Intelligent Heavy Equipment & Specialised Robotics
CITIC Heavy Industries is a globally competitive manufacturer and service provider of mining and cement equipment. It is also one of the few high-tech enterprises worldwide that possesses unique capabilities in the research, development, and manufacturing of key equipment and special materials. CITIC Heavy Industries is a leading high-end equipment manufacturer with the ability to manufacture with extreme precision. It is considered a leader in the domestic specialised robotics industry and has one of the largest research and development and industrialisation bases for special robots in China.
CITIC Heavy Industries specialises in the development, research, manufacturing, and sales of large-scale equipment, EPC, integrated solutions and associated services of technological equipment, and key components for various sectors, including mining, heavy machinery, robotics and intelligent equipment, and new energy equipment. The company’s major manufacturing facilities are located in Luoyang, Henan; Tangshan, Hebei; Zhangzhou, Fujian; Beijing and Vigo, Spain.
In 2023, CITIC Heavy Industries recorded revenue of RMB9,557 million, up 8.26% year-on-year. Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB384 million, a jump of 163.51% year-on-year. The company also saw a steady improvement in return on equity, which increased by 3 percentage points year-on-year. CITIC Heavy Industries maintained over 7% of total investment for research and development (R&D) investment. Over the year, CITIC Heavy Industries focused on development and worked diligently to deliver results. The company achieved remarkable growth in its key performance indicators and significant improvement in operational efficiency, fruitful results in technological innovation and a continuous increase in brand value.
CITIC Heavy Industries’ mining and heavy equipment segment remained focused on strengthening its core operations during the year. The main mining business experienced steady growth, while traditional sectors such as building materials, metallurgy and coal continued to advance steadily. The successful acquisition of new orders in the main equipment segment yielded positive results. The company successfully secured turnkey projects for cement production lines in its EPC division, significantly enhancing the company’s brand presence in the overseas market. International business has doubled in volume, with overseas market orders surpassing RMB3 billion for the first time.
The robotics and intelligent equipment segment continued to increase its focus on technological innovation. Through efficient management, detailed planning, and optimised development, the company devised tailored strategies under the “one mine, one plan” framework. This approach led to the successful completion of a number of intelligent mining projects and the signing of new product orders including foreign object sorting robots, tunnel inspection robots, and emergency energy storage equipment. In the field of emergency response, the company secured contracts for firefighting robot projects with four provincial and municipal level departments. In the petrochemical sector, the company actively promoted strategic collaborations with users and technology partners, resulting in the widespread adoption of related products.
With its positioning as “supplier of new energy development solutions”, the new energy equipment segment adhered to a business model that combines energy development solutions with equipment research, development and manufacturing. Following an integrated approach of “Source–Network–Load–Storage”, the company established a dual-driven platform fueled by both industry and capital. In 2023, CITIC Heavy Industries achieved significant milestones bolstering the development of its new energy equipment business. These included securing orders for offshore wind power projects from prominent entities such as China Three Gorges Corporation and China Energy Engineering Corporation. Additionally, successful applications were made for a 200MW wind and photovoltaic integrated grid project. The special materials division played an important role in driving the company’s development of high-end products. After securing of a major contract for high-temperature gas-cooled reactor forgings, the company successfully delivered large-scale martensitic stainless steel rotor forgings for a 500MW-class hydro turbine with the world’s largest single-unit capacity.
Year in Review
| RMB million | 2023 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 9,557 | 8,827 | 8.26% |
| Profit attributable to shareholders | 384 | 146 | 163.51% |
| Total assets | 18,351 | 19,502 | -5.92% |
| Return on equity | 4.92% | 1.92% | 3pp |
CITIC Heavy Industries’ mining and heavy equipment segment remained focused on strengthening its core operations during the year. The main mining business experienced steady growth, while traditional sectors such as building materials, metallurgy and coal continued to advance steadily. The successful acquisition of new orders in the main equipment segment yielded positive results. The company successfully secured turnkey projects for cement production lines in its EPC division, significantly enhancing the company’s brand presence in the overseas market. International business has doubled in volume, with overseas market orders surpassing RMB3 billion for the first time.
