December 25 news: The UK magazine The Economist published an article titled "Digging for Victory" on December 21. The article states that top-tier construction equipment made in China has already reached world-advanced levels.

This is not us boasting; it is a report from a well-known foreign magazine. Once an impression is formed, it is hard to erase easily. Because we started later than foreign giants, many people still hold the old view that construction equipment produced by Chinese companies cannot match foreign products in either quality or technology, and that our products rely mainly on price advantages. However, the latest research from CLSA in France proves that this idea is long outdated. The institution tested a range of Chinese-made excavators and found them sturdy, durable, and highly efficient. Products from leading Chinese brands such as Sany Heavy Industry, Zoomlion, and LiuGong Machinery also have the advantage of low prices, and it predicts that construction equipment produced by these companies will soon occupy construction sites around the world.

The author believes that CLSA's statement is not without reason, as can be seen from the development of China's construction machinery in recent years. During the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the central government implemented a massive fiscal stimulus policy, which brought a construction boom and in turn greatly stimulated the development of China's construction machinery manufacturing industry. Although at that time domestic local enterprises lagged behind US-based Caterpillar and Japan's Hitachi in technology and product range, by 2011 the situation in which nearly 90% of excavators on Chinese construction sites were foreign brands quickly changed, and half of the Chinese market has been captured by domestic enterprises.

Continuous expansion has created China's top companies, and these top companies, eager for rapid development, have begun upgrading their technology. They spent heavily to acquire foreign competitors and suppliers, or formed joint ventures with foreign companies. Sany Heavy Industry acquired two German companies, Putzmeister and Intermix; it also formed a joint venture with Austria's Palfinger. Zoomlion acquired Italy's CIFA. LiuGong and XCMG formed joint ventures with US-based Cummins and South Korea's Doosan, respectively, to improve their diesel engines. The growth of China's top companies has dealt a huge blow to foreign companies, causing their factories in China, which originally mainly produced low-tech products sold to China, to gradually transform and focus on producing high-end products for export.

According to CLSA's rigorous two-week tests on six companies—Sany Heavy Industry, Caterpillar, Hitachi, Doosan, and Japan's Komatsu and Kobelco—the excavators all performed well, and Sany's excavator performed exceptionally well. Sany's excavator may not match the world's best excavators made by Caterpillar, but it surpassed Japanese and Korean competitors. CLSA researchers concluded that the technology gap between Chinese companies and foreign competitors is now "almost non-existent."

Of course, whether it is the UK magazine or the latest research from CLSA, the claim that China's excavator technology has caught up with foreign giants and the technical tests are certainly authoritative, but sometimes technical tests differ from practical verification. That is, a product that tests as high-quality is not necessarily in demand in the market; the real persuasiveness lies in practical "verification." Practice yields true knowledge, and practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Practical verification basically has three aspects: first, user verification. No matter what product, user recognition is the greatest recognition, and this is the most effective test of product performance. Second, frequency of use and service life. Being able to be used frequently and lasting longer makes a better product; this is the most practical quality test. Third, energy saving and emission reduction. This is the environmental aspect; among similar products, whichever can best save energy and reduce emissions is advanced, and this is also called green verification.

From the above three aspects of practical verification, it can be seen that compared with foreign competitors, China's excavators not only have price advantages but also good technology. This is an important reason why excavators from China's leading enterprises can capture a considerable share of the domestic and even international markets. The author believes that not only excavators but also many construction machinery products are actually not bad. The technology gap is "almost non-existent," while the price is cheaper than foreign products. Therefore, customers are advised to choose domestic products!

Editor: Wu Yue