Full coverage: 2017 Boao Forum

(Source: CGTN)

China ended 2016 with 22-thousand kilometers of high-speed rail -- the longest network in the world. The country has been striving to make technological breakthroughs to develop its own high-speed railway. Chinese manufacturers have developed domestic versions of high-speed train wheels and axles. This means the country no longer needs to import these vital components.

In the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company, or TISCO, located in the capital of north China’s Shanxi Province, special steel is being produced to make the wheels and axles for high-speed trains. TISCO's steel meets the strict requirements of components for these trains with running speeds of 350 kilometers per hour.

"As the train runs faster and faster, its wheels and axles bear increasing levels of impact and distortion. So for safety concerns, they have to be very strong and flexible enough. Especially when the train runs in extremely cold areas, the wheels and axles have to stand temperatures as low as minus sixty degrees Celsius," Wang Yulin, chief engineer with TISCO Research & Development Department said.

This is the Taiyuan Heavy Industry Company. It's been producing vital components for Chinese high-speed trains for many years. Once TISCO produces the special steel, it will be sent here to make the wheels and axles. High-standard techniques and multiple procedures are necessary to create the final products.

One important procedure is the ultrasound checking, which can detect very tiny quality errors.

"The ultrasound checking process is just like checking a human body. Quality errors within one millimeter in diameter can be detected. Over 90 percent of the wheels and axles meet the quality standard," Li Shulin, deputy general manager with Taiyuan Heavy Industry CO. Ltd.,said.

TISCO started to work on the technology to produce the special steel for high-speed train wheels and axles in 2007. The Taiyuan Heavy Industry Company produced its first batch of China’s own wheels and axles in 2014, with testing continuing until the end of 2016. Now the products are ready to shortly enter the market.

China until now has been forced to import wheels and axles at a high price. Now the country can produce its own, it will reduce costs by about a third.