Liu Yongdong, a holder of 46 different patents, is a genius at invention in his company in Hunan province, always solving technical problems with his new inventions.

Liu, a delegate to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China who joined the Party in 2010, was awarded the Chinese patent gold medal, the second prize for national technological innovation and many other accolades.

Liu, born in 1976, joined Sanyi Heavy Industry Co. when he graduated from university in 1998. He is now the general manager of Zhongxin Hydraulic Component Co, a subsidiary of Sanyi.

In 2009, Liu, leading a team, invented a new type of oil cylinder and hydraulic block, core components for a hydraulic system which used to be imported. Liu's inventions have been put into use for pump trucks made in China.

In 2010, Liu's team started to improve the hydraulic valve in order to decrease the vehicles' energy consumption.

"It was a tough task. In the first few months, we tried three models and failed. Luckily, we finally found the right direction in the fourth trial," Liu said. "I remember my team stayed up for three nights to solve the last bottleneck, and then everything went well."

The new hydraulic system has improved pumping efficiency by 15 percent, reducing energy consumption by 80 percent, Liu said.

In 2016, Liu's team invented a new hydraulic cylinder which is used in military equipment.

"Although we made a lot of progress in equipment manufacturing, the core techniques of hydraulic components still lag behind," Liu said, adding that his team will develop more hydraulic products to meet domestic needs.

Zhang Yi contributed to this story.