Journey to the Sea • Entering Africa ⑥ | Crossing Mountains and Seas with Heavy Weapons and Sailing to China and Africa | Cooperation | Africa

We must fully leverage the advantages of political mutual trust and economic complementarity between China and Africa, take capacity cooperation and the integration of the three networks as the starting points, comprehensively deepen cooperation in various fields between China and Africa, and enable the people of China and Africa to share the fruits of bilateral cooperation and development.

-- On December 4, 2015, Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

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Hunan construction machinery enterprises have gone abroad and entered Africa, becoming a beautiful business card for friendly cooperation between China and Africa. From the "Century Railway" to the "tallest building in Africa", from the largest hydroelectric power station in Africa to the world's largest single refinery, Hunan Engineering Machinery Equipment has participated in major project construction in more than 50 countries and regions in Africa, injecting surging strength into building a new era of China Africa community with a shared future.

Hunan Daily All Media Reporter Cao Xian

In late April, Kenya has entered the rainy season, with rain coming and going quickly. At the confluence of the Swak River and the Asi River, the construction of the Swak Dam is underway, with construction vehicles shuttling back and forth, machinery roaring, and both humans and machines rushing to complete the project.

"More than 60% of the construction machinery and equipment here come from China," Zhou Bo, the on-site manager of the Swak Dam construction project, told reporters. Gilbert Sigby from Nairobi is operating a powerful excavator to break stones, with the "SANY" brand logo prominently displayed on the body. "I have operated excavators from multiple brands. Chinese excavators are easy to operate and energy-efficient." During work breaks, he chatted with reporters.

The Swak Dam is the largest comprehensive water conservancy hub project under construction in Kenya, which combines water storage and power generation functions, and can alleviate the shortage of domestic water and electricity for more than 3 million people in the surrounding area.

From Kenya's large-scale water conservancy and hydropower projects to Algeria's thousands of kilometers of highways, from Egypt's "Africa's tallest building" to Nigeria's world's largest single oil refinery, China and Africa have jointly built the "the Belt and Road", which has yielded fruitful results in practical cooperation. Hunan Construction Machinery assists infrastructure projects and social livelihood projects, accelerating interconnection and mutual benefit.

Crossing mountains and seas, sailing with heavy weapons. Entering the vast expanse of Africa, the "Hunan made" machines are like solid cornerstone blocks, paving the way for China Africa cooperation and development, which has remained steadfast over time.

On April 26th, the reporter walked into the South African ZLT Crane Company in the Midland area of Johannesburg, South Africa, as if they were in a small Chinese construction machinery "museum".

A QY50V white orange truck crane stands on the open space in the factory area. In 2007, the nameplate on the bottom of the crane showed that it was produced in Changsha, Hunan 16 years ago.

This is a crane with a story.

"It was initially difficult for Chinese brands to enter the South African market," said Frans Williamson, a service engineer who has been working at ZLT for 15 years and is an "old partner" with this crane. He recalled, "The customer thought this device would be phased out in at most 5 years, but they didn't expect it to be used now."

In 2007, Robert Cook, founder of ZLT Crane Company in South Africa, carefully compared multiple construction machinery brands and ultimately chose to purchase three cranes from Zoomlion Heavy Industries.

"I firmly believe this choice is right," said Robert Cook. On the wall of the ZLT company's conference room, photos record Robert Cook's more than 30 visits to China over the past 10 years, most of which are his group photos with various construction machinery and equipment in China.

Three "old and robust" cranes have become the silent "spokespersons" of reliable quality "Made in China", and also the best "witnesses" of Hunan's construction machinery entering Africa. Robert Cook introduced that over the years, the company has sold over 330 units of Zhonglian equipment, many of which have participated in major construction projects such as the main stadium of the South African World Cup and the Cusile Power Plant in South Africa.

Under the sunset, the tall and sturdy construction machinery equipment is coated with a beautiful luster. White, blue, green, and other equipment such as car cranes, crawler cranes, and new high-altitude work platforms are ready to be launched, and will soon embark on new construction projects.

