Sany Group plans to relocate its headquarters from Changsha, capital of Central China’s Hunan Province, to Beijing to further its globalization efforts, according to Chinese Internet reports. Although Sany has yet to announce the move, senior executives have confirmed it with China’s Global Times, China Daily and the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.
Sany’s administrative departments and three of its four core units will be relocated, the sources said. Sany will move its cranes, road construction machinery and port machinery businesses to Beijing.
The need to globalize was cited as the reason. Sany, which claims to be the world’s sixth-largest heavy construction equipment company, now has investments in Brazil, Germany and the United States. Sany acquired German concrete pump manufacturer Putzmeister in January and has established a market presence in the U.S. In February, Sany and Austria-based Palfinger announced a joint venture to manufacture and sell mobile cranes.
A Sany executive told the Global Times that Beijing offers better scientific researchers, more international staff members and wider connections to China’s government than are available in Changsha. However, an economics professor added that costs will increase significantly doing business in Beijing. A Sany vice president recently said that although domestic sales have slowed recently, overseas sales have grown strongly, and exports soared 50 percent year over year between January and September.
