SHANGHAI, Jun 9 (SMM) – China’s excavator sales maintained solid growth in May, suggesting that Beijing’s infrastructure push aimed at offsetting the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and boosting the economy is taking hold.

Data from China Construction Machinery Association showed that excavator sales increased 68% year on year to 31,744 units in May, compared with April’s 60% and market forecasts of 50%.

Domestic sales accounted for 29,521 units, up 76.32% year on year, while exports inched up just 1.08% during the same period to 2,223 units as economic activity outside China was hit hard by coronavirus lockdowns.

For the first five months of 2020, China’s excavator sales stood at 145,800 units, up 19.4% from the same period the year before.