Opening a manufacturing plant in Africa is "unrealistic" right now, Xiao said, but an assembly plant is in the planning stages.

"We bought a site in Johannesburg" for the plant, he said, and a logistics and maintenance center will be built at the same location.

Local assembly will add a sharp competitive edge to Sany, and it expects to assemble its first excavator in South Africa this year, followed by cranes, road construction machinery and dredging equipment.

"When the maintenance center and assembly plant are completed, we will create more jobs for local workers and transfer skills to them," Xiao said.

"We are negotiating with local authorities, wanting to work with them to run certificate programs for local workers. We're not just selling machinery in Africa. We're also helping improve industrial skills."

Flip Hennop is the agent for Sany's cranes in South Africa. Two Sany cranes he sold on the company's behalf in 2008 helped win him over, and he became the company's agent in 2010.

"They helped us establish a sales network and service team, as well as the maintenance and spare parts center," he said.

Sany's cranes had one of the biggest market shares in South Africa last year, he said, and that share continues to grow.

Serge Levy, a new Sany agent, said the company's agent model works well. "We can talk with them about nearly everything in the market to ensure the channels are smooth and that products satisfy local needs." The quality of the system guarantees that his company makes money, he said.

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