China's agricultural machinery giant provides equipment adapted for African conditions and customers' needs BY WANG SONG (XINHUA)

Although Zhao Zijian's business card shows his office is in Beijing, he spends half the year on business trips to Africa. Zhao, who hails from central China's Henan Province, has been in the agricultural and construction machinery business for decades, and is now the general manager of China-Africa Machinery Corp. (CAMACO). He is involved in agricultural and construction machinery investment and trade in Africa.

CAMACO is a joint venture by YTO Group, the largest Chinese comprehensive machinery maker, and China-Africa Development Fund. It was founded in August 2009 with an investment of 250 million yuan ($40 million). According to China Customs statistics, in 2011, CAMACO contributed over 60 percent of the country's total exports of 70 horsepower (HP) and above tractors to Africa.

Apart from producing high-quality farm and construction equipment in exports, CAMACO is developing a larger network, more customer support and tailor-made products by establishing assembly factories, and spare parts and marketing centers in Africa.

"It brings further change in the agricultural machinery trade and boosts investment between the two sides," Zhao told ChinAfrica.

CAMACO has maintained steady sales momentum in the African market. "It is estimated that about 5 percent of Africa's imports in line of heavy machinery will be sourced from CAMACO in the next five years, up from 2 percent currently," said a confident Zhao.

Adapted for Africa

When talking about why the YTO brand is warmly welcomed in the African market, which is usually dominated by European and American counterparts, Zhao attributed the good results to "adaptive improvement."

"We have improved our agricultural machinery in light of local conditions and made technological renovations according to African customer demands," he explained.

Zhao said the company offered a diverse range of tractors featuring high-strength, reinforced moldboard plows for cutting grass to ensure years of trouble-free performance. In Cote d'Ivoire, the top cocoa producer in the world, the company developed a cocoa bean huller for local customers that greatly improved the efficiency of processing the beans.

"Such examples are all around us. Agricultural conditions in China and Africa are very different, so local development is critical to winning customers," Zhao said. Besides, machinery produced by European and American competitors is about twice the price of similar YTO products. Therefore, the high quality of the products paired with competitive prices make them popular in the local market.