Cargo ships berth at Lianyungang Port in East China's Jiangsu Province, loading construction vehicles and machinery for export. Photo: VCG

Overseas sales of electric excavators from China have been rising rapidly, as China's engineering equipment sector posted strong exports during the first half of 2026, CCTV News reported on Sunday.

Specifically, in the first seven months, the monthly output of electric-powered excavators by Chinese machinery giant LiuGong from South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region rose 40 percent year-on-year, CCTV News reported.

The products, whose energy consumption is only one-third of their diesel-fueled peers, have seen rising demand from overseas mines and are shipped to more than 170 countries and regions, the report said.

According to the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA), exports of electric-powered construction machinery showed strong growth in the first six months of this year. Exports of electric-powered loaders increased by 172 percent to 1,643 units, while electric excavator exports reached 135 units, up 60.7 percent year-on-year.

An increasing number of electric and intelligent products are accelerating their entry into overseas markets, the report said.

Such a shift is taking place as global demand for green construction machinery grows significantly amid a broader transition to green transport, and it has also demonstrated global demand for Chinese-made green-energy powered heavy construction equipment, analysts said.

The rise in electric-powered construction machinery reflected a green transition in the domestic fleet, as these high-end products offer better economic performance, Sun Chuanwang, a professor at the School of Economics at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting that "with a wide range of product offerings and intelligent capabilities, Chinese manufacturers are solidly supporting the green revolution in mines with integrated, practical solutions."

In the first half of this year, China's exports of construction machinery grew by 21.7 percent year-on-year to $34.37 billion, with the scale of exports continuing to expand, data from the CCMA showed.

Chinese construction machinery exports to the EU rose by 28.9 percent to $3.63 billion. For ASEAN, exports grew 23.6 percent to $5.56 billion. Exports to Africa and Latin America soared by 44.1 percent to $10.08 billion.

Analysts and industry insiders noted that Chinese companies no longer just deliver individual pieces of equipment. Green solutions, digital technologies and ongoing services tailored to different types of market demand are becoming new advantages for China's construction machinery industry in global markets.

"In the past, we mainly exported products. Now, we are exporting technology, quality systems, complete supply chains, and digital solutions," Ding Shifeng, general manager of manufacturing at SANY Indonesia, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"In the future, we want to enable more Chinese-developed software technologies and artificial intelligence technologies to be implemented and applied locally," Ding said.

In early August, Central China's Hunan Province, home to a number of leading Chinese construction machinery giants, announced a three-year action plan to ramp up its trade with Africa, with measures to boost the exports of mining equipment.