China National Heavy Duty Truck Group recently announced its sales goal of 600,000 trucks in China by 2025, part of its current efforts to expand the market at home and abroad.

The announcement was made at the group's annual business conference held from Nov 23 to 25 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, where the company is headquartered.

By 2025, the company, also known as Sinotruk, plans to sell 200,000 heavy trucks, 200,000 medium and light trucks and 200,000 light commercial vehicles in the domestic market, said Tan Xuguang, chairman of the group.

Over the past years, Sinotruk has made achievements in reform, cost reduction, efficiency and innovation, and seen remarkable improvements in its business operation, Tan said.

Product quality is vital for a company to survive in the market, he said. "To promote our products overseas, we need top-level suppliers to enhance upstream and downstream collaborative innovation in the industrial chain.

"We should make every effort for sound procurement, building a fair and transparent supply system and promoting cooperation with suppliers to create value for all," he said.

This year, the company said it has so far cut its 4,500-strong supplier list by 500 and will remove another 1,000 in 2020, in order to streamline operations.

The company will continue to optimize its supply system and purchase 20 percent of its vehicle components from the open market, the executive said.

As a Chinese brand, Sinotruk is sparing no effort to develop in overseas markets.

From January to October, the company exported 32,685 heavy trucks, up 9.24 percent year-on-year, and its export revenue reached 9.53 billion yuan ($1.36 billion), an increase of 19.82 percent compared to the same period in 2018, the company said.

To date, the truck manufacturer has exported its products to 116 countries and regions around the world. It has established business ties with more than 260 distributors and opened nearly 600 service and parts outlets in more than 90 countries.

In addition, the group has built 18 overseas knockdown production sites in countries and regions including Russia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and Central and Southeast Asia. It has also set up operation networks in markets such as Australia and New Zealand.

In response to the Belt and Road Initiative, Sinotruk said it has established sales and service networks in more than half of the BRI countries and regions.

In the first nine months of this year, Sinotruk has sold 3,789 vehicles in Central Asia and Russia, representing an increase of 37.5 percent year-on-year.

By making full use of financial support, Sinotruk has exported 1,946 vehicles to Uzbekistan, a key market for the company, where 80 percent of heavy trucks imported from China are from Sinotruk.

Recently, the group has cooperated with the Uzbekistan government to promote the localization of its automotive projects in the country.

Due to increasing demand in the African market, the group is embracing the flourishing development and building six knockdown production plants in Africa's major regions.

In 2014, Sinotruk cooperated with a company in Nigeria to build a joint venture knockdown production plant, which helps to assemble commercial vehicles and is expected to produce 5,000 heavy trucks during the first phase of the project.

Sinotruk has exported more than 100,000 heavy trucks to more than 50 nations in Africa, making it the largest Chinese brand in the African heavy truck market, according to the company.

In 2019, Sinotruk is estimated to realize the export of 40,000 heavy trucks, up 10 percent year-on-year, according to the company.

"We should focus on customer-oriented services and constantly optimize our business operations and institutions," Tan said. "We are committed to building a convenient, effective and improved service system."

[email protected]

(China Daily 11/29/2019 page12)