The China National Heavy-Duty Truck (Group) Co, a State-owned manufacturer in Jinan, Shandong province, held its business conference for 2015, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Dec 18, where Ma Chunji, its chairman described their development goal for the coming year of selling more than 200,000 vehicles, 135,000 of them heavy-duty trucks, and a one-percentage point increase in its market share.

Ma Chunji, chairman of Sinotruk, makes a speech at the Group's 2015 business conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, on Dec 18. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

The heavy-duty truck group, or Sinotruk, sold 162,000 vehicles in the January to November period, earning 60.83 billion yuan ($9.7 billion) for a year-on-year growth of 10.3 percent, even though the international automobile market remained sluggish in 2014. Sinotruk signed an agreement with Germany's truck and bus maker MAN, in 2009, and has built production and assembly lines for MAN-style axles, engines and cabs. The two parties jointly developed the Sitrak series of heavy-duty trucks, in 2013, which has become one of their best sellers and is expected to rival top foreign brands in the domestic market and help Sinotruk extend its sales to developed countries.

Sinotruk's heavy-duty trucks receive good reception at the exhibition in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

Sinotruk's MAN T/C series of trucks has had a favorable market response in 2014, with large sales. Ma has said that they will pay more attention to the MAN series in 2015, to improve its products, market structure and operations. The company has exported a wider range of automobiles to more than 90 countries and has six branches in Asia, the Mid East, Africa and South America.

The production line of Sinotruk's branch in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

Sinotruk also signed a $100-million deal with Nigeria's Dangote Group, Africa's leading manufacturer and supplier of cement, steel and petroleum, in May, for an assembly plant to produce 5,000 heavy-duty trucks a year in Lagos, the capital of the country. The deal is part of a larger agreement that China and Africa signed during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya, May 4-11.

Sinotruk was established in 1956 and has been a pioneer in heavy-duty truck manufacturing in China and produced the country's first heavy truck in 1960. Its theme for the coming year is "Innovation brings value".

Wang Qian contributed to the story