Consolidating Made in Italy know-how with the Chinese in the civil engineering and road construction heavy machinery sector. While, at the same time, promoting the establishment of trade relations and/or industrial partnership between Italian and Chinese manufacturers. This is the goal of Italian industry's participation in the fourth edition of the Bauma China expo. Italian attendance will be coordinated by ICE, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, which decided to return to the expo after its last participation two years ago (the expo is held every other year). In 2006, Bauma China attracted 1,088 exhibiters from 30 different countries. And the number of visitors arriving in Shanghai from 119 countries exceeded 80 thousand.

China's teeming civil engineering and road construction heavy machinery industry unavoidably draws Italian businesses: the Asian economy’s infrastructural needs are bound to receive, if possible, greater drive due to the current global financial crisis and its feared implications on real economy. By the end of 2008, the Beijing government will prepare to launch a wide range of infrastructure investment measures, especially in railways, to maintain its high growth rate in 2009. Beijing had already budgeted about 120 billion Euro in railway investments for the 2006 - 2010 period, more than four times the amount budgeted for the previous five-year period.

And local industry modernization in the construction sector is still in progress and has become the focus of the Chinese government's goals. In 2006, last available data, the Chinese imported 2.593 million dollars worth of construction machinery, 3% of which came from Italy. In other words, there’s still a lot of room for growth.

Besides, the Italian industry sector is certainly on form. In 2007 – states Comamoter, the earth mover manufacturer group Unacoma, the association of Italian farm tractor and machinery manufacturers – Made in Italy earth mover machinery and parts production posted 20.3% growth in 2007, hitting a record 4.6 billion Euro with additional forecasted growth of 10.3% in 2008 and 8.5% in 2009. The strong growth in exports (+21.5% to 2.9 billion Euro) should grow by 10.9% and 9% in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

On the global level, after 11.6% growth with 680 thousands units in 2007, the sector market should close the current year with an additional +8.7% to polish off 2009 with a 7.9% growth rate. Sector operators refer that emerging countries, especially China and India, will boost sector business growth in the upcoming years.