China's ongoing reforms and opening up have created new opportunities for the country's manufacturing sector. That includes the Sany Group, the world's largest concrete machinery company. CGTN reporter Meng Qingsheng visited Sany's headquarters in central China's Changsha for a closer look at manufacturing.

In June, 2015, a warehouse in southern Beijing caught on fire. For the 1st time in China, a water tower fire truck was put into use, and helped extinguish the blaze. That very truck was developed by Sany Group, one of China's largest manufacturers of heavy equipment.

At a testing field in Changsha, we met with one of the company's design engineers, Mr. Chen Tianming.

CHEN TIANMING, DIRECTOR FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT, SANY HEAVY INDUSTRY "The water tower fire truck has a horizontal span of 45 meters or more. It extends the reach of firefighters and protects them from fire. Besides, the six-part folded boom makes it more flexible and helps put out fires with more precision."

The design of the water tower fire truck was inspired by Sany Group's involvement in the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March, 2011. The company delivered a truck-mounted concrete pump to the site and sprayed sea water onto exposed reactors. It worked well. Chen Tianming says, the fire truck retains basic elements of a concrete pump, while smart functions have been added, like remote control and video surveillance technology. However, it's the invention of new materials that makes this technological innovation possible.

CHEN TIANMING, DIRECTOR FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT, SANY HEAVY INDUSTRY "Light weight is crucial to the performance of a pump. It requires a type of high-strength steel plate, which was difficult to make by ourselves, as it relied totally on imports. But after the imports were cut off by some countries, we had to work out the materials ourselves, and we made it."

MENG QINGSHENGCHANGSHA, HUNAN PROVINCE "This is China's first concrete pump truck, which was developed by SANY Group back in 1998. Before that, China's construction machinery industry relied heavily on foreign imports. Over the past two decades, SANY Group has grown to be China's number one concrete equipment manufacturer. Thanks to its continued technological innovation, its business has now expanded overseas to more than 150 countries and regions."

Its management says the company thrives on a national policy that calls for an equal and free environment.

LINCOLN LIANG, DIRECTOR SANY GROUP "As a privately owned company, the reform and opening up policy has brought Sany Group an equal opportunity to develop, and most importantly, help promote the liquidity of resources, talent, and means of production. The opportunities we've gotten are enormous."

The company is now working to build a smart-control system engaging most of Sany equipment. It's able to monitor the movements of Sany machinery, and deploy them to target locations when necessary.

CHEN TIANMING, DIRECTOR FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT, SANY HEAVY INDUSTRY "When an emergency happens, this system will be able to mobilize not only water tower fire trucks but also other equipment. Like in earthquake rescue operations, this system will deploy excavators and hoisting equipment from nearby working sites, and help search and rescue efforts."

Sany Group exports more than 40 percent of its production to emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. With technological innovation as a core strategy, its international sales are expected to rise by 30 percent this year, pushing the company further up the global value chain.

Meng Qingsheng, CGTN, Changsha, Hunan Province.