A review of the annual keywords for construction machinery in 2017 still cannot leave out the “Belt and Road Initiative”. From the launch of the “Belt and Road” strategy in 2013 to the initial formation of the “Belt and Road” economic corridors in 2015, China's trade volume with the 65 countries along the routes has reached nearly 2 trillion US dollars. The “Belt and Road” originates in China but belongs to the world.
The report “2017 Asia-Pacific Asset Management Development Trends and Outlook” released at the 2017 First Asia-Pacific Asset Management Summit Forum shows that from 2017 to 2020, the cumulative total infrastructure investment of countries (regions) related to the “Belt and Road” will reach 5.2 trillion to 7.3 trillion US dollars, with an average annual investment of 1.3 trillion to 1.8 trillion US dollars. From 2010 to 2016, the cumulative value of completed cross-border mergers and acquisitions worldwide involving “Belt and Road” countries reached 1.31 trillion US dollars, with a cumulative total of 13,122 deals. Qi Jun, president of the China Construction Machinery Association, recently stated that infrastructure connectivity, as the vanguard of the “Belt and Road”, has directly stimulated the rapid recovery of China's construction machinery industry. According to financial industry estimates, infrastructure construction in key countries along the “Belt and Road” will require at least 800 billion US dollars over the next decade. The construction machinery market is advancing with great strides under the national “going global” strategy!
According to statistics from the China Construction Machinery Business Network, entering 2017, exports of construction machinery products grew rapidly. For excavators, exports reached 9,671 units in 2017. From January to October, exports of construction machinery products totaled 16.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%.
Adhering to the principle of “joint contribution and shared benefits”, project cooperation between the “Belt and Road” strategy and countries along the routes mainly covers three aspects: first, road and port connectivity, such as the construction of highways, railways, bridges, and ports. Second, energy infrastructure connectivity, such as gas and power transmission pipelines. Third, overseas investment in factory construction. For construction machinery enterprises, all three aspects are involved. At present, Shantui's product coverage rate in countries along the “Belt and Road” has reached 85%, channel coverage 63%, and annual growth 116%. According to the editor of the China Construction Machinery Business Network, in recent years Shantui has cooperated with Chinese enterprises such as China Road and Bridge Corporation, China State Construction, China Communications Construction, and China Power, going global by leveraging these partnerships. Its full series of products, including bulldozers, road machinery, loaders, and concrete machinery, have concentrated their efforts in Pakistan and now achieved full coverage within the country, with a growth rate of 160% in 2017. In February 2017, the joint venture between Zoomlion and MAZ was officially established; in April, Zoomlion's China-Belarus Industrial Park officially broke ground; in May, nearly 100 million yuan of Zoomlion equipment was supporting Kazakhstan's light rail project. Deepening its layout in the “Belt and Road”, Zoomlion's products have been exported to 25 countries along the routes.
Qi Jun stated that the next five years will be a period of opportunity for the construction machinery industry to improve quality and efficiency and to transform and upgrade, a period of opportunity for international development, and also an important stage for China's construction machinery industry to move toward becoming a strong construction machinery power. Among these, the “Belt and Road” undoubtedly plays an important role. Tapping into the trillion-dollar market, China's construction machinery has a promising future in achieving internationalization.