A screenshot showing workers assembling tank parts. [Photo/CCTV]

VT-4, 53 tons in weight and 7.2 meters in length, requires a strong made-in-China "heart" to support its cruise speed of 71 km/hour. Only three other countries can produce tanks that reach such a speed.

The CCTV documentary introduced the factory that produced the VT-4's engine compartment, the first developed by China independently. It offers power of up to 1,200 horsepower. China could not produce this kind of engine compartment five years ago.

"An international standard is that a tank should raise its speed from zero to 32 kilometers in 12 seconds, but our vehicle could finish the acceleration within 10 seconds," Zhang Yu, a test team head at Norinco, said.

When the country produced the MBT-2000 tank to match the world level in terms of protection capability and firepower, one problem was that the engine compartment was imported, and it was still using fixed axle transmission.