This is an update of Off-Highway Research’s analysis of the Chinese mobile crane industry that was last published in December 2020. The types of cranes included in this report consist of wheeled and crawler cranes.

Of the wheeled cranes, truck-mounted cranes dominate the Chinese industry, and as they are able to travel on public roads they are therefore subjected to the same regulations as heavy-duty trucks. All terrain cranes and rough terrain cranes have been introduced by the international industry and their domestic production is usually integrated with that of truck-mounted machines. Industrial cranes are built on wheeled chassis and serve niche applications in harbours and other specialist handling duties. Crawler cranes represent the second most important part of the market, and are mostly produced by specialist manufacturers or in the independent factories of multi-line manufacturers.

Some local manufacturers, mostly in Shandong and Henan provinces, offer ‘economic’ types of cranes built on light trucks. Most of them range between 5-20 tonnes' lift capacity, but they are not manufactured with proper permits and cannot meet basic safety requirements, and so are not included in this report.

The findings presented in this report are based on information obtained by Off-Highway Research through personal interviews with the major manufacturers and suppliers in the second half of 2022. As usual, Off-Highway Research acknowledges the invaluable support offered by the China Construction Machinery Association.

The CCMA serves as an intermediary organisation between the government and the construction equipment industry and plays a central role in guiding the industry’s development. The office of its mobile crane branch is based in Beijing and is responsible for reporting on the market and co-ordinating domestic manufacturers.