On March 12, at the 2026 London International Book Fair, Tsinghua University Press (TUP) and Springer Nature held a launch ceremony for the latest English volumes in the Handbook of Construction Machinery series: the Handbook of Port Machinery, the Handbook of Piling Machinery, Concrete Machinery and Mortar Machinery, and the Handbook of Environmental Sanitation and Protection Machinery. The event was attended by LU Xianhe, General Editor of TUP; James Finlay, Vice President, Applied Sciences Books, Springer Nature; and Stephen YEUNG, Editorial Director, STM Major Reference Works, Springer Nature.
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In his opening speech titled "Connecting Minds Through Pages: Sharing Chinese Wisdom with the World," LU Xianhe pointed out that the Handbook of Construction Machinery, the first comprehensive reference work of its kind in China, spans 21 volumes and contains over 20 million Chinese characters. The project represents 14 years of dedicated effort by nearly 1,000 scholars and experts, offering a systematic and comprehensive overview of China's construction machinery sector. He highlighted that the shared commitment to scientific communication between TUP and Springer Nature has been instrumental in bringing selected volumes to an international audience. English editions--including the Handbook of Port Machinery, the Handbook of Piling Machinery, Concrete Machinery and Mortar Machinery, and the Handbook of Environmental Sanitation and Protection Machinery--have successfully crossed linguistic barriers to reach global readers. This endeavor not only provides intellectual support for industrial development and the Belt and Road Initiative, but also signals that China's expertise and experience in construction machinery are now widely recognized, utilized, and respected worldwide.
LU Xianhe delivers the opening remarks.
James Finlay shared insights into Springer Nature's publishing strategy in applied sciences and its ongoing collaboration with the Chinese publishing industry. He noted that through in-depth partnerships with Chinese publishers, Springer Nature is able to bring Chinese standards and solutions, such as the Handbook of Construction Machinery, to a global audience of professional readers. He expressed sincere gratitude to the team at TUP for their dedication and strong support, and expressed his hope that the launch would help the handbooks better serve engineering and construction projects worldwide, while enhancing their professional influence and social impact. Finlay underlined that Springer Nature attaches great importance to China's innovations and technological breakthroughs in applied sciences, and reaffirmed the company's commitment to deepening cooperation in order to bring more Chinese solutions to the global knowledge community.
James Finlay on the importance of Chinese standards and solutions.
Stephen YEUNG shared the latest developments in the publishing of STEM reference works. He highlighted that the Handbook of Construction Machinery series stands out for its practicality, systematic structure, operational value, and strong authority. The handbooks help frontline users and practitioners operate machinery more safely, precisely, and efficiently. He attributed the series' high quality and academic rigor to the relentless efforts of the contributing experts and the publishing team, whose work involved rigorous professional validation, careful resource integration, and deep industry expertise. Yeung stated that the partners will further leverage their high-quality resources to promote more outstanding Chinese reference works to the world, supporting the global dissemination of China's academic achievements and delivering valuable insights to professional readers worldwide.
Stephen YEUNG underscores the value of the Handbook of Construction Machinery series.
The Handbook of Construction Machinery is a landmark comprehensive series covering all major sub-sectors of the construction machinery industry. Launched in 2012, the series completed the publication of all 21 volumes in two phases by the end of 2025. To date, the English versions of three key volumes--the Handbook of Port Machinery, the Handbook of Piling Machinery, Concrete Machinery and Mortar Machinery and the Handbook of Environmental Sanitation and Protection Machinery--have been officially published by Springer Nature. These works bring valuable Chinese solutions to the global engineering and construction community.
