Tang Xiuguo: The globalization of enterprises should take "three steps" - going to sea, gaining a foothold, and win-win

On December 13, the "Caijing Annual Conference 2025: Forecasting and Strategy and 2024 Global Wealth Management Forum" was held in Tongzhou District, Beijing. Tang Xiuguo, rotating chairman and president of Sany Group, shared the practical experience of Sany Group's globalization at the forum.

Tang Xiuguo said that the globalization of Sany Group has gone through three stages: the first stage, from 2003 to 2012, the company relied on the imported parts industry chain to produce products for export, and ran through overseas sales channels; In the second stage, from 2013 to 2022, the company will rely on its independent scenarios, intellectual property rights and industrial chain to bring tax revenue and employment to the local area, and become a respected and accepted company in the local area. The third stage is the next decade from 2023, when the company is committed to "glocalization", moving from launching products overseas in the past ("Teach Man to Fish") to exporting solutions ("Teach Man to Fish").

Combined with the practical experience of Sany Group going to sea, Tang Xiuguo summarized the three processes that Chinese enterprises, especially equipment manufacturing enterprises, will go through in terms of globalization: the first step is to go to sea, be bold, and do a good job in products; The second step is to develop good partners based on the premise of product and technology adaptability; The third step is a win-win situation, which is in line with the development of local society.

Tang Xiuguo, rotating chairman and president of Sany Group

The following is a transcript of the speech:

Tang Xiuguo: Leaders, distinguished guests, good afternoon, I am Tang Xiuguo, the rotating chairman of Sany Group (hereinafter referred to as "Sany"), in fact, our generation basically has a gradual withdrawal from the historical stage process, I am very happy to see that the young people of Sany are growing up, but the concept of "quality changes the world" will not change, and Sany globalization is "quality changes the world" on the road.

Sany is a very simple company, from 1986 to 1993 into Changsha to set foot in the field of construction machinery, to today we put forward the "three modernizations", that is, globalization, digital intelligence, low-carbon. Last year, under the background of relatively difficult industries, Sany still achieved sales of 134.5 billion yuan and profits of more than 10 billion yuan. Sany has sufficient self-owned funds, and the overall deposit-loan ratio is positive.

Sany's industry is also very simple, three listed companies, namely: Sany Heavy Industry, listed in 2003, its core business is engineering and construction equipment; the second, Sany International, whose core business is mining and logistics equipment; The third, Sany Renewable Energy, is engaged in wind power and new energy business. On the one hand, we provide equipment for the three ecosystems, and on the other hand, we also gradually provide systematic solutions for the three ecosystems. Among them, Sany has a large number of products that are among the best in the world, or in the forefront of the world.

Sanyi is an enterprise originating from Hunan, and our strategy of going overseas originates from Mr. Zeng Guofan, Hunan's "hardening the village and fighting a dumb battle". Specifically, it can be summarized into three stages.

In the first stage, from 2003 to 2012, we relied on imported parts and components to produce products for export, and we can have a common concept with our partners, especially customers, so that they can accept equipment from China more quickly. We have a presence in the United States, Germany, India, Brazil, Indonesia, the acquisition of Putzmeister in Germany, and the establishment of a cooperative relationship with PALFINGER. We have added a background of globalization and localization on the way to the sea. In the process, we also seized the opportunity of global relief to expand the company's brand. It took us 10 years to achieve overseas sales of 10 billion yuan.

In the second stage, from 2013 to 2022, with its independent scenarios, independent intellectual property rights, and independent industrial chains, it will bring tax revenue and employment to the local area, so that the local community will accept Sany and become an excellent local company. In the so-called independent scenario, China's reform and opening up for decades, especially for developing countries, they urgently need energy, infrastructure and housing, and our solutions are more "down-to-earth" than the solutions they imported from Europe and the United States in the past. The second is intellectual property rights, and problems cannot arise in the process of going to sea because of intellectual property rights. The third is the industrial chain, for example, in India, without the support of the Indian industrial chain, the products manufactured by Sany India will not be competitive at all. That's why we've become an overseas localization company so that overseas can accept us. This stage is called foothold, and it took ten years for our overseas sales to increase from 10 billion to 40 billion.

In the third stage, in the next decade after 2023, we are talking about global localization, which means that Sany will gradually grow from a pure equipment manufacturing company to the industrial technology company we expect and become a model of ESG. Today's globalization, digital intelligence, and low-carbonization are not just about doing business overseas, but digital intelligence and low-carbon empowering us to go overseas. We expect overseas sales to reach 65 billion yuan this year, accounting for nearly 50% of total sales, but overseas profits will account for more than 50%.

