Intl investment and innovation highlighted by Weichai Group

Company showcases full range of products at Global Partners' Conference, Qingdao

Nearly 60 star power system products from Weichai Group are showcased at the SDHI Weichai Power Global Partners' Conference held in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Saturday. CHINA DAILY

Weichai Group, one of the largest subsidiaries of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, held its 2025 Global Partners Conference on Saturday in Qingdao, Shandong province. It showcased new products in segments including power systems, commercial vehicles, construction machinery, agricultural equipment, and marine transportation equipment.

Nearly 60 star power system products formed a full lineup. Their displacement ranged from 2 to 340 liters and from 18 to 10,000 kilowatts in power.

The conference also exhibited flagship power system solutions such as large-bore generator sets, continuously variable transmission power trains, and high-thermal-efficiency engine power trains.

As a core component of complete machines or whole vehicles, the performance of a power system determines the capability of the equipment and influences the market competitiveness of the whole vehicle or machine.

Over the past 10 years, Weichai has invested more than 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in the engine segment; established 10 innovation platforms in North America, Europe, Japan and other countries; and built a full-series power system.

The company has mastered diverse energy technologies including high-thermal-efficiency diesel engines, pure electric power, hydrogen internal combustion engines, methanol engines, hydrogen fuel cells, and solid oxide fuel cells, becoming a core part of Shandong Heavy Industry Group.

Heavy-duty trucks of Sinotruk and Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile equipped with Weichai's NG4.0 natural gas engine and the new-generation high-thermal-efficiency H/T-2.0 engine are popular in the market.

Benefiting from Weichai's CVT power train and hydraulic power train for harvesters, Weichai Lovol Intelligent Agriculture has accelerated its development in high-end, intelligent and environmentally friendly directions.

In the high-end mining equipment market, Weichai's M-series large-bore mining power trains provide differentiated solutions for large-scale mining equipment.

At the exhibition site, two exhibits bearing the traces of history attracted visitors' attention. The 6160A diesel engine, produced in March 1976, is nearly 50 years old. It operated as a generator in a State-owned farm in Linyi, Shandong province. Over the decades, its total operating time surpassed 100,000 hours. After its retirement in 2017, it can still start.

The WD615 diesel engine is another star product of Weichai, renowned for "driving 2.8 million kilometers without major repairs "and having a "market share exceeding 75 percent", according to the company. The global sales volume of this model exceeded 3.7 million units, of which about 700,000 units were exported overseas with complete vehicles.

In recent years, by focusing on high-value markets such as global data centers, rigid mining trucks, mining excavators and high-end marine engines, Weichai has built a high-value-added M-series large-bore product matrix, whose performance has reached the internationally advanced level. Moreover, it features shorter delivery cycles, better cost control and faster service response.

Nowadays, Weichai is expanding markets in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and formulates targeted solutions according to the market needs. The group is also constructing a localized manufacturing and supply chain worldwide.

Ma Changhai, chairman of Weichai Power, said that in the first three quarters of 2025, Weichai achieved a year-on-year increase of 6 percent in operating income. The export income of the engine segment rose by 30 percent year-on-year.

Facing the future, Weichai not only aims to be an outstanding equipment manufacturer, but strives to work with global partners to achieve leaps in product value, customer relations and industrial win-win advantages.

During the conference, 10 outstanding strategic partners and eight outstanding foreign employees were commended to honor their trust and support for Weichai.

The chairman and general manager of Hong Seng Power from Malaysia said that in the nine years of cooperation with Weichai, he had witnessed Weichai's rise in global competition. He expressed confidence in Weichai's bright future.