Authored by Rebecca Chan:

There are many ways for Western imperialists to rape, pillage n plunder poor developing nations.

But the Chinese people knew the importance of building infrastructure to strengthen the country.
Today, China is helping the Global South through BRI for a strong n united Global Majority.

Li Zexin on X:

There's a little-known story behind these beautiful tunnel-boring machines (TBMs):

In 1997, when China was building the Qinling Tunnel, we paid RMB 700 million for 2 SECONDHAND machines from Germany. At that time, this amount was equivalent to the total tax revenue of an entire region. This was daylight robbery when China couldn't produce the machines itself.

Additionally, the RMB 700 million did not include any technical support or after-sales service. We also had to spend 800 euros a day (around RMB 6,800) to hire German engineers for maintenance. At that time, the average annual salary of a Chinese worker was less than RMB 4,000.
During that period, the global TBM market was monopolized by the US, Japan, and Germany.

In 2002, China decided to embark on a challenging journey of catching up. The TBM is a very complex system with over 30,000 precision parts.
In 2008, after 6 years of effort, China’s first TBM with independent intellectual property rights was completed.

To prove its reliability, China conducted a comparative test during the Chengdu Metro project in 2012.

Two TBMs, one imported and one self-produced, worked simultaneously for a project. The result showed that the self-produced TBM was comparable to the best in the world.

Following this, China’s self-designed TBMs began to be manufactured and used in major projects across the country.

Today, China is also exporting TBMs and has gradually gained a 70% share of the international market. Unlike before, a Chinese TBM now costs only RMB 25 to 50 million.

Meanwhile, the market share of German TBMs has sharply declined.