The next new blue sea for construction machinery: export of second-generation phones

As one of the largest construction machinery market in the world, China has more than 9 million used vehicles, and the size of the second mobile phone market is still expanding, which is expected to reach 150 billion yuan in 2025.

Benefiting from the increase of equipment ownership, China's second-hand construction machinery export industry has developed rapidly in recent years。According to statistics, before 2020, China's second mobile phone exports were less than 10,000 units, while from 2021 to 2024, China's second mobile phone cumulative exports exceeded 300,000 units. So we boldly predict that the export of second-hand construction machinery will become the next new blue ocean of the construction machinery industry .

According to statistics, the global second-hand construction machinery market is estimated to be $95.4 billion in 2023, and is expected to reach $122 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% during the period （2023 to 2030）。The reason why the market size of the second mobile phone is gradually expanding is that more and more construction companies and contractors in emerging markets are beginning to seek cost-effective alternatives, and the second mobile phone is very cost-effective compared to the new mobile phone.

At the same time, China's engineering machinery equipment inventory is increasing year by year, providing sufficient supply sources for the second-hand market。According to the data of Construction Machinery Association, by the end of 2023, the main products of China's construction machinery will be 8.62 million to 9.34 million units, which provides a foundation for the secondary export industry.

In 1996, Japan's construction machinery industry began to decline due to the decline of construction and civil engineering investment. The number of equipment holdings tended to saturate, and the number of new machine sales began to decline. At the same time, Japan's second-hand market ushered in a decade of rapid development。According to statistics, from 1996 to 2002, the demand for new mobile phones in Japan fell from 58,000 to 24,000, while the export of second-hand mobile phones rose from 28,000 to 55,000. Between 2003 and 2008 , the downward slope of investment in Japanese construction and civil engineering slowed down and gradually entered a stable period . The export of new and second-hand mobile phones fluctuated in the same direction . During this period , the export of second-hand mobile phones was always greater than the demand for new mobile phones , leading to a stable landing of the holding .

According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, before 2020, the export of second-hand mobile phones in China was less than 10,000 units, which had a limited impact on the total stock. After 21 years, the export volume of second-hand excavators began to increase rapidly。Over the past 4 years, a total of 310,000 mobile phones have been exported, of which about 120,000 mobile phones will be exported in 2024, which is the first time that the number of new mobile phones is higher than the number of new mobile phones and the number of new mobile phones.

In addition, with the acceleration of the circulation of second-hand mobile phones in overseas markets，To a certain extent, it reduces the stock of equipment in the domestic market and makes room for replacement, thus releasing the demand for new machines in the domestic market , which is also one of the reasons why the sales of excavators in China will increase greatly by 2025.

The current situation of China's construction machinery industry is very similar to the situation of Japan's construction machinery industry from 1996 to 2002, so we have reason to believe thatNext, the general trend of China's second-hand cell phone exports will be similar to Japan's second-hand cell phone development : the number of second-hand cell phone exports in China may continue to be higher than the sales of new cell phones in the 10-year dimension, and alleviate the pressure of high ownership in China.

From January to December, 2024, China's construction machinery and parts exports RCEP national sales of $12.1 billion, an increase of 0.8%. At the same time, thanks to the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the cooperation between ASEAN countries and China will be closer in the future.

With the increasing construction and civil engineering in ASEAN countries in recent years, the demand for second-hand mobile phones is high。Taking the markets of Malaysia and Vietnam, where excavators are imported in large quantities, for example, Malaysia will import about 22,600 excavators in 2023, of which about 19,800 are second-hand excavators, and the import volume of second-hand excavators is about 7 times that of new excavators。In 2023, Vietnam imported about 12,000 excavators, of which about 11,400 were second-hand excavators, and the import volume of second-hand excavators was about 19 times that of new excavators. That is , the demand for local secondary mobile phones accounts for about 90 % of the level .

China will export 3,151 excavators to Malaysia and 4,664 excavators in Vietnam in 2023, far below its total demand. Further considering that China's cooperation with many developing countries will become more and more close in the future, it can be said that China' exports of second cell phones have great prospects.

At present , China 's second mobile phone exports are mainly exported by foreign trade companies . Foreign trade companies , as the most familiar with the customs of the company , have certain export capabilities , so they are a large proportion of the second mobile phone export model . Secondly , construction machinery enterprises are also involved in the export of second-hand mobile phones , Xugong's Xugong E-commerce Technology Co., Ltd. and Sany's Sany Yunlian Technology Co., Ltd., they have their own online foreign trading platform, can provide a large number of second-hand mobile device data, at the same time Xugong E-commerce Technology also do export trade。In addition, some agents with import and export qualifications are also doing the export of second-hand mobile phones.

In addition , with the development of digital platforms , the transaction of second-hand equipment is gradually moving towards online , The rise of online platforms such as overseas Christie's auction house and Ironclad Network has enabled buyers and sellers of equipment to conduct operations such as information transparency, price comparison and certification services through the platform, greatly reducing the problem of information asymmetry and improving transaction efficiency。The function of the platform has gradually expanded from simple information release to diversified services such as equipment detection, after-sales support and financial leasing, providing strong support for the circulation of second-hand equipment.

With the promotion of 5G Internet, various types of network judicial auctions have become more mature, such as Alibaba judicial auctions, JD.com network judicial auctions, etc. There are already many excavator auction cases, and ByteDance is also laying out "Douyin auction."There is no limit on the number of people participating in online auctions, which increases the probability of participating in auctions while maximizing the transaction price of auction items, which can greatly reduce the auction cycle and reduce the cost of renting venues, which is a significant advantage.

Although the prospects for second cell phone exports are broad, at present, China's second cell phone export still has many difficulties that need to be resolved.

During the 2025 National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the chief engineer and vice president of Xugong Machinery, shan zeng hai, pointed out the difficulties of the second mobile phone of China's construction machinery。He thinks:“ Compared with mature international markets, China's domestic second-hand car circulation has such pain points as the lack of evaluation standards, low transaction transparency and blocked export channels。 ”

To this end, he put forward three suggestions: We should build a digital trading platform and establish a regional trading center in industrial clusters to realize the whole process of equipment registration, evaluation and trading online；It is necessary to improve the policy support system, guide enterprises to innovate circular economy models through tax incentives and financing support, and encourage leading enterprises to consolidate upstream and downstream resources.We should open up overseas circulation channels, accelerate the revision of the "second-hand car product catalogue", establish an export quality supervision mechanism, and promote cost-effective equipment to enter emerging markets.

On April 8, 2024, the Hunan Provincial Market Regulatory Bureau and the Hainan Provincial Marketing Regulatory Bureau jointly approved and issued the local standard for the general technical requirements for repair and remanufacturing of construction machinery export second handsets. The standard not only fills the missing gap in local standards in the field of domestic construction machinery repair and remanufacturing export, but also represents the first example of cross-regional cooperation in the joint establishment, review and publication of standards. We believe that with the enactment and implementation of more and more relevant standards in the future, it will promote the development of China's second cell phone export industry toward standardization, scale and environmental protection.

Today, the global market for second cell phones is vast, and China's second cell phone export industry is developing rapidly. It can be said that the global market has established a broad stage for China's second cell phone exports. Next, as long as domestic enterprises do the basic work and relevant domestic departments introduce relevant second cell phone export standards and policies as soon as possible, we can turn the second cell phone industry into a new blue sea of Chinese construction machinery and further enhance the position of China's construction machinery industry in the international market.