"Zhilian Global · Construction Machinery Cloud Trade" got 1 million RMB "investment-first, equity-later" support from Shandong Science and Technology Department, endorsing its "digital matching + compliance + global warehouse" model. Fund will upgrade AI, build compliance system and pilot overseas warehouses, cutting manufacturers' overseas cost by 20%+ and buyers' cycle by 50%. Now with 12 preliminary cooperations and 3 African project connections.
Case Details
Recently, good news came from "Zhilian Global · Construction Machinery Cloud Trade" platform, which has been deeply engaged in the construction machinery cross-border trade sector: after multiple rounds of strict review by the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, it was successfully selected into the provincial science and technology achievement transformation "investment-first, equity-later" support project and received a special fund of 1 million RMB. As an emerging platform focusing on cross-border digital services for construction machinery, obtaining this "patient capital" from the provincial science and technology department is not only an authoritative recognition of our innovative model, but also indicates that the path of digital upgrading of construction machinery cross-border trade has been affirmed at the policy level.
How Hardcore is "Investment-First, Equity-Later"? The Key Logic of Government Endorsement
Among various fiscal support methods, why is "investment-first, equity-later" regarded as an endorsement with extremely high gold content? It can be seen from the "Administrative Measures for Financial Funds of Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Equity Investment Projects" that this model is a special support provided by the provincial finance for projects with "hard technology, high potential and achievable transformation". It follows the principles of "government leadership, market operation, efficient coordination and safe exit" and only invests in high-quality projects with outstanding technology and clear industrialization prospects. Different from traditional subsidies, "investment-first, equity-later" adopts the model of "early investment + later equity conversion": it first provides special funds to support R&D and transformation, and converts to equity when the project meets the agreed standards. This not only reflects the government's confidence in the long-term value of the project, but also helps us leverage the participation of subsequent social capital.
The core reason why we can stand out from many declared projects is that we have accurately identified the long-standing pain points in construction machinery cross-border trade. Data shows that the annual scale of domestic construction machinery cross-border trade has long exceeded 100 billion RMB, but it has been plagued by three major problems: slow supply-demand matching - under the traditional model, it takes an average of 45 days for overseas buyers to match with domestic manufacturers; high cross-border costs - the comprehensive cost of procurement, logistics and customs clearance accounts for more than 30%; high compliance risks - due to different technical certifications and tariff policies in different countries, the customs clearance delay rate is as high as 22%. Our proposed solution of "digital intelligence matching + full-link compliance + global warehouse distribution coordination" can precisely solve these industry problems, which is highly consistent with the core goal of the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology in supporting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
How to Use the 1 Million RMB Special Fund? Three Directions to Strengthen Core Capabilities
In accordance with the project approval requirements of the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the special fund must be used exclusively for R&D and implementation related to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and cannot be used for non-operational or irrelevant purposes. Our person in charge said that this 100 million RMB will be accurately invested in three core areas to accelerate the implementation of technological achievements:
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AI Intelligent Matching System Upgrade: Focus on refining the accurate matching algorithm for construction machinery categories, access demand databases from more than 120 countries and regions around the world. Through multi-dimensional labels such as user portraits, working condition adaptation and policy adaptation, the supply-demand matching cycle will be reduced from an average of 45 days to within 15 days, and the matching accuracy will be increased to more than 90%. At present, the first version of the system has been completed, and the special fund will be used for algorithm iteration and the real-time update module of overseas demand data.
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Cross-border Compliance Service System Construction: Cooperate with third-party authoritative institutions to develop a cross-border compliance database for construction machinery, covering technical certifications and tariff policies of major markets such as EU CE, US EPA and Southeast Asia ASEAN. It can realize automatic generation of certification materials and intelligent tariff calculation. At the same time, connect with the customs system to build a fast customs clearance channel, which increases the customs clearance efficiency by 40% and solves the long-standing problems of "difficult certification and slow customs clearance" for enterprises.
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Global Warehouse Distribution Collaboration Network Pilot: Launch overseas warehouse pre-stocking pilots in regions with strong demand for construction machinery such as Southeast Asia and Africa. In the first phase, small intelligent parts warehouses will be built in Thailand and Tanzania. Through the platform system, real-time linkage between the inventory of domestic manufacturers and overseas warehouses is realized, reducing the parts delivery time from an average of 20 days to 7 days, and realizing "same-day response and 3-day delivery" for emergency maintenance parts.
The True Value of Policy Empowerment: Benefiting Not Only the Platform but Also Driving Industry Upgrading
It can be seen from the "investment-first, equity-later" cases in Wenzhou, Sanya and other places that projects receiving policy support can often quickly break through technical bottlenecks and drive the efficiency improvement of the entire industrial chain. For example, a "investment-first, equity-later" project in Wenzhou more than doubled its R&D investment after receiving the special fund, with annual sales exceeding 60 million RMB, and also drove the development of upstream and downstream supporting enterprises. The value of our support this time is not only beneficial to the platform itself.
For domestic construction machinery manufacturers, the upgraded platform can greatly lower the threshold for going overseas - small and medium-sized manufacturers do not need to build overseas channels by themselves. They can accurately find overseas customers through our AI system and quickly obtain access qualifications for target markets with the help of compliance services. The cost of overseas expansion is expected to be reduced by more than 20%. For overseas buyers, especially infrastructure project parties, "one-stop procurement + local services" can be realized through the platform, reducing the procurement cycle by half and the comprehensive cost by 15%-20%. At present, we have reached preliminary cooperation with 12 construction machinery manufacturers in Shandong and Jiangsu, and have also connected with the procurement needs of 3 infrastructure projects in Africa. Once the system upgrade is completed, the first batch of cooperation can be quickly implemented.
Our person in charge revealed that with this policy endorsement, the team is preparing for the next round of marketing, focusing on empowering manufacturers in construction machinery industrial belts such as Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu, and at the same time holding online supply-demand matching meetings in conjunction with overseas chambers of commerce. "This investment from the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology is not only financial support, but also has won industry trust for our model. In the future, we will continue to solve industry pain points through technological innovation and help 'China's intelligent manufacturing' construction machinery enter the global market more smoothly."
