Construction machinery maker to lift production targets; eyes green model

Construction equipment maker Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co Ltd is ramping up efforts to promote the production of new energy-fueled construction machinery, hoping to inject fresh impetus into China's high-quality development, an executive said on Tuesday.

Shan Zenghai, chief engineer and vice-president of XCMG, and a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress — the country's top legislature — said during the ongoing two sessions that the company will intensify efforts to develop key components and promote the mass application of new energy-fueled construction machinery to raise its global competitiveness amid a worldwide green transition.

It will, meanwhile, also contribute to the manufacturing sector's new quality productive forces, he added.

New quality productive forces, a Chinese concept recently coined, refer to advanced productivity that breaks free from traditional economic growth modes and productivity development paths to feature high technology, high efficiency and high quality.

Shan's remarks align with the government's call to give full rein to the leading role of innovation, spur industrial innovation by making innovations in science and technology and press ahead with new industrialization, according to the Government Work Report delivered at the opening of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress on Tuesday.

The report said an initiative for pursuing high-quality development of key manufacturing chains will be launched, with a focus on shoring up weak links, reinforcing strengths and fostering new capabilities so as to enhance the resilience and competitiveness of industrial and supply chains.

"China has the conditions, foundation, and need to drive industrial upgrade and develop new quality productive forces through advanced manufacturing, considering the country's industrial structure, market capacity and challenges from the external environment," said Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"The development of advanced manufacturing requires leading enterprises to act as pioneers, supported by relevant small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial and supply chains. Policy support is also needed," he said.

XCMG is the world's third-largest producer by share of construction equipment sales worldwide, trailing Caterpillar and Komatsu, according to the Yellow Table, or International Construction Magazine's annual ranking.

Shan said the company boasts full proprietary intellectual property rights for most of its equipment. It has produced the latest generation of the world's largest tonnage wheeled cranes, and its high-end tech-driven machinery parts continue to break records.

He said that the next step is to lead the technological team to expand work on new energy-fueled machinery, adding that he hopes to see more supportive policies and improved infrastructure in this regard.

liuyukun@chinadaily.com.cn