Beijing-based Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd., which has U.S. headquarters in Atlanta and is working to branch out to the rest of the country, had the largest display at last week's -World of Concrete trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Sany executives were assisted by Las Vegas-based Chinese Host, which provided logistical support.

More than 80,000 people attended the annual trade show where 1,800 companies displayed products on more than 900,000 square feet indoors and outdoors at the Convention Center.

World of Concrete draws commercial contractors, masonry and concrete craftsmen, managers and producers to various displays and presents 90-minute and three-hour training sessions in the construction field.

Sany brought its new 216-foot concrete pump boom - the tallest in the industry - to show off at the five-day show, which ran through Jan. 25.

This year the show, the second major January convention in Las Vegas, is a prelude to the gigantic ConExpo-Con/Ag show beginning March 11. That event is expected to draw 135,000 attendees, and Sany plans to show the 216-foot boom as well as its line of pumps, booms and other equipment there.

ConExpo-Con/Ag is presented every three years and is expected to be the largest convention in Las Vegas this year.

Sany has a major presence in China, where the company's equipment has been used to build the Hong Kong International Financial Center, major industrial parks in Shanghai and Beijing and is being used to build the Sutong Bridge over the Yangtze River - at 3,570 feet, the world's longest suspension bridge.

The company is working to network across the United States.

Endong Wang, sales manager for Sany America in Atlanta, said Sany equipment is being used in Southern Nevada on the Manhattan West condominiums.

Wang said many of the workers attending the World of Concrete show and the upcoming ConExpo-Con/Ag are based in China, setting up logistical issues for the company. Enter Las Vegas-based David Huang, president of Chinese Host, which contracted with Sany on the detail work of bringing Chinese conventioneers to Las Vegas.

Huang said cultural differences between Chinese businesspeople and their American counterparts have slowed Sany's ability to gear up quickly in the U.S. market. In addition to delivering logistically on lodging, transportation, meet-and-greet events and staffing, Huang coached Sany executives on what to expect at the Las Vegas shows.

"Sany is one of China's top 20 companies, and it's going to have 150 staff people here for ConExpo. But many of them really don't understand the business culture here so we're helping them with that," Huang said. "We arranged things like air tickets, visas and buyer events and the bus transportation from one site to another. But explaining some of the differences between here and there is a little more complicated."

Huang, who has been in Las Vegas for 20 years, has an office in Guangzhou and works with businesses in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He meets with company executives overseas before they travel to the United States.

He noted that several Chinese companies have worked with logistics planners in Los Angeles who may be good at indoctrinating visitors to American ways, but have little knowledge of Las Vegas and its trade show market.

"We figure that the more we help them, the better it is for the Las Vegas economy because these companies spend elsewhere in Las Vegas," Huang said. "The more they grow here, the better it is for all of us."

Huang said he is working with UNLV to develop programs in China to educate people about American business practices and the Las Vegas convention industry.