The robotics and intelligent equipment segment continued to increase its focus on technological innovation. Through efficient management, detailed planning, and optimised development, the company devised tailored strategies under the “one mine, one plan” framework. This approach led to the successful completion of a number of intelligent mining projects and the signing of new product orders including foreign object sorting robots, tunnel inspection robots, and emergency energy storage equipment. In the field of emergency response, the company secured contracts for firefighting robot projects with four provincial and municipal level departments. In the petrochemical sector, the company actively promoted strategic collaborations with users and technology partners, resulting in the widespread adoption of related products.
With its positioning as “supplier of new energy development solutions”, the new energy equipment segment adhered to a business model that combines energy development solutions with equipment research, development and manufacturing. Following an integrated approach of “Source–Network–Load–Storage”, the company established a dual-driven platform fueled by both industry and capital. In 2023, CITIC Heavy Industries achieved significant milestones bolstering the development of its new energy equipment business. These included securing orders for offshore wind power projects from prominent entities such as China Three Gorges Corporation and China Energy Engineering Corporation. Additionally, successful applications were made for a 200MW wind and photovoltaic integrated grid project. The special materials division played an important role in driving the company’s development of high-end products. After securing of a major contract for high-temperature gas-cooled reactor forgings, the company successfully delivered large-scale martensitic stainless steel rotor forgings for a 500MW-class hydro turbine with the world’s largest single-unit capacity.
Innovation-driven development
In 2023, CITIC Heavy Industries followed its innovation-driven strategy, leveraging technological innovation to empower its high-quality development. The company maintained an investment level of 7% in R&D, focusing on high-end, intelligent, and green initiatives. Through specialised R&D projects in ten breakthrough equipment, CITIC Heavy Industries strived to achieve breakthroughs in domestically produced heavy equipment to surpass the world’s highest standards, reach a leading technological position and transition from being a follower to a leader in the industry. During the year, CITIC Heavy Industries made significant achievements, including supporting 17 consecutive launches of the Shenzhou spacecraft, contributing to China’s national manned space programme. The company played a crucial role in the commercial operation of the world’s first 4th generation nuclear power plant by providing vital forgings for nuclear steam generators. The development of the Hydraulic Pile Hammer for Offshore Operations project passed the pre-acceptance inspection, while two key R&D projects, namely the Development and Application of Explosion-Proof Robots for Petrochemical Explosion Environments and the Hot Working Database for General Manufacturing, passed rigorous performance evaluations. In addition, the company continuously set new records in the mining industry by pushing the boundaries of grinding mill specifications. It delivered the largest domestically exported overflow ball mill, measuring 8.2m in diameter and 12.7m in length. Furthermore, CITIC Heavy Industries made history by successfully casting the world’s largest 5600mm roughing mill housing in one go, setting a new benchmark for the largest single steel casting in terms of single-use molten steel volume.Digital Transformation
CITIC Heavy Industries has been committed to the product life cycle management and digitalisation of the business processes. Focused on platform establishment and ecological development, the company deepened the integration and application of information technology and operations. This integration has empowered the company to implement effective management practices and undergo a successful digital transformation, contributing to the advancement of Digital Heavy Industries. Building on the stable operation of its integrated business and finance platform, CITIC Heavy Industries strived to enhance application integration and optimise system functionality. The company promoted the application of “digital lean manufacturing platform” and implemented the digitalisation of production management. In addition, the company undertook research on intelligent scheduling algorithms for discrete manufacturing and commenced the development of an APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) system. Moreover, the company has been constructing an enterprise-level big data analytics, with a strong focus on data governance and improvement of data quality. Additionally, CITIC Heavy Industries made significant progress in three CITIC Group initiatives: “cloud-based management, scientific research projects, and company technological modification projects”. The company has also been enhancing its network and information security capabilities and leveraging data analysis to facilitate informed decision-making. During the reporting year, two projects from CITIC Heavy Industries were recognised as Excellent Use Cases for Intelligent Manufacturing at the national level, while another project received second prize in the national 5G application competition.