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Construction Times gives a ground report from the LiuGong International Industrial Park in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China

The date was November 26, a Monday. The mood was festive but professional. Attendees, both domestic and overseas, joined customers, distributors, suppliers, government officials, shareholders, and stakeholders to celebrate LiuGong 60th Anniversary. It also marked an important milestone for the largest manufacturer of wheel loaders and 10th largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world:  LiuGong completed the production of its 400,000th wheel loader.

LiuGong also used the opportunity to do what it does best; it launched six new generation products, including 990F excavator, B170DL bulldozer, S935 sugarcane harvester, TC800C5 crane, 4180D motor grader and 886H loader make their debut at the ceremony.

From zero to world builder

Established in 1958, LiuGong is an integral part of the China success story, and is importantly playing an important role in powering India’s ambitious architectural thrust. LiuGong’s founders and their team laid a solid foundation for the technology, talent cultivation and management for the development of CE industry in China.

In 1958, Shanghai Huadong Steel Factory allocated some employees and pieces of equipment to Liuzhou, Guangxi, to facilitate the economic development in southwest China. In a wilderness on the west bank of Liujiang River, they built a factory from the ground up. In 1966, LiuGong rolled out the first wheel loader accredited by China, which opened a new chapter in the company’s development. In 1993, LiuGong began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the first listed company of CE industry and Guangxi. Since 2000, LiuGong has been looking beyond its loader business and working on cross-regional operations and expansion of its product lines. So far, LiuGong has 32complete product lines in six categories to meet the customers’demands of various applications as well as extreme operations.

The 899th milestone

In April 2002, LiuGong successfully produced eight hundred and ninety-nine loaders in one month which was known as ‘899 Campaign’, a huge leap of production at that time. Taking this opportunity, the company launched its reform towards becoming a modern company.

Backed by its historical legacies, LiuGong has developed the core values of ‘customer oriented, assuring the future by quality; people foremost, create value through cooperation’ striving to build an international brand that leads China’s machinery industry.

The heart of a craftsman

Along with China’s entry into the WTO, LiuGong began to build its eastern bases and added multiple product lines into its portfolio. On the other hand, in 2003, LiuGong developed its first oversea distributor in Morocco in North Africa and started its globalization. LiuGong has been building its global presence of 10 overseas subsidiaries, 9 overseas regional parts distribution centers and more than 300 distributors in over 100 countries. All LiuGong products and customers are supported by five R&D centers worldwide. In 2012, by the acquisition of civil

construction machinery segment of HSW in Poland, LiuGong laid a solid foundation for export of China’s proprietary technology and products to the EU. Today, LiuGong manufactures products in China, India, Poland, and Brazil. LiuGong India Company and LiuGong Dressta Machinerywere awarded with the ‘Best Foreign Investor’, ‘Model Enterprise for China-India Cooperation’, and the ‘Best Employer’ by local governments. As the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ continues to advance, LiuGong has expanded its footprint to 85% of 65 key countries along ‘OBOR’. LiuGong’s products have played a crucial role in several major projects along ‘OBOR’ such as Pakistan PKM Motorway, China-Laos Railway, and Jakarta-Bandung Railway.

A decade of big strides

In 2008, LiuGong set up SinoEver Financial Leasing Company in Beijing, becoming the pioneer company in manufacturer leasing and LiuGong entered crane business by acquiring Zhengchonganli Engineering Machinery Company in Bengbu. In 2010, LiuGong acquired Liuzhou OVM, a world leader of prestressing products and technology, and started the construction of an eastern manufacturing base for excavators in Changzhou. In 2011, LiuGong bought into piling foundation industry by holding shares of Jintai, China’s leading brand in piling machinery, and opened a JV with Cummins in Liuzhou. In 2012, LiuGong opened its hydraulic company and in 2013, LiuGong and Metso started a joint venture to produce mobile mining crushers and grinding mills and LiuGong took over an air compressor business in Liuzhou. In 2016, LiuGong marched into the modern agricultural equipment sector. The Luzhai Plant, with world-class technologies was put into operation. And in 2018, LiuGong has started forward withproducing intelligent manufacturing systems, mining machinery, forestry machinery, and aerial work platforms.

LiuGong has never stopped investing in R&D even during the most difficult years. In 2015, LiuGong launched National Earthmoving Machinery Engineering Research Center and LiuGong Global R&D Center, making LiuGong the only national demonstration base for technological innovation and industrialization of earthmoving machines. A total of 19 product lines at LiuGong have been upgraded and 18 new products have hit the market, including a range of machinery for sugarcaneplanting, heavy-duty mining excavators and loaders, mining trucks, large dual-wheel cutters, smart manufacturing system, and mobile compressors. LiuGong has evolved to be a global provider of total solutions. In 2016, LiuGong presented the world’s first vertical lift wheel loader. And the new generation products of H-series loaders, E-series excavators, D-series rollers and motor graders, and C-series forklifts now are available all over the world and have been contributing more and more in sales revenue.A custom designed torque convertor was independently developed and manufactured for LiuGong’s8128H with many innovative technologies and approaches; and the hydraulic grab by Shanghai Jintai is among the best of its kind globally.

In the past five years, LiuGong, OVM and Jintaihad numerous achievements in R&D, including three National First and Second Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology, 14 ministerial and provincial-level science and technology awards. LiuGong also participated in drafting of industry standards both for international and domestic markets, making its own voice in the industry. Today, with more than 1000 engineers and a continuous investment in R&D, LiuGong comes up with anoutpouringof products with cutting-edge technologies.

Over the past six decades, LiuGong keeps a close bond with its customers, distributors, suppliers, shareholders, and other stakeholders to weather through difficulties and share success together. During industry downturns, LiuGong took a series of quick actions like capacity adjustment, organizational reform, team optimization, cost control, sustained input into technological innovation & product development internally and optimize the marketing channels externally. As a result, distributers, direct subsidiaries and joint ventures become new drivers of our rapid growth in China. As the economy warms up, the excavator business becomes our growth pillar with the highest revenue and profit and LiuGong has significantly improved market competitivenesson a global level.

Aiming for a century

LiuGong is committed to providing extraordinary construction machinery products and services to customers around the world. Our endeavor of developing first-classadvanced technologies is a valuable asset to LiuGong’s ambition to be a century-old enterprise in the world.

Sixty years is but a brief moment for LiuGong, who is setting sail on its next journey. Amid the national reformsand industry transformation,LiuGong will adhere to “Total Globalization, Total Solution, and Total Intelligence” approach with greater intelligence, courage, and passion.

On the occasion of 60th anniversary, LiuGong achieves a global production of 400,000-wheelloaders and announcedthe launch of six new products, once again presenting its strength to the world.

Standing at not only a historic stage but as at a turning point for the company, LiuGong will insist on SOE reform and development; insist on focusing on customer service; insist on innovation and independent R&D; insist on building a dynamic and motivated team to continue to write a new chapter for the company.

And in the future, we will continuously provide products and services tailored for local market; We will outdo ourselves in branding, manufacturing, R&D and marketing and strive for continuous progress; we will take on the mission of revitalizing the CE industry in China.

The one who digs deep will someday leap high and become a legend. Guided by our mission and vision, LiuGong will usher in a new era with much greater confidence and look forward to a centurial business.

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