As a flagship product of the equipment manufacturing industry, the shield tunneling machine is the world's most advanced super-large special equipment for tunnel excavation. In recent years, with the continuous heating up of urban rail transit construction in China, the demand for shield tunneling machines has also been growing.

According to statistics, as of May 2010, the total operating mileage of subways in major Chinese cities was 1,039 kilometers. Among the 27 cities that have been approved for construction, 92 lines are planned to be built by the end of 2016, with a total length of 2,677 kilometers and a total investment of 1,073.4 billion yuan. Among them, Beijing's subway mileage in 2010 was 330 kilometers, planned to be 580 kilometers in 2015, and 1,000 kilometers in 2020; Shanghai's mileage in 2010 was 420 kilometers, and will exceed 620 kilometers in 2015. It is predicted that by 2020, 36 cities in China will have subways, and the cumulative operating mileage of urban rail transit will reach 11,042 kilometers. It can be seen that the next 5 to 10 years will usher in a peak period of subway development, which will bring unlimited business opportunities to the shield tunneling market.

It can be predicted that if the service life of a shield tunneling machine is calculated as 10 to 15 kilometers of excavation, the annual demand in the mainland China shield tunneling market will increase by about 100 units. In addition, Chinese companies export about 30 units to countries such as India and the United States each year. In this way, the number of shield tunneling machines in the Chinese market is about 300. At present, the scale of domestic railway construction will increase by 90% compared with the original plan. It is expected that during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, the scale of China's railway planning will be further improved, and the construction of high-speed passenger dedicated lines and urban subways will enter a period of rapid development. At that time, the demand for rail construction equipment will usher in a peak. With the arrival of a new round of national subway construction boom, it is initially estimated that by 2015, about 600 shield tunneling machines will be needed. In the face of broad market application prospects, replacing imports with domestically produced shield tunneling machines is the future goal and main task.

Bleak Reality
It is understood that about 85% of China's shield tunneling machines rely on imports, and companies from Europe and Japan dominate the Chinese shield tunneling machine market. Among them, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which ranks first in the world with a production of 1,670 units, Herrenknecht, which occupies most of the European market share, and Germany's Wirth, which owns multiple brands, are the most eye-catching. Herrenknecht of Germany alone occupies more than 70% of the domestic shield tunneling machine market.

In recent years, many projects such as subways, water conservancy projects, and river-crossing tunnels in China have been launched. Domestic heavy machinery manufacturing enterprises have begun to enter the field of shield tunneling machine manufacturing by cooperating with foreign shield tunneling machine manufacturers, establishing joint ventures, independent research and development, or acquiring foreign companies. Chinese-made shield tunneling machine products have begun to appear in the market. At present, nearly 30 domestic enterprises have entered the shield tunneling machine industry, breaking the situation of foreign shield tunneling machines monopolizing the market. Some enterprises can already undertake projects independently and have the ability and level of independent development, design, manufacturing, complete sets, and construction, and are gradually realizing independentization, localization, industrialization, and marketization.

However, the technology of key components of shield tunneling machines has always been highly monopolized by a few enterprises, and many domestic local enterprises cooperating with foreign companies have actually become OEM workshops undertaking parts manufacturing and assembly. Due to the "customized" characteristics of shield tunneling machines, their manufacturing requires different configurations according to different geological conditions, and the degree of automation and intelligence is very high. These core technologies are firmly in the hands of foreign-funded enterprises.

Based on specific analysis, the prominent problems in China's shield tunneling machine industry are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

First, there is an obvious dependence and gap in domestic enterprises' products and design fields. The gap between shield tunneling machine manufacturing and foreign countries is mainly in design technology, that is, the mastery of various technical design integration, which ultimately comes down to the gap in design talent. In particular, domestic enterprises generally lack excellent shield tunneling machine design talents, causing most companies to manufacture and produce for foreign companies as OEMs, manufacturing and processing according to drawings, and lacking their own core independent innovation technical capabilities.

Second, there are potential hidden dangers in the field of key components. There is also a significant gap in manufacturing process technology, but it is mainly reflected in the manufacturing gap in some component manufacturing industries. Although it is not currently the most important factor restricting the development of the domestic shield tunneling machine manufacturing industry, key components such as main drive components need to be imported from abroad, forming an important potential hidden danger for the long-term development of the future market. Innovation capacity and R&D investment need to be further strengthened and improved.

Third, the market lacks scientific and comprehensive research, and there is a lag in response to market changes and demands, causing information obstacles for domestic enterprises to respond to market changes. The government still needs to improve the construction of a soft environment for the development of the shield tunneling machine industry. Strengthen market supervision and service system construction.

Fourth, the current development status of the shield tunneling machine industry is disordered and non-standardized. Because of its wide range of applications and scattered superior management departments, it is difficult to compile true and specific data on market demand, and the industry has seen a rush of enterprises entering the field.

Fifth, there are many domestic industry enterprises, and there is a certain state of disorderly competition. The market has not yet been fully consolidated, and the unstable corporate competition order hinders stable and healthy competition among enterprises in the market. The industrial structure is unreasonable, with too many enterprises, small scale, many but not strong, large but not refined, lacking market competitiveness and long-term development momentum. The market competition environment needs to be improved, and supervision is not in place.

