When China's Premier, Li Keqiang, visited Africa to promote Chinese technology, on May 4, the HXD2 AC drive electric locomotive from the CNR Datong Electric Locomotive Co made their African debut, marking the third time for the company's locomotives to go abroad with the State leader, after Thailand and Europe.

China also held a railway and aviation exhibition at the African Union Conference Center, in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to demonstrate its advanced railway and aviation technology. A locomotive form the Datong Electric Locomotive Co, sat at the very center of the exhibition hall, with a freight car with the highest load capacity in China. This demonstrates the motivation and reliable performance of Datong's locomotives.

Africa has many mineral resources and the Datong high-power electric locomotive has become the top choice for Africa's freight development, and Datong locomotive has appeared in European markets as well, where its performance has been praised internationally adding more orders.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw