Chinese construction machinery popular at German industry fair

China-made construction machinery was popular at the recently-concluded Bauma 2025, the 34th edition of the world's leading trade fair for construction machinery, in Munich, Germany, despite the turmoil arising from the tariff abuse by the U.S. administration that has escalated import duties.

The trade fair, which is held every three years, opened on April 7 and ended on April 13, coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump's "individualized reciprocal higher tariff" on the countries and regions with which the U.S. "has the largest trade deficits" taking effect on April 9.

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG) is among the more than 500 Chinese machinery industry companies which attended the Bauma 2025.

"We stuck to our original plan, and arrived in Munich on April 6. No matter how the external environment changes, we need to focus on our own work agenda first," said Wang Daoli, deputy director of the international large-scale equipment research institute under the XCMG Loading Machinery Research Institute, in an interview with the China Media Group (CMG) after he traveled back from Munich to Xuzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, where XCMG is headquartered.

The U.S. sweeping new "reciprocal" tariff program has also affected companies in Europe, Japan and South Korea, meaning that Chinese companies not only have to face the shrinking American market, but also have to grab market shares with European, Japanese and South Korean companies around the world.

Despite uncertainties on market sentiment in the Europe, Wang and his team participated in the Bauma 2025 as planned, showcasing 62 customized products covering seven categories across the entire industrial chain.

Representatives of the company said that the XCMG has transformed from a newcomer presenting a number of product photos at its Bauma debut in 1992, to a well-recognized brand in the construction machinery field of Europe. It had nearly 4,000 square meters of exhibition area at the trade fair.

Wang said that the booming popularity of the company's products has relieved worries amid the U.S. tariff hikes.

"All the product samples were sold out by the second day of the event, which has eased our anxiety. Since then, we kept receiving orders. Clients pay a lot of attention to our products, and they are pretty satisfied with them. Our products are even more popular at the event than we expected," he said.

"I believe that XCMG has the widest product range, from smallest to biggest and every types, they have everything, you name it," said Li Dehua, vice general manager of Indonesia's GMT Group at the Bauma 2025.

At the exhibition, a German client said that his company is gradually replacing equipment with Chinese brands, and that it is promoting Chinese products to other industry players.

Some companies proposed to conduct joint research and development with Chinese companies to localize China's electrification and green technologies to empower their products.

"Among the exhibits, nearly half of the technologies and products are green, that is, electric technologies. We are now more confident and patient than ever before," said Yang Dongsheng, chairman of the XCMG at the Bauma 2025.

Chinese construction machinery popular at German industry fair

Chinese construction machinery popular at German industry fair

At precisely 07:15 each morning, veteran meteorologist Tsering Dekyi launches a weather balloon from Lhasa Meteorological Station, continuing a ritual that has documented the remarkable transformation of the capital city of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region over half a century.

For 26 years, Dekyi has maintained this precision-critical routine where even a one-second delay constitutes a professional failure.

"Attention to details is vital. The tiniest error can cause disaster. A mistake of just 0.1 in the data input can have a major impact," she said.

As the balloon rises into sky, it captures atmospheric readings while revealing panoramic views of Lhasa's evolving skyline, where ancient temples now neighbor modern infrastructure.

The daily launches, conducted at optimal atmospheric conditions, showcase how this ancient city harmonizes heritage with development. Through the lens of balloon-mounted cameras, prayer-flag adorned rooftops give way to sprawling new residential districts and the gleaming Lhasa-Nyingchi railway terminus.

Meteorological balloons have risen from this station since the 1970s, their flight paths unintentionally chronicling urban expansion. Where observers once saw mostly farmland, they now document a regional hub with highways radiating across the plateau and solar farms powering growth.

As Dekyi watches another balloon shrink to a dot, its sensors will transmit real-time updates about the rarefied air above one of Asia's fastest-transforming cities, where tradition and progress share the same horizon.

Weather balloons witness Lhasa's remarkable transformation