What are the market opportunities for major exporting countries of agricultural machinery in China? What kind of overseas risks will you encounter? On January 10, 2026, at the "2026 China Agricultural Machinery Going Global Forum" hosted by the China Agricultural Machinery Circulation Association, organized by the Import and Export Branch, Finance Branch, and Media Branch of the China Agricultural Machinery Circulation Association, and hosted by Wanzhan (Beijing) International Exhibition Co., Ltd. and Rhinoceros China Agricultural Machinery Export Network, with exclusive support from the "Agricultural Machinery Market" magazine, Qiu Yuanbin, President of the International Exhibition and Marketing Professional Committee of the China Business Culture Research Association, presided over a discussion on the topic of "Opportunities and Risks of China's Agricultural Machinery Export Market". Wang Chunlei, Vice General Manager of the China (Brazil) Investment and Trade Center, Fu Jie, Founder of Lama International (Latin America) and Chief Representative of the Brazilian Exhibition Federation in Asia, Li Ying, China Representative of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in Southern Africa, and China Representative of the Russian Agricultural Machinery Distributors Association. Four guests, Zhang Yingbin, respectively focused on Brazil, Southeast Asia Deeply analyze the opportunities, risks, and targeted entry suggestions for agricultural machinery going global in the four core markets of South Africa and Russia, and provide accurate guidance for enterprises going global.
The picture shows Qiu Yuanbin, Chairman of the International Exhibition and Marketing Professional Committee of the China Business Culture Research Association
Wang Chunlei, Deputy General Manager of China (Brazil) Investment and Trade Center, provided a detailed interpretation of the Brazilian agricultural machinery market. As the "world's granary", Brazilian agriculture has been the only industry that has grown in the past decade. By 2025, the circulation of agricultural machinery will reach 1.65 million units, and it is expected to increase to 1.8 million units by 2030. 55% of the equipment needs to be updated and replaced, indicating huge market potential. He pointed out that companies can directly connect with customers through professional exhibitions, but they need to be alert to two core risks: firstly, Brazil generally adopts a forward payment model, which has low effectiveness of bill of lading payment model and high collection risk; Secondly, there are loopholes in the policy of picking up goods without a bill of lading in the local area, and in extreme cases, the importer can pick up the goods with a special order from the court. It is recommended that enterprises conduct customer credit research through institutions such as Sinosure and Dun&Bradstreet in advance, and quickly enter the market with high-quality industry agents. They should also attach importance to after-sales parts reserves and localized layout, and plan to set up factories in the long run to enjoy local subsidies and loan benefits.
The picture shows Wang Chunlei, Deputy General Manager of China (Brazil) Investment and Trade Center
Fu Jie, founder of La Ma International (Latin America) and Asia Chief Representative of the Brazilian Exhibition Federation, focuses on the global market in Latin America, emphasizing that many Latin American countries have a core industrial structure of "agriculture+mining" and strong demand for agriculture. Brazil, as a core market, has 90% family farms and a mechanization rate of only 40%. President Lula has introduced a 30% -50% agricultural subsidy policy, bringing opportunities for agricultural machinery enterprises. However, the penetration rate of Chinese agricultural machinery brands is still relatively low, and there is a large market space for small and medium-sized brands. He also reminded that small and medium-sized countries in Latin America have an urgent demand for Chinese small and medium-sized agricultural machinery and second-hand machinery, and new energy agricultural machinery can achieve overtaking through energy advantages. In terms of risk, Brazil faces the risk of tariff fluctuations. Some industry associations have proposed to increase the import tariff on agricultural machinery from 17% to 25%. In addition, seasonal payment pressure in logistics and warehousing, strict access certification (INMETRO certification for conventional agricultural machinery and Anatel certification for drones), and supply chain financial risks also need to be prevented as a priority.
The picture shows Fu Jie, founder of Lama International (Latin America)
Li Ying, the Chinese representative of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in Southern Africa, based on his years of experience living in South Africa, pointed out that South Africa is a high-quality entry point into the African market. South Africa has mature market rules and perfect commercial, legal and transportation systems, which can radiate to southern African countries such as Botswana and Mozambique. As the largest agricultural exhibition in the southern hemisphere, Nanpu Exhibition attracts a large number of professional buyers, and exhibitors focus on core needs such as after-sales and equipment loss rate. Currently, South Africa is still in the stage of long-term power and social structural transformation triggered by the end of apartheid. More and more local black people can obtain land and loans through government subsidies to enter the agricultural sector. They have low dependence on European and American brands and pay more attention to product quality, after-sales service, and cost-effectiveness. In the next five years, they will usher in a golden window period for brand replacement. He suggested that small and medium-sized enterprises move their focus to South Africa, without the need to rush for large-scale distribution. They can first deploy personnel locally to collect information, connect with small and medium-sized distributors, and jointly develop the market.
The picture shows Li Ying, the Chinese representative of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in Southern Africa
Zhang Yingbin, the Chinese representative of the Russian Agricultural Machinery Dealers Association, analyzed the current situation and prospects of the Russian agricultural machinery market. He stated that although the Russian agricultural machinery market is currently experiencing a deep downturn, with demand decreasing by 25% in 2025 compared to 2024, demand still exists and is expected to bottom out and rebound in the second half of 2026. The market downturn is due to systemic pressures such as deteriorating financing environment (loan interest rates of 20% -25%), changes in planting structure, sanctions, and exchange rate fluctuations, as well as the limited supply of agricultural machinery caused by local enterprises turning to military production. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the exit of European and American machinery formed an empty window period, and a large number of Chinese enterprises swarmed in. However, due to the failure to do a good job in parts traceability and after-sales service system, some enterprises have exited. He pointed out that industry competition has disrupted the order of the Russian market, leading to vicious price competition. It is suggested that enterprises should abide by local market rules and attach importance to long-term brand operation. The Russian dealer association is willing to dock high-quality factories. This market still has great development potential in the post Russia-Ukraine conflict period.
