China's engineering machinery manufacturer Shantui opened its first franchise store in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek earlier this year.

The company, which entered the Central Asia market 10 years ago, is seeking to win more customers in the region.

Shantui makes up 30 percent of China's exports in five types of engineering machinery to the Kyrgyzstan market, including bulldozers, excavators and road rollers, and has full market share of bulldozers, said Chai Sen, vice president of the import and export subsidiary of Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

The company, based in the city of Jining, east China's Shandong Province, began tapping the Central Asian market in 2009. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, Shantui sped up expanding its presence there by building a sales network and setting up sales offices in the major markets of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Shantui accounts for 80 percent of China's exported bulldozers to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, said Chai. "Shantui has become a code word for bulldozers for its high quality and good service," he said, predicting a sharp year-on-year sales growth in Kazakhstan in the first half of this year.