1) Tariff uncertainties dominated trade show talk

US President-elect Donald Trump made comments on tariffs for Chinese products, including those on products made in Mexico, on the opening day of the show. Inevitably, these dominated discussions in Shanghai.

Exhibitor hall at Bauma China (Image: Messe Munchen/Bauma China)

Many Chinese OEMs 鈥� including XCMG, Sinoboom and LGMG 鈥� have production facilities in Mexico, and in some cases are in the middle of building them, so the thought of high tariffs on Mexican-made products was alarming.

Liu Hanson, general manager at XCMG鈥檚 import and export business, told Construction Briefing that potential tariffs would not stop its internationalisation strategy; 鈥渨e strongly believe internationalisation is localisation.鈥�

He said North America did not represent a significant proportion of XCMG鈥檚 business, and that it continued to invest in its facilities worldwide with manufacturing plants in Indonesia and the Middle East next on the company鈥檚 agenda.

Although measured and diplomatic in tone, Liu did say that he thought protectionism wasn鈥檛 a great idea, and that the result would be higher prices for buyers and the risk of less competition on technology.

Not all tariff attention was directed at US policy. A major breaker manufacturer in China, Daekko, told Construction Briefing about its plans to create an assembly hub in Dubai, UAE in response to tariffs applied to Chinese goods by Japan and other Asian countries.

Chinese OEMs who have invested in US manufacturing or invested in US companies 鈥� Sany and Dingli among them 鈥� will be congratulating themselves.

2) Chinese OEMs forging ahead on electrification and fuel cells

China鈥檚 construction and mining equipment users are already using more electric machines than anywhere else in the world, mainly mid- and large-sized wheeled loaders.

But a stroll around the outside area of Bauma China presented the visitor with a sea of battery- and fuel-cell-powered machines.

A Zoomlion concrete pump powered by battery pack plus a 200kW hydrogen fuel cell, pictured on the opening day of Bauma China 2024. (Photo: 必赢体育)

It seems the impact Chinese manufacturers are having on the global electric vehicle (EV) automotive market will be mirrored by their construction OEMs: there were hundreds of new power machines on show.

Zoomlion, for example, showed a prototype large concrete pump with a 200kW hydrogen fuel cell power source combined with a battery pack. The truck chassis contained the batteries and six 1300-litre-capacity carbon fibre tanks to store the hydrogen.

A spokeswoman told Construction Briefing that it was developing products to use both battery and hydrogen fuel cell technology, for applications in different environments.

Small excavators and wheeled loaders powered by battery abounded at the show, but what was interesting was the number of electric machines designed purely for export markets. For example, LGMG showed its first battery powered telehandler, while the big Chinese aerial platform suppliers were all expanding their ranges of all-electric booms and scissor lifts.

Some of the products on show were interesting takes on electrification. Sany, for example, showed a 55 tonne excavator with a charging cable reel 鈥� offering up to 300-metre-distant charging - fitted to its counterweight. This was shown connected to a vehicle mounted battery energy storage system (BESS).

Indeed, the presence of BESS systems was a feature of the show, including one 800kWh unit mounted on a four wheel drive truck, shown by CPI Ronghe and Fujian Jingong.

Sany 55t excataor with power charging cable reer attached to the counterweight. (Photo: Construction Briefing)

There is also a growing market for the rental of such units. Nanjing-based LegenDale 鈥� created by Fan Zhen, who used to work for a big JCB dealer in China - is building mobile BESS units and has launched a separate business, McSolid, to rent them to contractors and developers for use in the initial stages of projects where there may not be a grid connection.

3) Times have changed for Western manufacturers

In the early days of Bauma China western manufacturers made high-profile appearances at the show in a bid to take a share of the massive Chinese market.

That market remains one of the two largest in the world for construction equipment 鈥� even if sales this year will be half what they were in 2021 鈥� but the focus seems to have shifted.

There is less talk now about winning business in China 鈥� which is difficult given the scale of the local players - and more about using China as a manufacturing centre for Asia, although even that becomes more complicated as tariff barriers are raised, such as in the aerial platform market.

Italian drive and gearbox specialist Bonfiglioli was exhibiting at the show. A spokesman said that it was difficult for the company to compete against Chinese companies in terms of the price of individual components.

Instead, it was adopting a strategy to create integrated solutions, full package 鈥榢its鈥� for electric drives for mini excavators, for example. The company is targeting 鈥榞eneration 2.0鈥� electrification, with fully electrified drives, and it also looking at sourcing its own hydraulic motors.

鈥淵ou need to be a solutions supplier to manufacturers, more than just a gearbox or motor鈥�, said the spokesman, 鈥淵ou need an integrated package.鈥�

The challenge is also evident in niche sectors such as telehandlers. Western manufacturers, particularly Manitou, have been banging the drum for telehandlers in China for several years, but the take-up has been slow, with Chinese companies favouring traditional material handling methods such as truck cranes.

That investment in time and effort may well pay off in the long term, but it won鈥檛 be easy, particularly now that Chinese OEMs are getting in on the act: an estimated 19 Chinese-made telehandlers, including several large 鈥楻oto-type鈥� models, were on show at Bauma China. These are being built for export, but they will be ready when domestic demand increases.

4) Bauma China makes 鈥渋ncredible comeback鈥�

Exhibition organisers are masters at putting a positive gloss on however many people visited their event, but it was impossible to argue with Messe M眉nchen CEO Stefan Rummel鈥檚 assessment that Bauma China had made an 鈥渋ncredible comeback and impressively confirmed its leading position in the Asia Pacific region.鈥�

More than 280,000 visitors were at Bauma China, which was a considerable advance on the 200,000 the organiser had forecast and on the 80,000 who visited the pandemic-impacted 2020 event.

That the show attracted those numbers at a time when the Chinese market is at a low point in terms of sales only reinforced Rummel鈥檚 view.

The key figure, however, was the 20% of visitors who came from outside of China. That was clear from Construction Briefing鈥檚 attendance, with the aisles full of Russians, Indians, Australians and other Asian visitors.

Opening day at Bauma China 2024. (Photo: Construction Briefing)

The top ten visitor countries were: Russia, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Japan.

The show has become a showcase not only for domestic buyers of construction equipment, but also a must-visit event for international buyers, particularly from Asia and those interested in how new power technologies are developing.

5) Speakers have been turned down

When the first Bauma China exhibition was held in 2002, a notable feature of many outside stands were huge banks of professional speakers pumping out music at high volumes.

The message 鈥� directed at anyone and everyone - seemed to be, we might not be able to make better products than you, but we can make more noise.

It was a feature of the show that made it memorable and fun, but also 鈥� after a few days 鈥� utterly exasperating.

The news is that things are a lot quieter these days. There are still live bands playing on many stands and troupes of dancers - so the fun-factor is still there - but the noise level has been dialled down, and that is a good thing.

Another good thing would be to choose dates that don鈥檛 clash with the USA鈥檚 Thanksgiving holiday.

Bauma China鈥檚 priority is not getting visitors from the US, and finding dates that work for everyone is notoriously difficult, but it is a shame that there are not more US visitors.

China鈥檚 construction OEMs have made strides. Should western firms worry? China used to be a lucrative market for western construction equipment manufacturers. But the world is changing.