Blooming Amidst the Storm: BELLA, Global Sales Director at HID, on Her Deep-Sea Expansion.
A Chinese Woman's Dredging Story
During the exhibition, she secured letters of intent for three large cutter suction dredgers. This seemingly delicate
Chinese woman proved to the world with her professionalism and resilience that Chinese women can also forge
ahead in the male-dominated field of heavy equipment.
In 2012, BELLA joined HID as a recent graduate. For the next six months, she practically lived in the workshop.
During the day, she learned equipment principles from experienced workers; at night, she studied technical
manuals until the early hours of the morning. Her notebooks were filled with cross-sectional diagrams of
dredgers, pump system flowcharts, and various parameter comparison tables.
Three months later, her first market analysis report astonished everyone—it not only clearly analyzed the
technical parameters and advantages and disadvantages of HID products but also marked the pricing strategies
and customer distribution of major global competitors, along with differentiated sales recommendations for
different regions. This report later became HID's early "battle map" for its overseas business.
In 2014, BELLA received an almost impossible task: developing the Middle Eastern market.
At that time, the Middle Eastern dredging market was monopolized by established European companies, and
local customers' impression of Chinese dredgers was still that they were "cheap but unreliable." BELLA, carrying
translators and product materials, traveled to three countries in the Middle East, working continuously for over
twenty days.
During a visit to the UAE, a customer pointed to HID's parameter table and coldly said, "Chinese dredgers? We've
used them; the pump lifespan is only half that of European dredgers."
BELLA didn't rush to refute. She took out detailed comparative data from her bag—a wear-resistant pump lifespan
test report completed by HID's R&D center over two years, covering actual operating data under three different
silt conditions. "You're probably referring to the situation three years ago," she said, looking directly into the
customer's eyes, "This is our latest third-party test data. Under the same conditions, the wear-resistant lifespan
of HID pumps is 12% higher than that of a certain European brand. If you don't believe me, we can sign a
performance guarantee clause—if the promised lifespan isn't achieved, we'll give you a full refund."
The customer was stunned by her confidence. But the real turning point came during a late-night conversation.
That night, the client casually mentioned they were working on a land reclamation project in Southeast Asia, with
a tight schedule and complex conditions. While European equipment was stable, its delivery time was 18 months.
BELLA immediately did the math: HID's delivery time was 10 months, the price was 30% lower, and with the total
lifecycle maintenance costs, a single vessel could save the client nearly ten million US dollars. "I know you're
worried about the risks. So, we'll send an after-sales team to the site in advance, providing full support from
assembly and commissioning to the first month of operation. If any problems arise, you can contact BELLA
anytime."
A month later, HID received its first order from the Middle East—three cutter suction dredgers. That day, BELLA
sat alone in her office for a long time. Later, she wrote on her WeChat Moments: "It's not that closing a deal is
difficult; it's that getting an industry and a region to believe in 'Made in China' requires someone to step out
step by step." This initial success wasn't just about the three-vehicle order; it completely ignited the confidence
of HID's senior management in the overseas market—that year, the company decided to formally establish an
independent overseas business unit, led by BELLA.
In 14 years, HID's overseas business has grown from nothing to cover more than 80 countries and regions
worldwide by 2026, with overseas revenue accounting for less than 3% initially to 47%. More importantly, HID's
brand image has upgraded from "high-performance, cost-effective Chinese equipment" to "a trustworthy global
dredging solutions provider."
This is not only her story, but also a microcosm of HID's global journey—starting amidst storms, rising from
skepticism, and arriving at its destination through perseverance.
