production capacity. However, after 2011, affected by both weak downstream demand and overcapacity, China's construction machinery industry began to decline collectively. Data shows that in 2012, the sales volume of eight major types of main machines in the industry fell by more than 20% year-on-year. At the same time, negative information about tight funds and large-scale layoffs among enterprises has also been circulating.

　　Seeking ways to save themselves has become the most urgent task for construction machinery enterprises.

　　Going Global

　　"Although the golden decade of the construction machinery industry has passed, it still has ten to fifteen good years." Yu Mengsheng, Executive President of Shandong Lingong, said in an interview with a reporter from China Industry and Economy News: "In overseas markets, I believe the potential of China's construction machinery industry is huge."

　　In fact, after joining the WTO, Chinese enterprises "going global" has become normalized. Enterprises "going global" have now passed the initial stage of simply exporting goods and have begun to enter the stage of overseas financing and listing, overseas investment and factory construction, and even overseas mergers and acquisitions, implementing multi-level advancement from capital export to strategic layout.

　　The construction machinery industry is no exception. Data shows that in the first half of 2013, exports of truck-mounted self-propelled cranes, dredgers, all-terrain cranes over 100 tons, and crawler excavators grew rapidly. With the acceleration of globalization, "marching overseas" has become a viable strategy for the long-term development of China's construction machinery industry. At present, Chinese construction machinery equipment is gradually being accepted by overseas markets, and technological upgrading within the industry has become a good foundation for Chinese enterprises to participate in international competition.

　　Taking loaders as an example, before 2005, there were fewer than 50,000 Chinese loaders overseas. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have built platforms in the international market. Data shows that in 2011, China's loader industry exported a total of 18,829 loaders, a year-on-year increase of 72.25%. It must be said that in the international market, Chinese enterprises have opened up a market, grasped end customers, and created a market with their own strength.

　　"In 2009, we began to deploy our overseas development plan, and at that time we determined a three-year overseas plan." Yu Mengsheng said: "We invested a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and we launched a Global system. The first phase invested 48 million."

　　Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (Shandong Lingong) is one of the world's top 50 construction machinery companies. Its main products include the earthmoving and excavation series, road machinery series, mining vehicle series, and small construction machinery series. At present, its products are exported to more than 60 countries and regions around the world, and its loaders, road rollers, and other products have a large share in emerging overseas markets such as Brazil, Russia, the Middle East, and South Africa.

　　Service First

　　Since the domestic market is shrinking, why not try overseas markets? This seems to be a truth everyone understands. However, building overseas markets has never been an easy task.

　　"When Chinese enterprises go global, they must pay attention to service." Yu Mengsheng said: "Overseas, the most important thing is not how many products you sell or how many are sold in which countries, but whether the service can keep up with these places and meet the service needs of local customers. If, like some enterprises going global in previous years, they do not pay attention to service and brand, the result is that it becomes very difficult. The construction machinery industry also faces this problem, and this problem is quite serious."

　　In fact, the export situation of the construction machinery industry this year is not optimistic. Taking exports to BRICS countries as an example, except for South Africa, China's construction machinery exports to Brazil, Russia, and India all declined year-on-year. Industry insiders believe that the reason for the BRICS countries reducing imports of Chinese construction machinery lies, on the one hand, in the appreciation of the RMB, and on the other hand, in the higher requirements that BRICS countries have put forward for Chinese construction machinery products.

　　"Last year I went to an African country and found that a Chinese company had won a bid for more than 80 vehicles. As a result, the country's attitude toward Chinese products was—I will never buy them again." Yu Mengsheng said.

　　Because Africa's industry is relatively backward, after equipment is damaged, the locals do not have the ability to repair it, and "even a broken screw cannot be fixed." The Chinese company failed to provide the necessary after-sales service for the products. This led to this situation.

　　This situation is not accidental. According to customs statistics, in the first half of 2013, China's total export value of construction machinery products was 7.291 billion US dollars. Among them, complete machine exports accounted for 80.9%, amounting to 6.142 billion US dollars; parts exports fell sharply by 61.36% year-on-year. It can be seen that the situation of "emphasizing complete machines and neglecting parts" in China's construction machinery enterprises' exports is difficult to change in the short term, and parts are the core of the aftermarket and services.

　　"In August this year, we built a factory in Brazil. This is the first Chinese enterprise to produce products in batches in South America. Of course, when we built the factory, we had already conducted a research project. Building the factory in Brazil is equivalent to placing a sufficient parts warehouse there, which can serve the entire South American market. It takes 58 to 60 days for parts from any part of China to reach South America, which is very important for service pressure and aftermarket management." Yu Mengsheng said: "We are formulating a new three-year plan, and the overseas market target is to achieve 5 billion, which does not include the aftermarket. The aftermarket can create more benefits for us. We are still very confident about this."

　　Economist Tang Min once said that Chinese enterprises going global is also one of the opportunities for China's economic growth in the future. The world market, especially developing countries and quite a few developed countries, urgently needs capital investment. The next round of enterprises should formulate new strategies and "go global" according to new world concepts. With the recovery of openness in various countries and the government's formulation of corresponding policy support, integration with the world market will generate huge demand for the construction machinery industry.

　　Perhaps this will open a new path for China's machinery manufacturing industry.