Economy

China's largest shield machine base starts up

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-16 21:08

ZHENGZHOU - Two huge digging machines rolled off the production line of China Railway Tunneling Equipment Co, Ltd on Thursday in the city of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province.

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This marked China's largest production base for shield machines - a special type of tunnel digger -- was in full swing, said Zhang Zhiguo, the general manager assistant of the company.

The base, with a total investment of 500 million yuan ($77.2 million) by the company, a subsidiary of China Railway Group, has integrated research, design, processing, and manufacturing of shield machines.

The shield machines are the most advanced machinery for tunneling in the world, and the base is designed to produce more than 40 shield machines annually, compared to 23 manufactured by the company in 2010, Zhang said.

The company's shield machines produced so far are 60 percent home-grown, with many key components entirely domestically-made, he said.