Since the 21st century, Hunan construction machinery enterprises have turned their attention to overseas markets, seeking new opportunities for win-win cooperation. Sany Group regards Africa as the starting point for enterprise internationalization, and in 2002, its first export order was to export two graders to Morocco.

Under the framework of the "the Belt and Road" initiative and the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, China and African countries jointly implement the "ten major cooperation plans", "eight major actions" and "nine projects" to drive African countries to accelerate infrastructure connectivity.

Seizing the opportunity, Hunan construction machinery enterprises set sail on a state-owned enterprise ship. "Made in China" and "Built in China" form the "best partner", striving side by side in the construction of railway, highway, port, power and other projects in Africa.

All kinds of "Hunan made" construction sites, including engineering cranes, earthwork machinery, concrete machinery, construction cranes, etc., have appeared on the "Horn of Africa" extension of the Mombasa Nairobi Railway and the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway, the Rosso Bridge on the Senegal River in West Africa, the Merovi Dam in Sudan, and the Revival Dam in Ethiopia, becoming "construction site stars".

. This is the main stadium of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and Hunan Engineering Machinery Equipment participated in the construction

"Tailor-made" products to meet local needs. In the Egyptian desert, Zoomlian's high-performance tower crane helped build the "tallest building in Africa" with a height of 385.8 meters, which is not only convenient for disassembly and assembly, but also can adapt to the local high temperature, windy and sandy environment.

Improve market layout and form strong support. In the Sany Kenyan warehouse, from a few dollars worth of screws to several thousand dollars worth of key accessories, there are over 4000 types of reserves available, allowing local customers to worry free.

Enterprises such as Sany Group, Zoomlion Heavy Industries, and Shanhe Intelligence are gradually establishing a foothold in Africa, with equipment ownership reaching over 24000 units; Among them, Hunan concrete machinery has the highest market share in Africa. Hunan ranks second among the top three Chinese construction machinery brands in Africa.

"Having a positive outlook on the African market, China's construction machinery has become more proactive in going global," said Fan Zhide, Assistant General Manager of Zoomlion Overseas Company. Zoomlion is facing Africa and actively building a full industry chain system from trade, finance, services to production and research and development.

More than 50 construction machinery and equipment are neatly displayed in Zoomlion's South African warehouse. Previously, it may have been two to three months since the customer placed an order for domestic production and the equipment arrived in the hands of African customers. Now, customers place orders for payment and pick up goods directly from the local hangar, basically achieving spot trading.

Going in both directions, getting closer step by step. On May 11, 2023, the Gambian Ambassador to China, Massane Nuku Conti, and the ambassadors of African countries such as Algeria, Mozambique, and Kenya visited the Changsha Zoomlion Intelligent Industry City, praising the technological development level of China's construction machinery. New cooperation and opportunities are emerging.

On April 27th, after driving over 260 kilometers from Johannesburg, South Africa, the reporter and his team arrived at a mine in Pumalanga Province. After safety training, wearing a dust mask, reflective vest, and protective leather shoes, the reporter walked into an open-pit mining area with a depth of 28 meters and an area of over 4500 square meters.

Amidst the roar of the machines, four mountain and river intelligent hydraulic rock drilling rigs accelerated drilling, with a maximum depth of 36 meters per rod. One drilling can be completed in just a few minutes.

"Sunward is great!" Carl, the mining manager of North African Coal Company, gave a thumbs up. He told reporters that there is currently a shortage of electricity in South Africa and coal mine production is tight. The mountain and river intelligent hydraulic rock drilling rig operates for 16 hours a day, which is efficient and safe.

In the African market, construction machinery brands from countries and regions such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea have emerged early and gained high popularity. "Due to inherent biases against Chinese products, a customer once accused our product of not working and even requested the equipment to be removed," recalled Meng Fanjie, General Manager of Shanhe Intelligent International Market Development Center in Africa.

