The “five-chain integration” combination of Jining’s construction machinery industry has produced impressive “hard-core” results.
Walking into the green and intelligent manufacturing base of Shandong Hengwang Group in Rencheng District, hundreds of small machinery and equipment are neatly arrayed, and large bulldozers and excavators are everywhere.
Welding flowers are flying in the workshop, and the production line is operating at full capacity.
Relying on Africa’s infrastructure upgrading and energy development needs, Hengwang’s exports of core products such as well drilling machinery and drilling machinery continue to rise, with exports to Africa doubling in 2025.
Recently, CCTV’s “Chao Wen Tian Xia” focused on this “going overseas” craze, and Hengwang has become a vivid footnote for Jining’s construction machinery to go global.
Hengwang’s vitality reflects the profound changes in Jining’s construction machinery industry.
In recent years, Jining has listed construction machinery as a top priority among the “232” advantageous industrial clusters and 15 iconic industrial chains, and has innovatively established a “five-chain integration” collaborative mechanism to promote the integrated development of the industrial chain, talent chain, education chain, innovation chain, and financial chain.
This important industrial town in southern Shandong is changing from “working alone” among enterprises to “chain resonance” and is glowing with new vitality.
Collaborative innovation in the industrial chain provides solid support.
The construction machinery industry chain is Jining’s “precious asset” and an important pillar of the industrial economy.
Facing major changes unseen in a century, Jining’s construction machinery industry faces triple challenges: manpower shortage, efficiency bottlenecks, and environmental pressure.
Li Shizhen, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., believes that the company is standing at the crossroads of change, and only technological breakthroughs can change the predicament.
In the more than 70 years since its establishment, Shantui Co., Ltd. has gone through many technological changes.
Today, China’s leading loader company has chosen a strategic attempt to transform to AI.
In June 2025, Shantui Co., Ltd. released the world’s first AI intelligent bulldozer.
This AI bulldozer is equipped with a large intelligent model and has a certain degree of independent thinking ability. It can automatically construct without driver intervention and optimize the construction plan based on real-time data.
The gathering of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain is helping Jining accelerate the formation of an industrial ecology led by hosts, complete supporting facilities, and collaborative linkage.
The Komatsu Global Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Base project located in Jining High-tech Zone is the third global supply base of Japan’s Komatsu Corporation. Upon completion, it will become Komatsu’s global complete machine and parts supply center, of which parts supply will account for 70% of the global market.
The Great Wall Heavy Industries New Energy Engineering Machinery Headquarters Base, also located in Jining High-tech Zone, has further completed the city’s construction machinery industry puzzle. Some of the production lines of the project (first phase) have been put into operation, which also confirms the strong attraction of Jining’s excellent business environment to industrial chain enterprises.
The “Blue Collar Craftsman” cultivation project provides support for skilled talents.
In recent years, Jining has deployed an innovation chain around the industrial chain, integrated scientific and technological innovation power and superior resources, and vigorously promoted the in-depth integration of the industrial chain and innovation chain.
Establish joint school-enterprise laboratories and industrial innovation platforms to accelerate key technology research and achievement transformation, and allow new technologies to be quickly integrated into the entire production chain.
Talent chain, education and introduction simultaneously activate a strong engine.
In April, December 2025 and January this year, Jining City held three construction machinery industry chain integration and solidification matchmaking conferences, organizing upstream and downstream construction machinery enterprises, vocational schools, and financial institutions in the city to participate in the conference. Shantui Co., Ltd. and other chain master enterprises released talent demand lists on site, and vocational colleges released talent training and technical service plans to promote on-site signing and cooperation between schools and enterprises.
Faced with enterprises’ urgent need for high-end talents, Jining gives full play to its role as a high-level talent platform and supports enterprises in building national-level postdoctoral scientific research workstations, provincial postdoctoral innovation practice bases and other talent platforms to attract and gather high-level innovative talents.
At present, the city has established 29 postdoctoral scientific research workstations and 86 provincial postdoctoral innovation practice bases, with a total of 430 postdoctoral students recruited.
Precise drip irrigation of the financial chain smoothes the microcirculation.
Whether it is a production workshop with waving cantilevers and splashing welding flowers, or an overseas warehouse with frequent trade exchanges; whether it is offline daily business needs or various online chain supply transactions, as an important engine for regional and industrial development, precise drip irrigation and system support of financial “living water” are indispensable.
Shandong Lipai Machinery Group Co., Ltd.’s main products, small excavators, are exported to North America, South America, Eastern Europe, East Asia and other regions, and have obtained a number of design patents.
As the construction machinery industry has improved in recent years, the company’s revenue and profitability have shown a growth trend.
However, enterprises still face many bottlenecks in going global in the process of globalization.
China Merchants Bank Jining Branch combines the business characteristics and diversified needs of the enterprise to tailor a four-in-one global comprehensive financial service plan of “import procurement + export collection + trade financing + customs clearance convenience”, which not only meets the enterprise’s diversified international trade financing needs, but also greatly improves customs clearance efficiency.
In 2025, the output value of industrial enterprises above designated size in the city’s construction machinery industry chain will increase by 5.8% year-on-year.
From a traditional coal city to a strong manufacturing city, from “working alone” to “chain resonance”, Jining is taking the “number one project” as the traction, anchoring the goal of “one trillion, five doublings”, and bursting with vitality in integrated development.
