From May 13 to May 14 in local time, Chairman of Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. Zhang Xiuwen, accompanied by the business personnel of Shantui (U.S.) Company, visited the Ministry of Construction of Cuba and the local major customers. 

Since the first export of bulldozer to Cuba in 1989, Shantui’s bulldozer share in this market is constantly maintained at >92%. Including the loader, excavator, motor grader, road roller, and concrete machinery exported to Cuba in succession, the ownership quantity of Shantui’s equipment in Cuban market has exceed 1,500 units. These machinery products are extensively applied in diversified engineering projects, including mines, petroleum, roads, bridges, ports, irrigations, and commercial and civil buildings and have made indispensable contributions for Cuban constructions in recent three decades. 

In the morning of May 13, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen visited the port MARIEL, the Cuban’s first special economic and trade zone under construction. At present, there are more than 70 Shantui’s machinery products, including bulldozer, loader, excavator, motor grader, and road roller, under operations in this port. During the visit, the general manager and the related department heads of ECM, the general contractor of this special zone, introduced the project background, the planning blueprint, and the construction progress to Chairman Zhang Xiuwen. Chairman Zhang Xiuwen congratulated the smooth progress of the construction project in terms of planning and implementation and appreciated the ECM’s choice and recognition of Shantui equipment. In addition, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen introduced Shantui’s new generation full-hydraulic products to this major customer and the abundant experiences of Shantui equipment in the China’s port construction. In the end, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen recommended to minimize the number of the applied equipment brands throughout the entire construction progress, in order to reduce the costs and expenditures in terms of business procurement procedure, in-process operations, maintenances and repairs, and spare parts reserve, which were highly recognized by the user. 

The administration authority on most of the key projects, in which Shantui's equipment are applied for construction, is the Ministry of Construction of Cuba. Therefore, this visit schedule included a special visit to the Ministry of Construction. In the afternoon of May 13, the Construction Minister of Cuba Mr. Rene Mesa Villafana and relevant personnel received warmly Chairman Zhang Xiuwen and his delegation. During the talks, Mr. Rene Mesa Villafana introduced some key projects under construction or planned for construction in Cuba, appreciated the prominent performances of Shantui equipment in the construction of Cuba, and hoped that Shantui could provide more and better equipment to make more contributions to the construction of Cuba. Meanwhile, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen firstly appreciated the Cuba’s favor on Shantui equipment and briefed the development history, R&D strength, product lineup, and competitiveness of Shantui to the Mr. Minister. Two parties discussed the long-term prospect and planning for future cooperation and in the end Chairman Zhang Xiuwen cordially invited Mr. Minister to visit Shantui at his earliest convenience.  

On May 14, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen visited the major customers of Shantui equipment. The customers highly affirmed the performances of Shantui equipment, extended higher requirements on Shantui’s input in Cuban market, recommended Shantui to set up more completed sales and service network in Cuba, and demanded Shantui to store more parts in Cuba, in order to provide after-services of faster response speed and consolidate the monopoly position and sustained competitiveness of Shantui brand. 

The Company S is a company providing third-party technical services for the construction party and providing extended warranty services for equipment manufacturers. Chairman Zhang Xiuwen and Company S are old friends. In 2005, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen visited Company S for the first time and signed a parts order of RMB 11,000,000, which played a key role for the maintenance of Shantui’s first batch equipment and unveiled the entry of second round of Shantui’s equipment in large volume into Cuban market. Through the multi-party negotiation among procurement company, construction company, and service company, Shantui and Company S concluded the initial cooperation intention, based on which Shantui would provide the design scheme to improve the technologic service capability of Company S in Cuba, fulfill the agency procurement of relevant special repair equipment in China and increase the parts inventory for construction equipment, and assist Company S to acquire policy-related financing for this product from the Chinese government. 

Chairman Zhang Xiuwen demanded Shantui Import and Export Co., Ltd. to establish the cooperation plan as soon as possible, which meant to (1) Determine the design maintenance capacity and network branch quantity of the overhaul plant and establish the preliminary project node panning; (2) Determine the specific planning for related facilities (including building, special equipment, maintenance tools, and logistics and storage) based on the production capacity and quality of maintenance building and establish the inventory, type, and scale of parts based on the factors (such as working condition, model, quantity, and product lifecycle) of diversified equipment; (3) Prepare the project budget package and assist Company S to apply for loan from Chinese government to ensure the implementation of this project. The propulsion and guidance of Chairman Zhang Xiuwen on this project promoted the dealers’ trust on Shantui products and all parties expressed that the implementation of this project could consolidate Shantui’s long-term competitiveness in Cuba. 

In the end of the schedule, Chairman Zhang Xiuwen signed a framework agreement for 2016 Cuba’s equipment procurement with Mr. Tomas, the General Manager of the Import and Export Company of the Ministry of Defense of Cuba. This visit of Chairman Zhang Xiuwen promoted the influence and trustworthiness of Shantui equipment among the customers and laid a solid milestone for Shantui’s further in-depth expansion in Cuban market.