Domestically and overseas, arenas and battlegrounds across all walks of life take shape between these two terms. Stories about growth are also told again and again. The more unique something is, the more it is remembered.

　　Construction machinery is a special member among them. In the domestic market, the cyclical changes brought by fluctuations in the real estate industry have left the construction machinery industry dormant at the bottom. But overseas markets present a different picture: data from the General Administration of Customs shows that in 2023, China's exports of construction machinery products reached US$48.552 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.59%, with the trade surplus increasing by US$4.468 billion year-on-year, and double-digit growth achieved in regions such as Europe, South America, and Africa.

　　"Blooming at home, fragrant overseas" is because the industry contains a group of enterprises with core competitiveness making strong breakthroughs—XCMG Machinery, Sany Heavy Industry, Zoomlion, LiuGong... On this list is engraved the wind and fire of the industry's forward march. And the key factor in their successful going global is none other than grasping competitive innovative technology on one hand and figuring out the ever-changing world environment on the other, enabling them both to seek growth and to guard against risks.

　　Take Zoomlion, which has had the fastest overseas sales growth in recent years, as an example. From 2020 to 2023, the company's overseas revenue rose from 3.8 billion yuan to 17.9 billion yuan, with a CAGR of 67%, and the share of overseas revenue rose from 6% to 38%. In the first quarter of 2024, the share of overseas revenue further increased to 48%, maintaining high prosperity. Moreover, based on its "end-to-end, digital, localized" overseas direct sales system, Zoomlion has achieved balanced development with simultaneous improvement in multiple competitiveness factors such as business expansion, risk prevention, and localization.

Strong Going Global: New Positioning Brings New Tasks

　　China's construction machinery has gone through a long process of development. Today, driven by the wave of globalization, Chinese construction machinery enterprises are accelerating toward the world stage and actively participating in global competition. However, overseas market competition is fierce, and risks increase accordingly. How to do risk control well has become the key to whether construction machinery enterprises can achieve sustained and healthy development.

Mitigating Risks: Construction Machinery Enterprises Each Have Their Own "**Answers"

　　Zoomlion has explored a uniquely distinctive risk control system in overseas markets, starting from multiple dimensions such as information security, asset security, business security, and personnel security to build a multi-level, all-round risk prevention and control system.

　　Information security: Zoomlion has built a complete overseas information security system, formulated strict information security management rules, and equipped a professional security team to provide all-round security protection for overseas business information.

　　Asset security: Digital technology has helped improve the management of customer contract files, warrants, and collateral assets, enabling timely tracking and regular updating of the paths and working conditions of customers purchasing equipment, as well as customers' credit and cash flow conditions, ensuring that the company can grasp asset and customer credit conditions at the ** time.

　　Business security: By establishing a complete overseas business management system, Zoomlion strictly controls business processes and conducts strict credit assessment and risk control for overseas customers, ensuring the safe and stable development of business.

　　Personnel security: Zoomlion attaches importance to the safety of overseas personnel, has formulated strict personnel safety management rules, and provides professional safety training for overseas employees to ensure that personnel safety is guaranteed.

　　Supported by this system, overseas business information, transaction links, and asset security are all fully presented in the system, leaving risks nowhere to hide. Flexible use of information + personnel + operating tools has also greatly enhanced Zoomlion's risk control capabilities, meeting the needs of global development.

　　Relevant data shows that Zoomlion's first-year contract repayment rate overseas is nearly 70%; overseas full-payment and quasi-full-payment businesses together account for close to 60%; the average payment period in key countries has shortened from 15 periods to 13 periods; and the contract repayment rate in key countries such as Turkey in the current year is as high as over 95%. The safety margin of operations has been significantly consolidated.

Promising Prospects: Embracing New Development Opportunities

　　Managing overseas risks and improving the level of localized operations are all aimed at better participating in global competition. Since 2003, the UK's KHL Group has published the Global Construction Machinery Top 50 list every year. The market share of Chinese brands has generally been rising.

　　Zhongtai Securities pointed out in a research report that in 2024, China's construction machinery still has considerable structural opportunities. For example, in the North American market, China exported about US$2.72 billion of construction machinery equipment to North America in 2023, accounting for only about 6.1% of the North American market, indicating great potential for improvement. In the Southeast Asian market, local demand for mining and infrastructure remains steady, making it suitable for domestic equipment to increase market share in a measured way.

　　Against this backdrop, if construction machinery enterprises can make good preparations for localized development, have a thorough understanding of local favorable conditions and potential risks, and set corresponding countermeasures, their development quality will be higher.

　　The increase in market share of Chinese brands such as Sany Heavy Industry, XCMG Machinery, and Zoomlion is often accompanied by key nodes such as "the 2008 financial crisis, the recovery growth after the 2017 supply-side reform, and the opportunity during the pandemic to fill gaps in the global supply chain." When Chinese construction machinery brands face risks directly, they are often able to unleash their potential. The underlying reason is precisely that they have established profound and far-sighted anti-risk systems and globalization methodologies.

　　Today, it is not only Zoomlion that has provided a safer and more sustainably developing "sample of the times" for China's construction machinery industry; Chinese construction machinery brands have all formed their own breakthrough paths in the practice of going global. In today's race to seize globalization opportunities, their awareness and strength have long since stepped up to a new level.