Award-winning projects span electric mining equipment, predictive maintenance and automated earthwork monitoring
XUZHOU, China, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 15th China Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition – “AI + Construction Machinery” Division, co-organized by XCMG, concluded in Xuzhou on Oct. 30. Among the winners were international companies and universities with projects focused on smarter, more sustainable construction machinery and operations.
Yang Dongsheng (left) presents the First Prize in the Customer Co-creation track to a representative from Austria’s VA Erzberg GmbH for their electric mining truck project at the ‘AI + Construction Machinery’ Competition in Xuzhou.
“Through this competition, we aim to turn real industry needs into innovation challenges and bring partners together to solve technical problems in construction machinery,” said Yang Dongsheng, chairman of XCMG Group and XCMG Machinery. He identified embodied intelligence as a key area for development and said XCMG would draw on its innovation platforms, testing resources and industry funds to bring AI innovations to worksites and serve customers worldwide.
Hosted by the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other government and industry organizations, the competition drew participants from more than 20 countries and regions. More than 2,750 teams registered, and the competition received over 1,600 project submissions. After preliminary and semifinal rounds, 106 projects advanced to the finals. International teams earned awards in both the Customer Co-Creation and Professional Contest tracks.
Austria’s VA Erzberg GmbH won first prize in the Customer Co-Creation track for its electric mining truck project. Fortescue Trading Shanghai received second prize in the same track for a project using real-world mining experience to optimize the full lifecycle of next-generation zero-emission mining equipment.
Urgench State University in Uzbekistan received third prize in the Professional Contest’s Team Group, AI + Product category, for SmartFleet UZ. The AI platform is designed to predict equipment failures and assist operators of UzXCMG construction machinery.
Indonesia’s Manado State Polytechnic received third prize in the Team Group’s AI + Worksite Scenarios category for TerraSight AI, a system designed to automatically monitor earthwork progress and volumes.
Germany’s RWTH Aachen University received an Excellence Award in the Team Group’s AI + Product category for a solution designed to adapt autonomous mining trucks to multiple operating scenarios.
Agreements covering six projects selected through the competition’s Open Challenge track and four commercialization projects were signed at the closing event.
XCMG will continue connecting competition teams with funding sources, industry and research partners, talent and suppliers to help bring their innovations to market.
The closing ceremony of the 15th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition AI + Construction Machinery Division is held in Xuzhou on Oct. 30, with attendees seated facing a large stage screen displaying event branding.
