China now builds the world's biggest and most advanced tunnel boring machines (TBMs). Around 70% of the world's TBMs are made in China. But this dominance was hard-won.
In 1997, to build the Qinling Tunnel, China paid Germany RMB 700 million for just two secondhand TBMs. Back then, RMB 700 million was roughly an entire region's annual tax revenue.
And the price tag didn't even include technical support. China also had to hire German engineers at €800 a day (about RMB 6,800 at the time), while the average Chinese worker earned less than RMB 4,000 a year.
At the time, the global market was effectively controlled by the United States, Japan, and Germany. China paid a premium simply because it couldn't make TBMs of its own.
In 2002, China began the long and difficult push to develop TBMs in house. A single TBM contains more than 30,000 precision components.
Six years later, in 2008, China produced its first domestically developed TBM. In a 2012 head-to-head test, it performed on par with the world's best. Today, Chinese TBMs are global leaders. Dignity is earned.
And TBMs are only one example. From humanoid robots to EVs, solar power, and drones, China has no shortage of industries where it has rebuilt strength through hard-won capability.
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