At the beginning of 2022, Shanhe Intelligent 950 excavator entered the South African market. In a certain mining project, this "mining hegemon" that Shanhe Intelligence takes pride in has fallen off the chain.

The product is useful in China, but not in Africa?

Zhu Xiaoyong, a service engineer with 12 years of experience in the construction machinery industry, spent several days living and eating in the mine, guarding the operation of this equipment. "Make sure to clarify the problem!"

After careful observation, Zhu Xiaoyong has an answer. Originally, local operators had never operated large excavators, so they set parameters for large equipment based on their experience operating small excavators; The silicon dioxide content in mining dust is very high. If the air filter is not cleaned in time, it is easy to damage the lubrication pipelines and hydraulic systems of the equipment... Various factors lead to frequent alarms and shutdowns of the equipment during the first month of use.

"After solving these problems, we communicated with the R&D personnel and made improvements to these two large excavators. For example, we added a special filtering device at the engine intake," said Zhu Xiaoyong.

In the end, Shanhe Intelligent's two 950 excavators competed with well-known American brand excavators on the same platform, conquering customers with excellent performance that was not inferior to each other. The customer subsequently purchased multiple excavators of the same model. He said to Zhu Xiaoyong, "You are very sincere and your service spirit is admirable."

Good products combined with good service have opened the door to the market. In the past three years, despite several waves of COVID-19 outbreaks in South Africa, the number of mountain and river intelligent devices in local large mines has grown steadily.

From South Africa to Kenya, the Hunan story of "enduring hardship, dominance, and patience" has been talked about by the locals.

On the first floor office of Sany Heavy Industries Kenya Limited, a medal attracted reporters to explore. This is the "2016 Excellent After sales Service Provider Gold Award" awarded by the General Manager Department of the Mombasa Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway Project.

The Mombasa Nairobi Railway, connecting the capital city of Kenya and the port city of Mombasa, is the largest infrastructure construction project in Kenya since independence. It is also a modern railway built using Chinese standards, technology, and equipment.

More than 120 equipment from Sany Group participated in the construction of the Mombasa Nairobi Railway project. Liu Guosheng, Assistant to the President of Sany Group and General Manager of the East Africa Region, shared a story with reporters: once, a transformer caught fire at a project site, and the electronic components of a mixing plant were damaged. Unfortunately, this accessory was not available in the local warehouse at the time. The headquarters of Sany Group urgently arranged a dedicated person to deliver the required accessories to the Mombasa railway construction site from thousands of miles away in China in just one day.

"Sending accessories from thousands of miles" was a rumor for a while. Intersect with heart, win respect and trust.

In December 2022, Kenyan President William Luto personally operated a Sany excavator during the groundbreaking ceremony for 5000 affordable housing units in the Mawako constituency. Previously, political figures from Kenya, Zambia and other countries had driven Sany excavators to break ground for important national projects.

At 10:00 am on April 30th, Kenyan time, in the conference room on the third floor of Sany Heavy Industries Kenya Limited. More than 10 local and Chinese employees attended an online training session on time.

On the other end of the internet, at 3:00 pm Beijing time on April 30th, Kang Weike, an electrical engineer from the Overseas Research Institute of Sany Group Mixing Truck Company, explained in detail the structure, configuration, operation, maintenance, and other contents of the mixing truck in English.

A time difference of five hours, separated by thousands of miles, cannot stop the concentric footsteps in the same direction.

In class, service engineer Eric Otino Ojuka carefully recorded the key points. "Becoming an excavator operator and engineer in Kenya is difficult, but with the skills learned from Trinity, it becomes much easier." Eric Otino Ojuka cherishes the opportunity to learn now.

"Some African partners refer to Sany as a 'construction machinery training ground'," said Liu Guosheng, Assistant to the President of Sany Group and General Manager of East Africa. Sany promotes international development, treats global employees equally, and skill enhancement is a compulsory course.

