Special Supplement: Equipment manufacturing industry in full swing

Heilongjiang Province is one of China's oldest industrial bases, with the equipment manufacturing industry standing as one of its economic pillars.

Since the founding of New China half a century ago, and particularly since the opening-up reforms of the late 1970s, the comprehensive technical strength of Heilongjiang's equipment industry has grown steadily.

Heilongjiang has become an important equipment industry base and has been a major contributor to the development of national economy.

Heilongjiang equipment industry is mainly composed of the following sectors: Power station equipment; heavy-duty machinery; automobile engine; railway carriage; heavy-duty CNC machine tools and CNC measuring devices; precise and complex tools; precise, high-speed, heavy-load and low-noise bearings; agricultural equipment; agricultural product processing equipment; branch-line airplanes; multi-purpose planes and helicopters; welding equipment; industrial batteries; robot and electronic equipment; linear motors; and environment protection equipment.

A batch of equipment enterprises famous at home and abroad have been established, including Harbin Power Station Equipment Corporation, China No 1 Heavy-duty Machinery Group Corporation, Qiqihar Railway Car Group Co Ltd, Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Corporation, Harbin Dong'an Engine Group Corporation and Harbin Bearing Group Corporation.

In the fields of power generating, metallurgy, petrochemical equipment, heavy-duty metal cutting machines, press, large agricultural machinery, aircraft, railway carriages, machine tools, measuring tools and bearings, local players have established cooperative relations with many well-known international companies.

Famous overseas companies including General Electric, Mitsubishi, Brazil Aerospace and John Deere have launched joint ventures in the province, further increasing the province's strength in the equipment manufacture industry, and laying a solid foundation for a dynamic shift in international industry.

Heilongjiang's authorities have determined to make the province a first-class equipment manufacturing base in China, with strong international competitiveness, through launching large projects, improving independent research and development capacity, adjusting industrial restructuring and strengthening international cooperation.

(China Daily 09/05/2007 page11)