This Day, That Year

Item from Jan 21, 1987, in China Daily: The first group of 10 electric locomotives imported from France were unloaded at Xingang Port, Tianjin, on Monday. China will import a total of 300 such engines worth more than $540million from France to upgrade its railway system.

Much modern technology, including the locomotives imported from France, was introduced to China in the 1980s. All these helped the country get up to speed on its manufacturing capability.

At the beginning of this year, China's two main train manufacturers, the CNR and CSR groups, merged.