Why Indian tractors sell better than Chinese ones in Africa? 为什么印度拖拉机在非洲卖得比中国好？

Farm workers offload carrots from a tractor at a farm in Eikenhof, near Johannesburg, South Africa on June 19, 2018.

农场工人在2018年6月19日在南非约翰内斯堡附近的艾肯霍夫农场卸载胡萝卜

Li Tie, a Chinese businessman who has been trading Chinese manufactured agricultural machinery in Africa for almost 20 years, always sees his Indian counterparts as strong competitors in local market.李铁是一位在非洲从事中国制造农业机械近20年的中国商人，他总是将印度同行视为当地市场的强劲竞争对手。

"Agricultural machinery, made in India, may account for about a 15 percent of market share in Zambia, while those from China are around 15 percent to 25 percent," Li, the chairman of Shanghai-based CAMCO Group, told the Global Times in an interview on Tuesday.“ 上海CAMCO集团董事长李铁周二接受环球时报”采访时表示：“在印度生产的农业机械可能占赞比亚市场份额的15％左右，而来自中国的农业机械约占15％至25％”

"While looking at the specific category of agricultural tractors, India's advantage is more obvious, with its share in Africa possibly doubles that of Chinese manufactured tractors," Li said.

“在研究农用拖拉机的具体类别时，印度的拖拉机优势更加明显，其在非洲的份额可能是中国制造的拖拉机的两倍，”李总表示。

Li's company is now cooperating with more than 30 farm equipment suppliers in China and selling their products to Africa, mainly to Zambia. 李总的公司目前正在与中国30多家农业设备供应商合作，并将产品销往非洲，主要销往赞比亚。

Liu Hanwu, chairman of Beijing-based Debont Corp, a supplier of agricultural equipment, also mentioned India's advantage over China in the African market. "Major Indian brands, particularly Mahindra & Mahindra, are quite popular among African farmers, and they have quite good quality and reliability," Liu said in an interview with the Global Times on Wednesday.

北京德邦大为科技股份有限公司公司董事长刘汉武（总部位于北京的农业设备供应商）也提到了印度在非洲市场的优势。刘总在周三接受“环球时报”采访时表示 “印度主要品牌，特别是马恒达，在非洲农民中非常受欢迎，他们的质量和可靠性都非常好，”。

Mahindra & Mahindra, the biggest tractor player in India, currently holds a 43 percent market share of the Indian tractor industry. It also sets quite aggressive goals for its overseas businesses, aiming to draw half of its revenue from overseas operations in the next two to three years, according to a report from India newspaper business-standard.com

.马恒达是印度最大的拖拉机运营商，目前占印度拖拉机行业43％的市场份额。 据印度报纸business-standard.com报道，该公司还为其海外业务制定了相当积极的目标，旨在未来两到三年内将海外业务量达到一半。

The company set up a separate business unit to focus on the African market in 2015.

该公司在2015年成立了一个独立的业务部门，专注于非洲市场

Vast opportunity 巨大的机遇

Africa has huge demands for agricultural machinery. According to data from the World Bank, farming accounts for 60 percent of total employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture also plays a critical role in promoting poverty reduction, economic growth and environment sustainability across the continent. 
非洲对农业机械的需求很大。根据世界银行的数据，农业占撒哈拉以南非洲总就业人口的60％。 农业在促进整个非洲大陆的减贫，经济增长和环境可持续性方面也发挥着关键的作用。

"Take Zambia as an example, with more than 1,000 developed large scale commercial farms and more than 40,000 emerging farms, the market is quite attractive for equipment manufacturers from around the world," Li told the Global Times.“以赞比亚为例，拥有1000多个大型商业农场和4万多个新兴农场，这个市场对全球设备制造商来说非常具有吸引力，”李总告诉环球时报。

The good prospects have also prompted some companies to lift their forecasts for the market. As an example, US-based Deere & Co said it expected demand for its farm equipment in Africa to grow eight to 10 percent per annum in the coming years, according to a Reuters report in November 2018, citing Jacques Taylor, managing director of John Deere Sub-Saharan Africa.良好的前景也促使一些公司提升对市场的预测。 例如，总部位于美国的约翰迪尔表示，根据路透社2018年11月的一份报告，预计未来几年非洲农场设备的需求将以每年8％至10％的速度增长，并引用约翰迪尔（撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲）总经理雅克·泰勒的话说：