The picture shows Zhang Yingbin, the Chinese representative of the Russian Agricultural Machinery Dealers Association
In addition, several guests from component companies shared their practical experience and suggestions on exporting component products. Han Tian, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Huace Navigation Technology Co., Ltd., used agricultural machinery navigation as an example to talk about the slow growth of sales in the early stages of going global due to software operation interfaces that did not conform to the usage habits of Europeans and Americans, and functions that could not match the needs of locally developed agricultural machinery. Subsequently, by dispatching R&D, product, and technical teams to reside in various regions, closely connecting with users and distributors for debugging and optimization, after a year of integrating functional adaptation, we successfully won the largest local distributors in Germany, Japan, and other regions, forming a benchmark demonstration effect. He emphasized that the quality and stability of Chinese enterprise products are no longer a problem, and the key is to meet the personalized needs of customers in different regions. When the product fully meets the needs, customers have lower price sensitivity, and product competitiveness is fundamental.
The picture shows Han Tian, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Huace Navigation Technology Co., Ltd
Zhou Yun, the general manager of Ningbo Kangbo Machinery Co., Ltd., shared her insights based on her own experience of participating in exhibitions in Russia. At that time, most of the more than 30 companies that had registered for the exhibition withdrew due to the situation and the epidemic. In the end, only three people participated in the exhibition. After struggling, they chose to participate in two consecutive exhibitions, renting cars and driving more than 11000 kilometers to visit customers. She concluded that suppliers need precise positioning to acquire customers, and only serve high, medium, and low-end customers who are matched, in order to avoid excessive marketing and exaggeration in order to seize all opportunities, which may lead to customers losing trust due to differences after receiving goods. She suggested using objective data in marketing to explain products and avoid disputes caused by vague adjectives; At the same time, we should face up to the cognitive boundary differences between international buyers and Chinese suppliers, and avoid information gaps that lead to misplaced expectations. Zhou Yun suggests that companies should accurately position their companies and products, deeply cultivate markets and customers that match their needs, and spend 3-5 years cultivating them with care, without blindly following the trend.
The picture shows Zhou Yun, General Manager of Ningbo Kangbo Machinery Co., Ltd
Zhao Guozhu, General Manager of Steyr Transmission Machinery (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., focused on the export of components and shared his experience of participating in the Italian agricultural machinery exhibition through Wanzhan Rhinoceros remote exhibition technology during the epidemic, meeting major European customers, and achieving mass production in 2025 after two years of testing and experimentation. This customer contributed 15% of the marketing share (about 5 million US dollars) that year. He admitted that it is difficult for components to go global, and growth depends on new customers and markets. He suggested that companies go abroad to explore the Southeast Asian market. At the same time, Zhao Guozhu suggested that before going abroad, it is necessary to ensure product quality, and large customers cannot tolerate trial and error. Once mistakes are made, cooperation opportunities may be lost for a long time; To avoid blind competition, the low-end market competition in foreign countries is more intense, and some countries have lower costs than China. We should first improve our internal strength before deepening our service.
The picture shows Zhao Guozhu, General Manager of Steyr Transmission Machinery (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd
As a representative of the leading enterprise exporting garden machinery to Europe, Zhang Zefei from Ningbo Cuike Machinery Co., Ltd. has provided valuable reference for Chinese enterprises going global to Europe. Zhang Zefei pointed out that the position of Chinese enterprises in the European market has achieved a leapfrog improvement, and the market pattern has undergone significant changes. When Chinese companies participated in European exhibitions in the early days, they were mostly concentrated in the peripheral "China exhibition area" and were in a weak market position; Now this situation has completely changed, with thousands of Chinese companies entering the European market, including many listed companies, and their scale continues to expand.
From the perspective of development stage, Chinese enterprises have gradually upgraded from undertaking scattered orders and OEM for international brands in the early stage to directly competing with European core brands for core products. Some categories, such as robot lawn mowers, have already occupied 60% -70% of the European market share, and their own brands have emerged strongly.
Regarding enterprise management, Zhang Zefei combines his practical experience to propose four core lessons: firstly, focusing on core product categories, as cross industry operations in small businesses can easily lead to team fatigue; Secondly, strict control of product quality and establishment of a rigorous quality control system; The third is to follow a scientific product development process, through in-depth analysis of competitors and precise definition of products, to enable the product to form its own competitiveness, rather than relying on sales rhetoric; The fourth is to strengthen internal management. It is recommended to learn Danaher tools to create a self operating management system that balances cost efficiency and customer product needs.
The picture shows Zhang Zefei from Ningbo Cuike Machinery Co., Ltd
The sharing of several guests comprehensively analyzed the opportunities and challenges of the European market. Overseas enterprises need to accurately position market customers, focus on core categories, strictly control quality, and do a good job in long-term operations. Grasping the market window, avoiding risks, and deeply cultivating segmented fields can help Chinese enterprises develop steadily internationally and achieve a leap from product going global to brand going global.
Editor: Ge Xiaoyu
Editor in Chief: Zhang Yingda
Reviewed by: Ma Zheng
