Sizing up: The demand for larger cranes develops in China

Zhang Yu Chun, XCMG crane division general manager said the company has expanded its range to include larger models in the last five years.

He said, “The largest XCMG crane in 2002 was a 50 tonne capacity model. Now we have a 300 tonne capacity crane, so there's a big change.”

The company is looking to build 400 and 500 tonne capacity all terrain models-a step up from the company's current 300 tonne model. He added that within the next five years the company plans to produce an 800 tonne capacity crane.

“In the crawler crane range we currently have a 450 tonne capacity model and in 2007 we plan to build 600 and 700 tonne models. By 2010 we plan to have a 1000 tonne crawler crane,” he said.