"We see three or four countries with significant upside growth potential in the medium-term," he said, adding that the company also sees opportunities in countries like Angola, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

我们认为中期有三到四个国家具有显着的上升增长潜力，”他说，并补充说该公司还看到了安哥拉，津巴布韦，埃塞俄比亚和尼日利亚等国家的机会。

Escorts, India's third-largest tractor maker, is also aiming to quintuple exports over the next two years by focusing on Africa, saying that the (African) continent could be its second home market going forward, according to a Nikkei report in July, 2018.

印度第三大拖拉机制造商Escorts也计划在未来两年内通过专注于非洲，来实现五倍的出口额，并表示非洲大陆可能成为其未来的第二个本土市场，据日经新闻2018年7月的报道。

While Li noted that China's opportunities are more lying in the emerging modern farms and smaller farmers. Owners of big commercial farms, who have stronger purchasing power, prefer to buy products from Europe and the US, which are global brand names of good quality, and using the latest technology.

李总说，中国的机会更多地在新兴的现代农场和小农户中。拥有较强购买力的大型商业农场主更愿意从欧洲和美国购买产品，这些产品是优质的国际品牌，并采用了最新技术。

"While for smaller farmers, since they don't have much brand loyalty and carry less weight with the manufacturers, the cost-effective products from India and China are their preferred choice, " Li noted. "By far, India performs better than China in terms of agricultural tractors."“

“虽然对于规模较小的农民来说，由于他们没有太多的品牌忠诚度，并且资金上也比较有限，所以来自印度和中国的高性价比产品是他们的首选，”李说。 “到目前为止，印度在农用拖拉机方面的表现要好于中国。”

India advantage 印度的优势

Li pointed out that one reason for its popularity is that though not as advanced as those from Europe and the US, Indian products enjoy an advantage of good technology, reliability and stability over Chinese products.李总指出，印度产品受欢迎的一个原因是，尽管不如欧美国家那样先进，但印度产品在技术，可靠性和稳定性方面都优于中国产品。

Liu said that "The technology gap between India-made and China-made tractors under 100 horsepower is not obvious, and the prices of the two are also quite similar." 刘汉武总说：“印度制造和中国制造的拖拉机在100马力以下的技术差距并不明显，两者的价格也非常相似。”

Nevertheless, both Liu and Li cautioned that in a bid to catch up with Indian players, Chinese companies have to adjust their "mindset" when doing business in Africa.

尽管如此，刘总和李总说，为了赶上印度企业，中国企业在非洲开展业务时必须调整自己的“心态”。

"They [Chinese companies] have to 'build brands,' instead of just 'sell products' in the African market. For example, they need to set up a complete supply chain, including after-sale service stations near the local customers in order to win their trust and build a long-term relationship," Liu said.“他们[中国公司]必须'打造品牌'，而不仅仅是'在非洲市场'销售产品'。例如， 为了赢得他们的信任并建立长期合作关系，他们需要建立一个完整的供应链，包括当地客户附近的售后服务站，“刘总说。

Compared to its Chinese counterparts, Indian brands such as Mahindra & Mahindra and TAFE have already gained some traction in the industry, and are even targeting the high-end market, hoping to rival Western manufacturers. 与中国同行相比，马恒达和塔菲拉等印度品牌已经在行业中获得了一些牵引力，甚至瞄准了高端市场，希望能与西方制造商竞争。

"Not only Indian players, but even Turkish and Brazilian tractor makers have their own outlets there, " Liu said, adding that he also hoped that Chinese government could offer more support and streamline processes for companies who want to establish service stations overseas.
“不仅印度产品，甚至土耳其和巴西拖拉机制造商都有自己的网点，”刘总说，并补充说，他还希望中国政府能够为希望在海外建立服务站的公司提供更多支持和简化流程。

