This report examines in detail the Chinese market for backhoe loaders, or ‘busy at two ends’ as the machine is popularly referred to in Chinese, and is an update of the subject which was last covered in Off-Highway Research’s Chinese Service in April 2020. The findings presented in this report are based on the Chinese Database of Off- Highway Research, and on an interview programme that was undertaken in China with the leading manufacturers and importers at the end of 2021 and in the first quarter of 2022.

The report includes those machines with rigid and articulated frames. It assesses the market for purpose-built backhoe loaders, but excludes those more basic machines that are built on a tractor chassis.

Backhoe loaders produced by domestic manufacturers used to have the same model designations, with the two letters ‘WZ,’ which refer to the digging and loading functions, followed by two numbers. The first of these indicates the backhoe bucket capacity, while the second specifies the minimum rated lifting force of the front loader. For example, a WZ30-25 model refers to a backhoe loader with a backhoe bucket of 0.3 m3, and a lifting force of over 25kN. However, most manufacturers have now adopted new company-specific designations as they have updated their range along with their other products.