If you plan to buy excavators from China

Hi everyone, I’m Mike Phua. I hope this video helps you learn something about the excavator market in China.

Over the past 40 years, China has become the largest infrastructure market in the world. And as one of the most efficient tools in this industry, excavators have also experienced explosive growth. Not only has China manufactured a huge number of excavators, it has also imported a lot from other countries.

We all know that excavators are super durable — their actual working life often goes well beyond 20 years.

Around 2022, China’s infrastructure market began to shrink, which forced a large number of excavators into retirement. In fact, even some machines that were nearly brand-new entered the second-hand market. So if you're wondering where to buy excavators at the lowest prices, the answer is clear: China. That’s why most of the used machines you see online are originally from here.

There are several cities in China with large-scale used excavator markets, such as Shanghai, Jining , Changsha, Kunshan, Guangzhou, Hefei, and Liuzhou.

The place you see in this video is in Hefei, Anhui. It's actually the biggest excavator market in the world. Yes, you heard me right — the biggest. This market has over 200 companies. While the parking area only holds around 600 machines, that's just the display section for trading. Each company has its own storage. In total, more than 10,000 units are available. So no matter what model you're looking for — as long as it's 65 tons or less — you’ll find it here.

Generally, there are two types of used excavators.

The first type just came out of service and hasn’t had any repairs. You can see all the wear and tear, or any issues it may have. In China, it’s easy to get machines repaired, so most local buyers prefer this kind. They fix it themselves. Usually, these units don’t come with any warranty — customers just take care of it on their own.

The second type has been fully repaired — all problems fixed and given a fresh paint job. These are typically sold to overseas buyers, since it’s not always as easy to get spare parts in other countries. These machines usually come with a 1 to 2-year warranty on major components.

Shipping can be a problem — it's usually expensive. That’s why countries in Southeast Asia benefit the most right now, especially Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia, followed by the five Central Asian countries. Many of my colleagues have even set up branch offices in those places.

So if you watch TikTok, you’ll often see that the most common machines in Southeast Asia and India are SANY and XCMG.

Besides used excavators, this market also sells parts — like buckets, hydraulic breakers, engines, distributors, booms, arms, tracks, blades, and lots of smaller accessories. So if you have any customization requests, we can modify the machines to fit your needs.

Excavators under 15 tons don’t usually come with blades, but if you need one, we can even add a blade to a 65-ton machine.

Shanghai is almost a symbol of China, so many people think of starting their machine search there. But since 2022, due to environmental regulations, the used excavator market in Shanghai has been moved out. Most of the companies in Hefei actually came from Shanghai. So now, Shanghai mainly acts as an export hub. While you can still buy used excavators there, it might not be the best choice.

By the way, I’m a local — I’m from Pudong, Shanghai.

As I mentioned earlier, the main cost of buying a used excavator is shipping. So if your budget is limited, just check Google Maps to find the city closest to you. Most personal buyers don’t have a huge budget. For example, if you're in Vietnam, you might want to focus on buying from Liuzhou in Guangxi.

But if you’re buying more than two machines, you can usually save about one-third of the shipping cost.

If you want the best after-sales service at the lowest cost, then the Hefei market is definitely the best choice. It has the most complete excavator supply chain in China. In other cities, the supply chain is usually focused on a few local brands. But in Hefei, it’s brand-independent. You can find Caterpillar, Komatsu, Kobelco, Kubota, Volvo, Sany, XCMG, LiuGong, Lovol, Sunward, and many more brands here.

If you can’t find the model you want here, chances are it’s really rare in China — like those giant Liebherr machines.

Seeing is believing. Every day, customers from all over the world come here to inspect machines in person. You can get in the cab and test drive any excavator yourself. Find the one that suits you best.

If you’re looking for a reliable long-term partner, reach out to me.

You can send me an email to get a standard excavator price list.

Thanks for watching this video. I’m Mike Phua. Looking forward to hearing from you.