Chinese loaders have made significant progress after decades of development.

The Chinese loader industry has undergone nearly 50 years of development, especially with the ultra-fast growth in the past 10 years.

Chinese loaders have made significant progress after decades of development. What is particularly commendable and makes the Chinese proud is that the annual production and sales of loaders have exceeded 160,000 units. In today's Chinese market, where international brands are numerous, domestic brand loaders still occupy the vast majority of the market. In 1978, China's annual production of loaders was only 1,315 units, and the cumulative production was only 9,454 units. By 2007, sales had exceeded 160,000 units, with exports alone surpassing 10,000 units, which is more than the total cumulative production before the reform and opening up. Similarly, the annual production of bulldozers in China was only 1,909 units in 1978, with a cumulative production of 11,923 units. At that time, the import quantity was large, reaching a cumulative import of 3,333 units by 1980, especially in the late 1980s, when imports accounted for nearly 30% of the market. In 2007, bulldozer sales exceeded 7,390 units, occupying a large part of the domestic market and exporting a significant amount, with exports reaching 2,065 units in 2007, surpassing the total national bulldozer production in 1978.
Industry Development
The Chinese loader industry has undergone nearly 50 years of development, especially in the past 10 years of rapid growth. The product technology and quality have greatly improved, and the gap with the world's advanced level has become smaller. In 2011, China's loader industry sold a total of 192,100 loaders, a year-on-year increase of 14.81%. Among them, 173,271 loaders were sold in the domestic market, a year-on-year increase of 10.80%; a total of 18,829 loaders were exported, a year-on-year increase of 72.25%, with the export growth rate far exceeding the domestic sales growth rate. In the first three quarters of 2011, the demand for loaders in East China and North China was large, with East China accounting for 21.7% of national sales and North China 19.0%. By product, the market share of 5T products was the largest at 66.78%, a decrease of 2.88 percentage points compared to 2010, followed by 3T products, which reached a market share of 22.57%, an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2010. According to statistics, during the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, China's social fixed asset investment will maintain a high growth rate, with a growth rate of around 20%. The country will further increase investment in affordable housing construction, water conservancy projects, marine construction projects, railways, highways, urban public transportation, infrastructure, electricity, gas transmission projects, and power transmission projects. It is expected that by 2015, the sales volume of China's loader industry will reach 300,000 units, with exports reaching 40,000 units, indicating a promising future for the industry. The modern wheeled loader in China began with the Z435 model in the mid-1960s. This machine features an integral frame and rear axle steering. After several years of effort, a wheeled loader with a power of 162KW was successfully developed based on the most advanced wheeled loader technology at that time, designated as Z450 (later ZL50), and officially passed expert evaluation on December 18, 1971. Thus, China's first articulated wheeled loader was born, marking the beginning of the formation and development of the Chinese loader industry. The Z450 loader features hydraulic mechanical transmission, power shifting, dual-bridge drive, hydraulic control, articulated power steering, and air-assisted oil braking, representing the basic structure of modern wheeled loaders at that time and essentially representing the basic structure of the first generation of Chinese wheeled loaders. In terms of overall performance, it has a series of advantages such as good power, large digging force, flexibility, easy operation, and high work efficiency. In 1978, Tian Gong Institute formulated the series standards for Chinese wheeled loaders based on the requirements of the Ministry of Machinery, using Liugong Z450 as the model. During the standard formulation, Z was retained to represent loaders, L replaced "4" to represent wheeled, and Z450 was changed to ZL50. Thus, the series standards for Chinese ZL wheeled loaders based on Liugong ZL50 were established, marking a significant turning point in the history of China's loader development. After the standard was established, according to the industry division of labor at that time, Liugong and Xagong manufactured large and medium-sized wheeled loaders above ZL40, while Chenggong and Yigong manufactured small and medium-sized wheeled loaders below ZL30, gradually forming the four major backbone enterprises of loaders at that time: Liugong, Xagong, Chenggong, and Yigong. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the number of loader manufacturing enterprises in China had increased to more than 20, initially forming the loader industry in China. Chinese wheeled loaders have now developed to the third generation, but the most basic structure still evolved from Z450 (ZL50). The second generation did not change much, while the third generation saw some changes. In 2001, the total sales volume of the entire loader industry in China exceeded 30,000 units, ranking among the top in the world loader market. In 2006, the total sales volume of the loader industry in China was 129,793 units, an increase of 15.3% from 112,527 units in 2005, with a net increase of 17,266 units, exceeding the total sales volume of any year before the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" in the Chinese loader industry. It can be said that 2006 was another prosperous harvest year for the Chinese loader industry. From January to November 2007, the cumulative sales of 26 major loader enterprises reached 143,794 units, an increase of 34,397 units compared to the same period last year (109,397 units), with a growth rate of 31.4%; cumulative exports reached 8,606 units, accounting for 6.0% of cumulative sales, an increase of 5,372 units compared to the same period last year (3,234 units), with a growth rate of 166.1%.
In 2008, the growth rate of the Chinese loader industry did not decrease. From January to July, the cumulative sales of loaders nationwide reached 120,449 units, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%. While the Chinese loader industry was developing, some problems also became increasingly apparent. In particular, the extremely low entry threshold for the industry, vicious price competition leading to low profitability for enterprises, lack of marketing concepts, difficulty in market expansion, poor product quality and reliability, as well as aging product and organizational structures and the inability to digest the increased costs of service upgrades, severely restricted the further development of the industry and the improvement of quality. Therefore, Chinese loader enterprises must seize the new development situation, reflect differentiated strategies and cost-leading strategies in product research and development, continue to strengthen the research and development system led by national-level technology centers and universities and research institutes, build value chain marketing, enhance brand building, and improve brand value. Only in this way can they remain invincible in the new situation.