On the stage of the global construction machinery market, domestic construction machinery is emerging with a new attitude.
On April 10, 2026, in Eichtal, Germany, Sany Heavy Industry officially signed a local manufacturing cooperation agreement with the Putzmeister factory to promote the localized production of multiple models of all-terrain cranes in Europe.
Building the production line directly in the hinterland of an established construction machinery powerhouse sends a signal of extraordinary significance.
This is not an isolated case.
From Zoomlion’s 800-ton all-terrain crane landing in Mexico, to XCMG’s pure electric loaders winning large orders in Kyrgyzstan with a 78% reduction in operating costs, to Zoomlion’s deployment of complete machine and spare parts centers in Morocco covering North Africa.
From high-end production lines in Europe, to green equipment in Central Asia, to service networks in North Africa, domestic giants are blooming in many places around the world.
In May 2026, 13,166 excavators were exported, a year-on-year increase of 34.2%, accounting for more than 50% of the total sales in that month.
This is no longer just a simple “increase in exports”, but a profound “overseas 2.0 ecological feedback”.
Going overseas has changed from an “optional” option for the industry to seek supplements to a “must-answer question” that dominates profits and technology.
In terms of profits, the domestic price war once caused agents to “lose money on each sale”, while the gross profit margin of overseas business is on average 10 percentage points higher than that of domestic ones.
In 2025, the overseas gross profit contribution of the five major OEMs will account for 65%, and Sany Heavy Industry’s overseas gross profit contribution will be as high as 71%.
The high premium brought by going overseas not only allows companies to stop bleeding in the domestic quagmire, but also gives the industry capital to breathe and upgrade.
In May 2026, Sany, Xugong, and Liugong collectively raised excavator prices by 3-5%. The price war that has lasted for many years has significantly eased. This confidence is supported by high overseas profits.
At the technical level, domestic construction machinery followed suit in the era of traditional fuel engines, but has overtaken it in terms of electrification.
The measured operating cost of XCMG pure electric loaders has dropped by 78%. This hard-core data directly opens the door to overseas markets.
At the same time, the demanding demands and massive operating data of overseas high-end markets have forced the domestic supply chain to upgrade.
On the one hand, in order to meet the working conditions in Europe, America and extreme mining areas, the complete machine manufacturer cooperates with domestic hydraulic and power component suppliers to complete the localization of the entire chain of large-tonnage equipment; on the other hand, XCMG’s XCMG CONNECT global smart service platform opens up full-link data and continues to drive dynamic optimization of product design.
The industry has also completely bid farewell to the past reliance on a single domestic cycle to “depend on the weather,” and overseas has become the ballast for smooth fluctuations.
The global voice is also being rewritten: XCMG has successfully entered the supply chain of international mining giants such as BHP Billiton and Vale, breaking the long-term monopoly of large-tonnage mining equipment; Chinese brand loaders have a global market share of over 50%, ranking first in the world, and excavators have a global market share of nearly 40%; 13 Chinese companies have ranked among the top 50 global construction machinery, with XCMG and Sany ranking third and sixth in the world respectively.
However, the next step in going overseas 2.0 is not an easy road.
Machinery industry analysts judge that overseas will contribute more than 70% of the industry’s incremental profits in the next 3 to 5 years.
However, the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation and carbon tariffs are erecting regulatory barriers and driving up access and compliance costs.
Going overseas in the future will no longer compete with the ultimate cost-effectiveness, but with localized compliance capabilities and full life cycle services.
The construction machinery industry will completely move from “internal expansion to survive” to “external expansion to determine the future”. This ecological feedback has just entered the deep water zone.
