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by Peter Mertz
LAS VEGAS, the United States, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese construction moguls who came to this desert oasis spoke words of praise for the new American president and the prospect of increased trade between the two most powerful economies in the world.
"I slept in Trump Towers last night and the hotel was excellent," said Min Wang, president of the XCMG, the ninth largest construction equipment maker in the world with 2016 revenues of 3.6 billion U.S. dollars.
"Please tell President (Donald) Trump we collaborate well with American companies, and our products are of very good quality and are priced well," Wang said, whose equipment is exported to 170 countries around the globe.
Last year, the Chinese construction titan was the personal guest of Brazilian President Michel Temer to discuss rebuilding the infrastructure of the world's ninth largest economy with a GDP of 1.8 trillion dollars.
With Trump saying he will rebuild America's "highways, bridges, tunnels, and airports," he is describing infrastructure components that define China's explosive growth during the past two decades.
"It's without governmental regulations to slow down the construction which is why China can accomplish so much, so fast," said Denver Republican analyst James Ryder.
"Trump and the Chinese are the perfect partners," Ryder, a retired oil executive, told Xinhua.
Wang and the bevy of wealthy Chinese construction businessmen who attended 2017 ConExpo this week weren't the only ones giving compliments to America's new president.
"The people attending this show are workers - they supported Trump and we know he represents our interests," Steve Norman told Xinhua.
Norman, 58, was one of 130,000 ConExpo attendees who filled parking lots with construction equipment.
"As long as the playing field is equal, let the best business win," said Norman, who told Xinhua that he has no problem with China entering the U.S. market. "Competition is the American way," he said.
Schaffer, a 36-year-old businessman who runs a parts manufacturing plant in Illinois, is one of many American businessmen who downgraded brand loyalty in a "bottom-line" American business climate.
"Construction manufacturing is already one of the most international industries in the world...there is not one machine made in the USA that doesn't have foreign parts," he said.
With companies from Switzerland, Germany, America, China, South Korea and Japan ranking in the top 10 equipment makers in the world, Americans in the business seem unafraid of international competition.
"We just want to make sure it's a fair deal," said Wayne Day from Centralia, Washington.
Day, 67, runs a trucking company and is one of millions of Americans who voted for Trump because he "promised to stop jobs from disappearing from U.S. soil."
"We need to bring jobs back to America and stop outsourcing labor," said Day, repeating a familiar Trump campaign theme.
Of all the major Chinese equipment producers, Sany Heavy Equipment Corp., one of the world's top sellers with annual revenues of 6.3 billion dollars, seems positioned best to heed the Trump message.
In 2011, Sany opened a factory in Peachtree City, Georgia that currently employs 100 locals, with promises of having a staff that's 80 percent American.
Meanwhile, the American media criticizes Trump's ability to accomplish his infrastructure rebuilding feat.
The American Society of Civil Engineers calls the cost about five trillion dollars by 2040.
"Perhaps the solution lies across the vast Pacific," Ryder said.
"The Chinese are the master infrastructure builders of the 21st century already. They can build anything, build it well, and build it cheaper than anybody on Earth."
"Why not partner up with some real players?" Ryder asked.
