Recently, Tan Xuguang flew to Jakarta, Indonesia, marking the beginning of the third global partnership conference between Shandong Heavy Industry and Weichai Power. This is Tan Xuguang's first overseas event in 2024. In 2023, Shandong Heavy Industry Group has successfully held two global partner conferences in Astana, Central Asia, and Dubai, the Middle East. Although this event is a continuation of the previous two conferences, choosing to hold it in Jakarta has given the conference special significance.

From January 20th to 21st, Tan Xuguang discussed the export business situation of various enterprises in the Southeast Asian market of Jakarta Dispatch Group. During a conversation with major clients, he affectionately said, "In 1991, I stayed in Jakarta for a year to provide product services. Today, 33 years later, I have returned to Jakarta."

In a sense, Jakarta is Tan Xuguang's blessed land and the starting point for his global journey.

In 1991, China's reform was still exploring an unknown path, and state-owned enterprises were in a difficult situation. That year, Tan Xuguang, who had just turned 30, boldly proposed to send the first overseas service team since its establishment to Southeast Asia. As one of the first people in New China to "go global" from a planned economy, Tan Xuguang set his first foothold for Weichai's overseas expansion in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In order to sell Weichai's engine products, Tan Xuguang visits over 10000 islands in Indonesia every day under the scorching sun of the tropical rainforest climate, holding a map. In over a year, he has almost traveled all over Indonesia. He has been to the most desolate island, drilled through the deepest cabins, and constantly negotiated and communicated with local agents and customers. In the end, he achieved a miracle in the Indonesian market where engine sales increased tenfold in one year.

In 1992, Weichai established an import and export company, with Tan Xuguang serving as the general manager. When he left the foreign trade company in 1998, he managed to exchange one diesel engine for a total foreign trade volume of up to 60 million US dollars a year, making Weichai a banner for China's machinery industry to export and earn foreign exchange.

Tan Xuguang opened the "first golden age" of Weichai's overseas business in Jakarta, laying a solid foundation for Weichai's development of ship engines in Southeast Asia.

33 years later, when Tan Xuguang returned to Jakarta. People may not have imagined that this young man who understood technology, knew maintenance, and was solely focused on promoting diesel engines would become the head of a multinational industrial equipment group with a significant global influence, with a revenue of 510 billion yuan.

"We must always embrace the world, participate in global competition, and let our enterprise move towards world-class status." Tan Xuguang once said, "The advantage of state-owned enterprises+market mechanism+international perspective" is the path to Weichai's success.

Weichai's internationalization has accelerated significantly, starting with the acquisition of French century old enterprise Bodouan Engine Company in 2009. At that time, many European and American companies were facing difficulties due to the global financial crisis. In the eyes of Tan Xuguang, who had an international perspective, this was a major opportunity for global industrial transfer and new technological revolution. He keenly saw the strategic opportunity of bottom-up mergers and acquisitions.

Tan Xuguang led Weichai people to create a golden decade for Weichai's internationalization, breaking the "77 curse". All mergers and acquisitions achieved profitability after integration, winning high recognition from foreign companies and local society.

Tan Xuguang has a strong sense of "competition and cooperation" due to his global perspective. He targets the most cutting-edge technologies in the global industry and sets up research and development centers wherever there are resource advantages, creating a global collaborative research and development system.

In recent years, Weichai has accelerated its layout and deep cultivation along the Belt and Road in accordance with the concept of "leading project, doorstep market, localization and deep cultivation, big project drive, and all-round collaboration", becoming a symbol of the continuous enhancement and enhancement of the comprehensive competitiveness of China's equipment manufacturing industry.

In September 2023, Shandong Heavy Industry Group's Global Partner Conference and New Product Exhibition were held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Shandong Heavy Industry became the first enterprise in the industry to hold a global partner conference abroad. Two months later, Shandong Heavy Industry Group's Global Partner Conference entered Dubai, an important hub connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The world is a stage everywhere. Under the leadership of Tan Xuguang, actively going global has become the main theme of Shandong Heavy Industry and Weichai Power's development.

It is meaningful to host the third global partnership conference between Shandong Heavy Industry and Weichai Power in Jakarta. Here is Tan Xuguang's passionate youth, his first batch of loyal overseas customers, and his many old friends.

Astana is backed by Central Asia, Dubai is backed by the Middle East and Africa, and Jakarta is backed by the entire Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is China's doorstep market and an important participant in the Belt and Road Initiative. Tan Xuguang often said that we must manage the market at our doorstep well, and Southeast Asia is also a strategic market for the group to truly achieve internationalization. In the future, we need to further develop products, serve customers well, play a leading role in the Southeast Asian market, and promote the process of enterprise internationalization. The Southeast Asian market is currently in a critical period of transformation and upgrading, and Southeast Asian customers need more advanced technology and products. This overseas market, which Weichai was the earliest to explore, still has a promising future.

From January 20th to 21st, Tan Xuguang, who revisited the old land, non-stop met with strategic partners in regions such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia to exchange information on the application of products in the local area. He carefully listened to customer demands, made on-site phone calls to domestic enterprises, and solved problems on the spot.

"I am a big product salesperson!" Tan Xuguang said. In the past 33 years, we have successfully transformed from selling diesel engines alone to becoming today's high-end equipment solution provider. However, he remains unchanged in his original intention, just like the young man who entered the market with a map back then. Editor/Zhao E