Christoph Kleiner, managing director of Germany's mobile crane maker Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH, says his company is moving gradually into China's western regions, because many towns and cities there are still growing with a new round of industrialization.

"The US market has developed nicely since last year, but still hasn't reached the peak it used to be," says Kleiner. "Housing and energy sectors have played a decent role in this change.

The demand for large cranes in the energy-related business, especially in the mining industry, has been growing steady in China, Kleiner says.

"As more power will be needed to meet the energy demand, along with the fast developing pace of western China, small-scale mobile cranes and large-scale all-terrain truck cranes will become very popular for building power stations, refineries and chemical plants."

In 2011, Liebherr-Werk Ehingen sold 65 million euros ($84 million) worth of machinery in China. It has concentrated on selling large-scale cranes for the high-end market in China for many years, as this type of machinery is an integral part of huge construction projects, such as Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport and the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing, the main venue for the 2008 Olympic Games.

CCMA anticipates that fixed-asset investments in railway, highway, energy and real estate will increase 20 percent annually in China over the next four years. Economic restructuring, development of emerging industries, and the revitalization of China's western and northeastern regions will also create favorable conditions to boost sales.

"The Chinese government will continue to create jobs and encourage investment in infrastructure after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and we think the market will be more active next year," says Eric Etchart, senior vice-president of Manitowoc Co Inc and president of Manitowoc Cranes.

Rather than waiting for the government policy to stimulate the market, the US crane maker, which has more than 2,000 employees in two crane plants in China, plans to bring five new products to the Chinese market over the next three years. It also will develop new tower cranes to meet the demand from housing projects in the nation's second and third-tier cities.

But Etchart says: "Even though the economic environment is getting better, the reality of excessive production capacity still burdens the market.

"To achieve healthy growth, Chinese crane producers must stop cut-throat competition."

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn