China Daily: Xiang Wenbo: Sany International's sales have doubled this year

Source: China Daily Reporter: Feng Zhiwei Hu Haiyan

In the past 20 years, Xiang Wenbo has led Sany to set records and become a giant in the construction machinery industry. All the achievements are only representative of the past, and now, he has set his sights on the future.

When he joined Trinity in 1993, Sany was just a small welding workshop in a basement in Changsha, Hunan. Now, at the age of 50, he has become the president of Sany Heavy Industry, and Sany Group's revenue in 2011 has reached 80.2 billion yuan, becoming the domestic *5655 engineering equipment manufacturer, ranking sixth in the world's machinery manufacturing industry. And Liang Wengen, founder and chairman of Sany Group, topped the Forbes Chinese mainland rich list with a fortune of 9.3 billion US dollars.

Liang Wengen praised Xiang Wenbo's contribution to Sany. He pointed out that in 1993, Xiang Wenbo proposed that Sany should take the construction machinery industry as its main business, "without his vision, we would not have achieved today's achievements." ”

In that year, despite the opposition of his family and friends, Xiang Wenbo quit his stable job at the state-owned machinery company where he had worked for 7 years and joined Sany. Although he abandoned his relatively comfortable job and chose a difficult path, he proved right.

One or two years after Xiang Wenbo joined Sany, Sany became a domestic manufacturer of *5656 high-pressure and capacity concrete pumps. In 1998 in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Sany produced a truck-mounted concrete pump with a height of 301 meters for steel structure buildings, setting a world record. In 2007, during the construction of the Shanghai Financial Center, Sany set a new record with a single pump height of 492 meters.

Yi Xiaogang, CEO of Sany Heavy Industry, which is in charge of technology development, said: "Before we set these records, those data were unattainable in the industry. When these goals were presented to Wenbo, many people, including our employees, were skeptical that Sany would be able to do it. Before we succeeded, we also failed many times, but because of Xiang Wenbo's persistence, we did not give up and finally set a record. ”

Ambition and innovation, patience and perseverance make Xiang Wenbo a bold corporate strategist.

Xiang Wenbo said firmly: "Any enterprise must have ambition and practical ability to win in the fierce international competition. We have achieved something, but we still have to pay more time and patience to achieve the goals we will achieve. ”

Sany*'s main achievement was the successful acquisition of Germany*Xian for 360 million euros in January this yearConcrete machineryCompany Putzmeister.

"Two or three years ago, such a takeover would not have been possible, because although Chinese construction machinery companies have grown rapidly in recent years and gained considerable market share, Chinese companies are often labeled as manufacturers of low-end and cheap goods, especially in developed countries," Xiang Wenbo told reporters. ”

Born into a peasant family in Hunan, he entered Hunan University in 1980 to train as a mechanical engineer, at a time when a university education was still out of reach for most young people in China.

Xiang Wenbo speaks with a strong Hunan accent, which is also quite distinctive. He pointed out that Sany hopes to show a grand picture with the acquisition of the German company: Chinese companies have stepped onto the global stage. "This acquisition allows Sany to combine with Putzmeister's international brand, global sales and distribution network, giving Sany a new foothold in its overseas market development and increasing our overseas sales. At the same time, it also reflects the great progress of Chinese construction equipment manufacturers in terms of sales and branding. ”。

According to data from Yengst Associates, an American market research company, in 2010, Putzmeister accounted for 40% of the global concrete machinery market, and 90% of its sales came from overseas markets.
Xiang attributes Sany's success to a robust domestic market and innovation, as well as expansion into overseas markets. "For Sany, the overseas market is huge, and the proportion of revenue from overseas markets is expected to reach 10% this year, which is twice as much as last year, and will reach 30% in five years."

He also pointed out that as part of Sany's globalization strategy, Sany will focus on emerging markets. "Due to the European debt crisis, the US and European markets are likely to remain stagnant next year, while other emerging economies such as Africa and Latin America, where construction projects will lead to strong machinery and equipment development."

Xiang Wenbo believes that in the business world, a brilliant entrepreneur should be decisive, strategic, and responsive and never miss an opportunity. Overseas markets provide the best opportunities for Sany. "There is no doubt that the share of the overseas market will determine which construction machinery company will come out on top." He noted.

At present, Sany has carried out sales in more than 150 countries and regions, and has set up construction machinery R&D centers in India, the United States and Germany. Its products are exported to more than 110 countries and regions.

Xiang Wenbo also admitted that in the process of enterprise development, Sany also encountered many challenges, such as some misunderstandings. He said that some people abroad believe that Chinese companies expanding overseas will seize market share and leave local workers unemployed. "These similar concepts have brought some obstacles to Sany's overseas development"

However, Xiang Wenbo firmly believes that Sany's globalization strategy is carried out in an open and inclusive manner. He pointed out that since the acquisition of Putzmeister, Sany has not sent employees to Putzmeister. Xiang Wenbo said: "We want to maintain the original characteristics of the German company. ”

Sany is also striving to consolidate its position in the domestic market. He is also optimistic about the potential of the domestic market. "Despite the slowdown in the development of the construction machinery industry in the first five months, because China is still in the process of urbanization, engineering and infrastructure construction will still be well developed." He predicts that the market for the real estate and infrastructure construction sector will remain bullish in the next 10 years, but the growth will be slower.

Even if the growth slows down, in the first quarter of this year, Sany Heavy Industry's revenue was 14.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. However, he is also concerned about the core competitiveness of Chinese companies in technology. He pointed out that China's construction machinery and equipment are competitive in price, but lag behind competitors in core technology.

In order to overcome this problem, in recent years, Sany has increased a large amount of investment in the development of key components, 5% of the sales revenue for research and development, at present, the group has a research and development team of nearly 10,000 people, accounting for one-sixth of the total number of employees.

Zhou Fugui, vice president of Sany Heavy Industry, described Xiang Wenbo as a typical Hunan native, very easy-going and frank. This candor and honesty has made Xiang perform very well in the industry, but it has not been without his problems.

In 2006, the Carlyle Group, a private equity company in the United States, proposed to acquire 85% of the shares of XCMG Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. for $375 million, and Xiang Wenbo published a series of articles on his blog, indicating that Sany was willing to increase the price of 30% on the basis of Carlyle to acquire XCMG Machinery. He wrote: "The Carlyle Group is buying too low. In addition, selling such a large and important company as XCMG to a foreign company is not conducive to the healthy development of China's machinery industry. ”

The Chinese government* later vetoed Carlyle's acquisition of XCMG's shares.

Xiang Wenbo expressed his views very bluntly: "I don't care what others say about me, I just want to do more for the healthy development of the domestic construction machinery industry." ”