Mechanical engineering industry

Changsha, a crucial manufacturing base in central China, is home to the manufacturing magnates of Sany Group and Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co Ltd. Apart from these industrial giants, Changsha is also an innovative center for the machinery industry, by providing a platform for enterprising small and medium sized manufacturers. 

With Sany Group and Zoomlion as its backbone, Changsha intends to build itself into an international R&D center and an international platform for exhibition and trade in the mechanical engineering industry. Currently, Sany Group has 11 factories worldwide, with an overseas sales accounting for 35 percent of the total sales volume. While Zoomlion has also successfully achieved many international mergers and acquisitions. 

In 2014, the assets of mechanical engineering enterprises above designated scale reached 392.75 billion yuan ($59.68 billion), an increase of 11.1 percent of the same period the previous year, accounting for 64.3 percent of the total assets of industrial enterprises above designated scale, 5.1 percentage points higher than that of 2013. The number of R&D staff of engineering machinery enterprises above designated scale reached 35,000, an increase of 8.5 percent on the same period of the previous year. R&D spending of major engineering machinery enterprises represented by Sany Group and Zoomlion was as high as 5.81 billion yuan.