How to seize the opportunity to build a brand? I'll tell you two stories here. One is that in 2010, Sany participated in the rescue of the Chilean mining disaster, when 33 Chilean miners were buried 700 meters underground, Sany's equipment was very perfect to complete the rescue, and the rescue was also made into a movie called "Rescue from the Center of the Earth" by Hollywood. The rescue was praised by our national leader in a signed article during his visit to Chile, he said, "The people of China and Chile have always had a tradition of watching and helping each other, and Chinese machinery and equipment manufacturing enterprises actively participated in the rescue of 33 miners".

The second time was in 2011, when we supplied a 66-meter pump truck to the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, which successfully controlled the temperature of the nuclear power plant, successfully cooled it down, and prevented further expansion of the nuclear power plant accident. The rescue was very successful, so Mr. Taizo Nishimuro, the head of the Japanese side of the China-Japan Friendship Committee for the 21st Century, and Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, the head of the Chinese side, both came to the company to express their gratitude.

The two rescues have a common characteristic: either a success or a second injury, we are very lucky, we have succeeded in both rescue processes, so Sany's brand, especially heavy equipment, is accepted all over the world, and the two major rescues are inseparable.

In the process of globalization, we are also facing opportunities and challenges. For example, in 2012 we acquired Putzmeister in Germany – at that time worldwideConcrete pump truckA company with a sales share of 45%. We made quick decisions at the time of the acquisition, completed the "Dance of the Dragons" and maintained its brand after our acquisition, with Putzmeister as a priority in the global market. This approach has been endorsed by the Putzmeister trade unions, the German trade unions and the European trade unions.

Of course, there are also very big challenges. For example, in 2009, we went to the United States to develop wind power, and in 2012 there was a lawsuit. CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) halted our investment on false grounds. Although our lawsuit did not fail, there was no winner under the lawsuit.

To sum up the globalization of Sany, we call it "global localization", and we propose "group-led, local operation, service first". We hope that in 2035, the next decade after 2023, we hope to further develop and reach the goal of 100 billion overseas. Many people say that according to the current growth rate of Sany, it is not difficult to achieve this goal, but in fact, it is still very difficult. There are five more things that we need to push forward with.

The first is localized R&D, which is the core, and localized R&D can truly understand local needs and provide competitive products for the local. The second is localized manufacturing, Sany has a global factory, today Sany's manufacturing has begun to be based on the Internet platform "Make in Internet", we will export the model of the lighthouse factory, promote localized manufacturing, but also retain the advantages of Made in China. The third is to operate locally, and of course, the most important thing is to deepen the local market. The fourth is the localization team, today Sany has 10,000 global employees, and the localization rate of sales and service personnel has reached 70%. Finally, there is the local culture and the need to build long-term trust with the local community.

To sum up, in our opinion, as a Chinese enterprise, especially an equipment manufacturing enterprise, its globalization may go through three processes. The first step is to go to sea, be bold, do a good job of the product, as long as the product and technology have the adaptability to be accepted locally, this step can be directly completed.

The second step is to gain a foothold, to gain a foothold in the local area, not only to have good products and technologies, but also to have good partners.

The third step is a win-win situation, and a win-win situation must require long-term hard work. We uphold the concept of "if you don't go to sea, you will be out", and Sany globalization has been on the road.

ThreeFirst, globalization is not a kind of reversal, from the perspective of R&D, we develop and design products for 8 billion people around the world; From the perspective of supply chain, we have always insisted on giving priority to local parts in the localization process in various places; From the perspective of manufacturing, we should further develop localized manufacturing plants in the world, and at the same time, we should use the "Make in Internet" model to continue to retain and carry forward the advantages of Made in China. From the perspective of marketing and service, use the local team as much as possible to serve the local market.

Win-win is inseparable from long-termism. Among them, the most important is how to propose a plan that is in line with local development. Every country has its own development plan. Many countries attach great importance to equipment, even if some countries are very rich and rich in resources, they have repeatedly emphasized that equipment is the "backbone" of industry, and without the strength of equipment manufacturing, they can only become rich countries and will not become powerful countries. Therefore, at this stage, if Sany leaves globalization, our profits will be reduced by 60%, and we may be out of the market if we don't go to sea.

Finally, I warmly welcome you to visit Sany for guidance and exchange and cooperation!

Sany has a territory in globalization, especially in the equipment manufacturing industry, we have so many bases - there are 16 overseas factories in the world, and the business has covered more than 180 countries and regions, and we provide more than 300,000 sets of equipment to the world every year, especially in 110 countries, Sany products have become the first local brand. In the past six years, the compound growth rate of our overseas business has reached nearly 40%, especially the countries along the "Belt and Road" have contributed 75% of our overseas sales.

Sany is very much looking forward to cooperation in the same industry and across industries,I just heard from all the speakers,Hisense、TCL are examples for us to learn,In the future, in globalization、Digital intelligence、Low carbon,China should have the feelings to make greater contributions to the community of shared future for mankind,Go global with feelings。

Thank you again for the invitation, thank you!

Source: Caijing.com