Forge Ahead and Catch Up

In order to change this passive situation as soon as possible, the state has issued relevant policies focusing on supporting and revitalizing the localization of shield tunneling machines, and has included the research and development of key technologies for shield tunneling machines in the "863" Program. With the completion of the "863" Program and science and technology projects such as the "9th Five-Year Plan" and the "10th Five-Year Plan," related technologies basically meet the needs of modern shield tunneling machine technology development, laying the foundation for the establishment of China's independent shield tunneling machine industrial system. At present, enterprises such as Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, Northern Heavy Industries, China Railway Tunnel, Sany Heavy Industry, XCMG, and XGMA have production bases, strengthened independent research and development capabilities, and continuously achieved results. They are already able to produce shield tunneling equipment with independent intellectual property rights. All these have gathered strength for the integration of China's shield tunneling machine industry, and the localization of shield tunneling machines has finally begun to "start running."

On December 23, 2011, Sany Heavy Industry and Beijing Rail Transit Construction Management Co., Ltd., Beijing Municipal Road and Bridge Holdings, China Railway Fifth Bureau, and China Construction Municipal Engineering launched a shield tunneling machine strategic cooperation ceremony. Sany Heavy Industry will form a strategic partnership with Beijing Rail Transit Construction Management Co., Ltd., give full play to their respective advantages, integrate technology and channel resources, and jointly commit to improving the localization rate of tunnel machinery and the level of mechanized construction of rail engineering. The two companies jointly developed China's first open-chest shield tunneling machine. After nearly two years, the two companies officially rolled it off the production line on November 20, 2013, and officially began soil excavation on Beijing Metro Line 6 at noon on March 12, 2014. Unlike conventional shield tunneling machines, the open-face shield tunneling machine has an unclosed excavation face, and construction personnel can perform auxiliary operations at the front end of the shield tunneling machine. It is mainly suitable for hard soil with low groundwater levels and formations with many large cobbles. Almost all the components used in this shield tunneling machine have been localized, and the core pump uses the flagship product of Putzmeister, a subsidiary of Sany, which is unique among domestic brands.

On September 8, 2012, XGMA Machinery Co., Ltd. "joined hands" with China Railway Tunnel Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to enter the field of shield tunneling machine processing and manufacturing. The two parties will establish a tunnel equipment manufacturing joint venture in Xiamen to produce and manufacture shield tunneling machines, super-large cross-section rectangular shield tunneling machines required for pedestrian tunnels, and small shield tunneling machines (pipe jacking) required for municipal pipe network projects, and jointly open overseas marketing channels to sell the joint venture's and each party's own products. In addition, the two parties will jointly establish a tunnel equipment research and development center to develop a series of tunnel equipment products. XGMA China Railway overcame difficulties such as tight schedules, few personnel, and interleaved operations of various systems. In just 7 months, at 9 a.m. on April 29, 2014, the first shield tunneling machine of XGMA China Railway officially rolled off the production line. This is the first shield tunneling machine "tailor-made" by Xiamen XGMA China Railway Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "XGMA China Railway") specifically for the Xiamen Metro project.

But this does not mean that only Sany and XGMA Machinery have seen such a good opportunity. In fact, on December 18, 2011, construction machinery giant XCMG Group and Jiangsu Kaigong Heavy Industry had already signed an investment cooperation agreement to enter the high-end equipment manufacturing field of tunnel machinery. The two parties cooperated to produce various large tunnel machinery equipment such as shield tunneling machines. However, in March 2013, the first batch of shield tunneling machines from XCMG Kaigong Heavy Industry rolled off the production line in Nanjing, and in June, 116 shield tunneling machines were put into Nanjing Metro construction.

Another point worth mentioning is that building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society and developing a circular economy have become the basic national policies for China's sustainable development. In this context, the localization and remanufacturing of shield tunneling machines and their core components will inevitably become an important task for industrial development. On May 16, an appraisal and review meeting for the localization and remanufacturing of core components of shield tunneling machines was held in Bengbu City, Anhui Province. After evaluation by the expert review panel, it was unanimously agreed that the main drive reducers, hydraulic cylinders, and remanufactured products of shield tunneling machines manufactured by Bengbu Planetary Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd. have reached the domestic leading level, with some technologies reaching the international advanced level; remanufactured products meet or even exceed the original standards. The Maintenance and Remanufacturing Branch of the China Construction Machinery Association awarded Bengbu Planetary Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd. the title of Shield Tunneling Machine Core Component Remanufacturing Base, and the Tunneling Machinery Branch of the China Construction Machinery Association awarded Bengbu Planetary Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd. the title of Shield Tunneling Machine Core Component Localization Base.

Bengbu Planetary Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd., which was awarded the titles of Shield Tunneling Machine Core Component Remanufacturing Base and Shield Tunneling Machine Core Component Localization Base this time, has been devoted to the construction machinery industry for nearly 20 years and has made remarkable achievements in component remanufacturing and localization of key components. The two awards are well deserved. At the same time, it has also set a benchmark in the field of construction machinery components and remanufacturing. The appraisal and review meeting for the localization and remanufacturing of core components of shield tunneling machines will help promote the process of localization and remanufacturing of key components.

 From this point of view, China's shield tunneling machine industry is both delighted by its booming market and worried about overcapacity caused by disorderly development. The shield tunneling machine is a major equipment with strong individualization, high technical difficulty, wide relevance, and large market demand. Enterprises should continuously absorb advanced foreign technologies and also need policy support and supervision guidance to promote healthy and sustainable development. At present, China's shield tunneling industry is still in the initial stage of development. In order to seize market share, enterprises can only occupy a place in the market by continuously improving equipment performance and continuously developing high-performance shield tunneling equipment suitable for domestic use.