In today's world where globalization continues to deepen and China's manufacturing industry accelerates its "going global", as a leading enterprise in China's high-end equipment manufacturing industry, SDHi's expansion of overseas business is not only the strategic core of its own development, but also an important window to observe the internationalization process of China's manufacturing industry.

At the SDHi. Weichai Power Global Partner Conference held on October 18th, overseas business leaders from core segments such as Weichai Power, SHANTUI, SINOTRUK, Weichai. LOVOL Smart Agriculture, and Zhongtong Bus under SDHi gathered together to share their achievements, challenges, and future plans in the journey of globalization. These shares together outline the grand vision of Shandong Heavy Industry Group's overseas business development: a global operational system centered on technology empowerment, guided by deep localization, and supported by synergies is becoming increasingly mature.

Outstanding overseas performance and significant achievements in global layout

Despite facing complex challenges such as global trade environment fluctuations, geopolitical conflicts, and intensified market competition, SDHi's overseas business has achieved strong growth against the trend in the past few years, with outstanding performance in various business sectors.

As the absolute leader in China's heavy-duty truck exports, SINOTRUK International Co., Ltd.'s General Manager Song Yang introduced that the company's export performance has ranked first in the domestic industry for 21 consecutive years, occupying half of China's heavy-duty truck export share. Compared to 2020, it is expected that export sales will triple in 2025, reaching 150000 vehicles. From January to September this year, the export sales of heavy trucks reached 111000 units, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%. In traditional advantageous markets such as Africa and Southeast Asia, the year-on-year growth was 37.4% and 41.5% respectively; The high-end market in the Middle East has also achieved rapid growth, with a year-on-year increase of 28.7%.

The import and export business of shares has also achieved remarkable success. Since the first bulldozer was exported in 1986, after more than 40 years of development, it has grown into a "billion dollar" export enterprise. The product has expanded from a single bulldozer to a full range of construction machinery, including mining equipment, new energy, and intelligent products. Shantui's overseas exports account for over 50% of its total business, becoming the main pillar of the company's development.

Weichai Power's export growth trend is rapid, with an expected export growth rate of around 30% by 2025. The French company acquired by it, Baudouin, successfully expanded its business from traditional marine engines to multiple fields such as power generation and industrial power after integrating into the Weichai system, and the market scope also extended from Europe to the world.

Zhongtong Bus's overseas business started in 2003 and has grown from scratch. Currently, the overseas marketing team exceeds 200 people, and the proportion of overseas performance has exceeded that of China, reaching over 60%. Its market layout is becoming increasingly standardized, with five major regions worldwide and subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Frankfurt.

Weichai.LOVOL Smart Agriculture's agricultural equipment has been exported to over 120 countries and regions worldwide, with more than 500 overseas marketing networks. Its high-power tractor exports account for over 30% of the country's total, and its harvesting machinery ranks among the top.

Behind these impressive data is the inevitable result of SDHi's long-term commitment to internationalization strategy and deep cultivation of the global market.

Technology leads product upgrades and empowers global competition

In answering questions from reporters, "technology empowerment," "product competitiveness," "intelligence," and "new energy" became high-frequency terms mentioned by the heads of various departments, which clearly indicates the core driving force for SDHi's overseas business growth.

Focusing on high-end technology and product innovation: SDHi Group has clearly positioned itself as a high-end manufacturing enterprise. At the group level, it is emphasized that 'core product competitiveness is the biggest concern for customers'. To this end, each subsidiary continues to increase its R&D investment and launch competitive products for the global market. For example, Weichai Power showcased high-power and high-efficiency engine products for the data center industry and released the world's first 20M61 high-speed diesel generator set capable of reaching 5 megawatts, seizing the market opportunity brought by the development of AI technology.

Accelerating the transformation of new energy and intelligence: This is a key strategy for the group to cope with future competition and practice green development. SHANTUI Corporation regards new energy products as an important development direction, promoting electric loaders, bulldozers, rollers, excavators, and mining trucks in regions such as Indonesia, Europe, and Russia, and providing complete new energy equipment solutions to help end users significantly reduce construction costs. SINOTRUK has achieved technological breakthroughs in the field of new energy heavy-duty trucks. Its 800 kWh pure electric heavy-duty trucks with a range of over 500 kilometers have been exported to Latin American countries, marking a milestone progress in the new energy track. LOVOL Smart Agriculture is committed to moving from automation to intelligence. Its tractors equipped with GPS navigation systems can achieve unmanned driving and achieve information exchange between machinery and the whole machine through an IS system.

Responding to differentiated market demands: SDHi deeply recognizes that the global market is not a monolithic entity, and product adaptation development must be based on regulations, environments, and usage habits in different regions. Weichai.LOVOL smart agriculture will accelerate the localization and manufacturing layout along the "the Belt and Road", focus on key markets in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, etc., and carry out precise product development and certification work for the emission standards, agronomic needs, operation modes, etc. of each type of market, so as to accelerate and lead China's high-end agricultural machinery manufacturing to the sea. When exploring the Dubai market, Zhongtong Bus made significant improvements to the vehicle's air conditioning system and anti-corrosion performance in response to its high temperature climate and strict standards. Eventually, it was successfully delivered, achieving the first breakthrough of a Chinese brand in the high-end public transportation market in Dubai.

Dealing with challenges and planning for the future

Faced with challenges such as "internal competition and external spillover" (fierce competition among domestic peers in overseas markets) and international trade frictions, SDHi has demonstrated strong strategic determination and fully leveraged the synergies within the group.

Strengthening collaboration and enhancing overall efficiency: At the group level, it is emphasized that collaboration is also an important strategy for us. In the past two years, SDHi has systematically collaborated in personnel, resources, marketing policies, and skills, and through collaboration, has found a "second growth curve", further expanding its channels and customer resources in a limited market, achieving sustained improvement in performance for five years. For example, Zhongtong Bus has proposed the strategy of "buses following trucks", leveraging the network and influence established by the group's heavy-duty trucks overseas to jointly explore the market.

Avoiding vicious competition and focusing on value creation: Faced with the price war among domestic peers, the subsidiary of the group chooses not to participate in vicious price competition, but instead focuses on building service advantages, network advantages, and brand value. They firmly believe that by providing full lifecycle value beyond the product itself, they can win the long-term trust of customers and compete head-on with high-end brands in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea.

Firmly uphold the belief in internationalization and explore high-end markets: The entire group has reached a consensus that "the path to going global is a necessary choice". The future direction is very clear: while consolidating and developing the middle market, we will gradually move towards high-end markets such as Europe and America by relying on products with higher value and higher technological content. The successful entry into the Dubai market this time is an important signal, proving that Chinese manufacturing is fully capable of knocking on the door to the world's most demanding market.

The development path of SDHi's overseas business is a solid road driven by technological innovation, with deep localization as the hub, group collaboration as the chassis, and strategic determination as the steering wheel. In the uncertain global environment, SDHi did not choose short-term speculation, but adhered to a long-term approach. Through hard work and deep market cultivation, challenges were transformed into opportunities, and the brand image of "Made in China" was elevated from "high cost-effectiveness" to a new height of "high technology, high quality, and high value". Its successful practice has not only laid a solid foundation for the future development of SDHi itself, but also provided valuable "SDHi samples" and "Weichai wisdom" for the global transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry. As it continues to deepen its global layout, SDHi is expected to leave a deeper Chinese mark on the global high-end equipment manufacturing map.