Eric Otino Ojuka is 33 years old this year. Due to his poor family background, he worked and studied at a local industrial training college for two years before giving his opportunity to his younger brother who was admitted to university. Later, he worked on projects such as the Mombasa Nairobi Railway and the Nairobi Expressway undertaken by Chinese companies, and was exposed to Chinese construction machinery and equipment.

Everyone praises Eric Otino Ojuka as a "research expert". He took out his phone and showed the reporter that since joining in May last year, he has passed 7 junior or intermediate engineer and lecturer certification exams for products such as excavators, graders, and rollers, transforming into a "master". In February of this year, Eric Otino Ojuka went to South Sudan independently to provide services for 7 Sany equipment purchased by local customers, and trained nearly 50 local operators, which received a good response.

At the Sany Kenya warehouse, 41 year old Peter Muller has been serving as an administrator for 10 years and can quickly identify the storage locations of different accessories.

"In the past, my life was very bad. With the development and growth of the company, my life has also become better." Peter Muller told reporters that his current income can not only support his family, but also provide good education for all four children.

More and more local employees are learning skills, mastering skills, and understanding technology and management. According to the relevant person in charge of Sany Group, Sany and its agent system have created over 5000 employment opportunities in Africa. At present, the localization rate of Sany's personnel in Africa has exceeded 50%, and the proportion is still increasing.

In Changsha, Hunan, many African students come from afar to study engineering machinery and manufacturing at Sany Engineering College, a subsidiary of Sany Group.

From selling products to sharing technology, from interconnectivity to connecting people, Hunan construction machinery enterprises have deeply integrated into African development. As Xiang Wenbo, Chairman of Sany Heavy Industry, said, after years of deep cultivation in Africa, Hunan construction machinery enterprises have achieved a transformation from "gold seekers" to "good friends".

From 2020 to 2022, Sany's development in Africa has not slowed down due to the COVID-19 epidemic: the average annual compound growth rate of business in the African market has reached 45.3%, and the brand influence has further expanded.

Sunset and sunrise, follow your dreams. In Africa, every gripping, lifting, and pumping of construction machinery and equipment in Hunan is witnessing the rapid development of the African land, injecting a continuous stream of strong strength into jointly creating a better future for Africa.

[Reporter's Notes]

Hot equipment, hot dreams

Cao Xian

In late April, the journalist and his team set off from Changsha, flying over the Indian Ocean in the vast night and heading straight to the African continent, feeling a bit nervous and a little excited.

More than 20 years ago, the pioneers of Hunan construction machinery may have felt the same way before knocking on the door of the African market.

European and American brands have been deeply rooted in Africa for many years, and Chinese products were initially unable to sell locally. There are difficulties, but there are more opportunities. Not afraid of not knowing the goods, just afraid of comparing goods. Sure enough, after using it twice, the customer has gained confidence in Chinese products.

In South Africa, at the age of 16, the Zhonglian crane can still be used, witnessing the reliable quality of "Made in China". Walking through Kenya, passing through the Inner Mongolia Railway on the grasslands of East Africa, alleviating traffic congestion on the Nairobi Expressway, carrying the hope of water and electricity for the people at the Swak Dam, Hunan Engineering Machinery has left a solid and sturdy figure. Cultivating a foreign land, in addition to excellent product quality, Hunan Engineering Robots also use their sincere, caring service, and professional spirit to move people's hearts, attract customers, and win the respect and trust of African friends.

Behind the hot equipment, there are hot dreams dancing. The story of the Chinese Dream joining hands with the African Dream and striving for their dreams is particularly touching, and it also makes people look forward to more "made in Hunan" shining on the African stage.

African Voice

Vice President of Kenya, Rigati Ghachagua:

Over the past decade, economic and trade cooperation and people's friendship between China and Kenya have steadily improved. China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in Kenya. Most of the road networks built in Kenya have been completed by Chinese companies, and most of the large dams have also been built by Chinese people.

