Tides of Change III: Leading Chinese port crane manufacturer ZPMC innovates with digital solutions
Error loading player: No playable sources found

We continue the third season of our Tides of Change series, along China's coastlines. Within three decades, the Shanghai-based port crane manufacturer Zhenghua, also known as ZPMC, has become a major player in the global maritime industry and is currently one of the world's largest manufacturers of cranes. Our reporter Zhou Jiaxin visits one of its bases in Nantong to find out how it transitioned from heavy-equipment engineering to digital port solutions.

Massive and backbreaking port work like this needs giant and smart cranes. A Chinese machinery company first presented such cranes to the port Miami, in Florida in 1994.

Before Barack Obama made the case for investing in U.S. infrastructure at the port in 2013, the Old Glory hanging from one of the cranes was hit by a gust of wind and in that instant, Zhenghua, or ZPMC, was revealed.

CHEN QIANG Deputy General Manager, Marketing Dept. Zhenghua Heavy Industry "You can say we entered the North American markets because there were no such manufacturers. But it was a big deal when we made our presence in German market in 1999, even before China's accession to the WTO."

Home to the crane industry, Germany, the world's machinery and equipment leader, ruled the market. When Zhenghua was shipping its cranes along the River Elbe in Hamburg, Chen remembers a proud moment.

CHEN QIANG Deputy General Manager, Marketing Dept. Zhenghua Heavy Industry "Obviously so impressed by the mammoth crane labeled as Chinese made, an entertainment kiosk by the river played China's national anthem on loudspeaker. Our crew often proudly recalls that moment."

Behind the success stories of providing steel structures for breathtaking bridges in San Francisco and Scotland and world-class engineering vessels around the globe,

Zhenghua's top designer said the company's strength in innovation, in some cases, was ignited after foreign partners cornered the market.

WANG WENTAO Deputy Director, Design and Research Institute Zhenghua Heavy Industry "The competitor asked for a sky-high price assuming the deal was in their grip already. But we clinched it and used less than two years to develop the vessel and delivered it to the contractor timely."

ZHOU JIAXIN Nantong, China "China still relies heavily on imports of essential equipment for offshore oil and gas exploration, meaning higher costs and longer waiting times. Zhenghua cut the cost by almost half."

WANG WENTAO Deputy Director, Design and Research Institute Zhenghua Heavy Industry "We've made pricing more competitive, and halved the market price. By 2009, our share in the global market rapidly reached 70 percent."

ZPMC's market share is now 80 percent. But the heavy lifting is far from over. It's transformed itself into a digital provider of port services solutions with the fully-automated terminal the latest jewel in its crown. Zhou Jiaxin, CGTN, Nantong.