Liu further noted that another advantage Indian business people have in Africa, is that most of them tend to be proficient in English, and it's relatively easy for them to adapt to the local culture. 刘总进一步指出，印度商人在非洲的另一个优势是，他们中的大多数人往往精通英语，他们相对容易能适应当地文化。

"In fact, for Chinese manufacturers and suppliers, language is a major barrier," according to Liu.“事实上，对于中国制造商和供应商来说，语言是一个主要障碍，”刘总说。

Li noted that India's early entry into the African market also enabled them to gain an early foothold in the continent. "In Africa, including Zambia, there are many Indo-African [or African-Indian] based there," Li stated, adding that many of them have already found local supply channels for their farm equipment.李总指出，印度早期进入非洲市场也使他们能够在非洲大陆获得早期立足点。“在非洲，包括赞比亚，有许多印裔非洲[或非裔印度人]，”李总补充说，他们中的许多人已经找到了他们的农场设备的当地供应渠道。

China catch up 中国的追赶

Experts said that China's agricultural machinery sector is "big, while not strong,"and most Chinese manufacturers only manufacture low-end equipment.专家表示，中国的农业机械行业“虽然不强大”，但大多数中国制造商只生产低端设备。

"To manufacture high-end products, we still need to import some critical parts from countries like Germany, or even import the entire item of equipment," Liu noted.

“为了生产高端产品，我们仍然需要从德国等国家进口一些关键零件，甚至进口整套设备，”刘总说。

Some Chinese farmers still use second-hand agricultural machinery imported from Europe, the US and Japan. "We import all kinds of machinery, including automatic harvesters, felling machines and equipment to plant trees," Wan Bishu, an employee from Huan Hang Import Co based in South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times.

一些中国农民仍然使用从欧洲，美国和日本进口的二手农业机械。“我们进口各种机械，包括自动收割机，伐木机和植树设备，”来自广东省环安进口有限公司的员工万必树告诉环球时报。

Wan said that the used equipment from Europe is usually gathered at ports in Germany and then transferred to China by sea. After customs clearance, the agricultural machinery is sent to buyers around China, including Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.万说，来自欧洲的二手设备通常聚集在德国的港口，然后通过海运转移到中国。通关后，农机被送往中国各地的买家，包括西北地区的新疆维吾尔自治区。

"The gap between European-produced agricultural machines and the ones made in China are just like the gap between cars of the two regions," Wan said.“欧洲生产的农业机械与中国制造的农业机械之间的差距就像两个地区的汽车之间的差距，”万说。

The dependence in key technology, which could be seen in many domestic industries, cannot be solved overnight, so we should focus on improving the quality of Chinese products, and strengthen the research and development investment, in order to catch up, said Liu.刘说，关键技术的依赖，可以在很多国内产业中看到，这个问题不可能在一夜之间解决，因此我们应该着眼于提高中国产品的质量，加强研发投入。

Experts told the Global Times that with China's increasing mechanization levels in its agricultural sector, the agricultural machinery sector is expected to develop at a much faster pace. Mechanization rate for crop cultivation and harvesting in China increased by 1 percent to more than 66 percent in 2017, according to a report from sohu.com.专家告诉环球时报，随着中国农业机械化水平的提高，预计农业机械行业将以更快的速度发展。 据sohu.com报道，2017年中国作物种植和收获的机械化率增长了1％，达到了66％以上。

Customs data also showed that the total trade volume of China's agricultural machinery industry reached $12.327 billion in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 11.18 percent. The export value was $100.89 billion, up 14.53 percent year-on-year.海关数据还显示，2017年中国农业机械行业总贸易额达到123.27亿美元，同比增长11.18％。 出口额为100.89亿美元，同比增长14.53％

Song Wei, Associate research fellow at Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times that currently, China's help to Africa in the agricultural industry still centers around small farmers, for example, to teach them how to plant crops.  If we could help countries build large-scale farms, Chinese machinery might be able to gain more recognition in Africa.中国国际贸易经济合作研究院副研究员宋伟告诉环球时报，目前，中国对农业非洲的帮助仍然围绕着小农户，例如，教他们如何种植农作物。如果我们能够帮助各国建设大型农场，中国的机器可能会在非洲获得更多的认可。