Graham Russell, CEO of GiGiGi Investment Group in South Africa:

When dealing with Chinese companies, one can feel their sincerity and high work efficiency. The product performance and quality are not inferior to European and American brands, and it can respond promptly and actively to customer demands, especially with excellent after-sales support and service.

[Voice of 'Going Abroad']

Xiang Wenbo, rotating chairman of Sany Group Co., Ltd. and chairman of Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.:

Sany has been deeply cultivating the African market for more than 20 years and is confident in playing a greater role in China Africa cooperation in the new era. Sany is leveraging the efforts of the group to implement internationalization, digitalization, and electrification transformation, hoping to deepen practical cooperation with African governments and enterprises, and make Sany contributions to the development of Africa.

Zhan Chunxin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Zoomlion Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.:

If China's equipment manufacturing industry wants to transform its advantages into practical cooperation with other countries on the "the Belt and Road" and jointly build a community of shared future for mankind, it must further localize, respect local rules, deeply integrate with local culture and jointly face the future.

Liu Feixiang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd.:

With the help of the powerful east wind of the "the Belt and Road", CRCC Heavy Industry is making solid progress towards a first-class brand with international influence, and the overseas "circle of friends" is expanding.

Xia Zhihong, General Manager of Shanhe Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.:

The joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" has built a new platform for enterprises to carry out cooperation with Africa and brought new opportunities for enterprise development.

[Link]

Hunan Construction Machinery, an African "Construction Site Star"

With excellent products and high-quality services, Hunan Construction Machinery has participated in major project construction in more than 50 countries and regions in Africa, continuously increasing its brand awareness.

In 2002, Sany Group's first export order -2 leveling machines - was exported to Morocco, becoming one of the earliest Chinese construction machinery enterprises to enter the African market. Adhering to the localization business strategy, Sany has established permanent branches in more than 30 African countries, registered 6 wholly-owned subsidiaries and 4 joint ventures, and has over 30 high-quality agents, over 600 local African employees, and more than 90 service outlets. Help African people with actions. Sany personnel and equipment responded promptly to emergencies such as the Ethiopian aviation crash rescue and the collapse rescue of a building in Tanzania. Over the past 20 years, Sany Group has achieved a cumulative sales revenue of nearly 17 billion yuan in Africa, with a total equipment inventory of over 18000 units, covering more than 50 countries and regions in Africa, ranking first in the export of Chinese construction machinery products to Africa.

In 2007, Zoomlion Heavy Equipment entered the African market with the Algeria East West Expressway project. At present, Zoomlion Heavy Industry has established a mature sales network system and a three-dimensional localized operation pattern in the African market, ranking among the top three manufacturers of Chinese construction machinery exported to Africa. Zoomlion Heavy Industries has established subsidiaries in five major regions in Africa, including Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, and joint ventures in Algeria to provide a range of services including sales, services, technology, and financing. Zoomlion Heavy Equipment has participated in the construction of several key projects, including the new administrative capital CBD project in Egypt and the aid to the N'Djamena Stadium in Chad, providing strong support for the modernization development of African countries. Agricultural machinery is becoming a new driving force for the company in Africa.

In 2008, Shanhe Intelligence collaborated with China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd. to participate in engineering projects in Nigeria. Accelerating the development of the African market, Shanhe Intelligent Equipment has successively participated in large-scale infrastructure construction such as railways and bridges in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as large-scale mining construction in countries such as South Africa, Namibia, and Congo. At present, Shanhe Intelligence has two subsidiaries in South Africa and Nigeria, offices in Kenya, and developed more than 30 high-quality agents. Shanhe Intelligence has sold over 1000 devices in Africa. In the next three years, Shanhe Intelligent Plan will establish subsidiaries and spare parts centers in eastern and central Africa, achieving full coverage in the African region.

China Railway Construction Heavy Industry's construction machinery and equipment, including spray trucks, wet spray trucks, single arm drills, and gravel screening equipment, have been exported to African countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania in recent years.

All photos in this edition were taken by Yi Ang, a journalist from Hunan Daily, and Zeng Guanlin, except for the signature