The Guangxi-based construction machinery maker will display a number of its other newly developed products in a dedicated exhibition space covering more than 2,000 sq m. The company will also hold a conference for its international dealer network during the exhibition, with 160 already having signed up to attend, according to Huang Zhaohua, general manager of Liugong's overseas sales & marketing department.

Commenting on the uptake, Huang said: "The number of participants is far more than we expected, which shows that international dealers are really interested in our products and also very confident about China's economy."

In the wake of the financial crisis, the global construction machinery industry suffered something of a decline, but senior figures at Liugong remain confident about the future. Wang Xiaohua, president of Liugong, said: "It is estimated that the global construction machinery market will decrease by 30 percent this year, largely due to reduced demand in North America, West Europe and Japan.

The company has delivered a better performance than many of its domestic and overseas counterparts. The export sales reached $112 million in the first nine months of the year and export revenues for the whole year are estimated to be around $160 million, a decline of about 25 percent year on year, according to Wang.

Huang, too, sees reasons to remain optimistic: "The decline is inevitable, but our reduction in sales is less than that of most companies in the sector and we predict a recovery in the fourth quarter."

Huang attributed Liugong's relatively stable performance to the reputation it has established within the industry over the last 50 years, He also saw the company's policy of enhancing its services for overseas clients, rather than simply cutting costs, as another key factor in emerging from the crisis relatively unscathed. The company has also provided financial support to its overseas dealer network to help them through the worst of the downturn.

Huang said: "The overseas dealers of many other machinery companies went bankrupt during the crisis, but none of our dealers went under."

So far, Liugong has established 70 distributors in 80 countries and established eight parts centers overseas. It has also opened marketing companies in Australia, the US, Brazil and India.

In July this year, the company set up a factory in India, its first overseas manufacturing facility. With an investment of $20 million, the plant is projected to produce 3,000 loaders a year.

According to Huang, the existing levels of demand and the growth potential of the Indian market is the main reason for Liugong choosing the country as the site of its first overseas plant. The move also came as part of a bid to consolidate Liugong's position in the country. It was among the first companies in the sector to enter the Indian market and its five-ton loader now has a 70 percent market share in the country.

With its headquarters in Liuzhou, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, also know as the "south gate" of China, Liugong also enjoys close cooperation with a number of Southeast Asian partners. The company attended the China-ASEAN Expo last month, exhibiting 11 new hi-tech products.

In 2008, Liugong's overseas sales contributed 15 percent of its total sales revenue, but it is looking to grow this substantially. Wang said: "Our overseas sales is expected to make one-third of our revenue by 2020."

Currently, Liugong is ranked 25th in this year's "Global Construction Machinery Top 50 List". The company aims to be among top 15 by 2012, top 10 by 2015 and top five by 2020, according to Wang.