Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, agreed a strategic cooperation framework with China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co Ltd (CRCHI) on a one billion yuan ($150 million) shield tunneling machine project on Oct 14, according to Xinhua.

The project is to be set up in the Qingshan District Equipment and Manufacturing Industrial Park, which covers an area of 13 hectares. It is to be completed by the second half of 2017 and contribute an annual production value of one billion yuan. It will be the production base for CRCHI in North China.

Baotou, the largest industrial city of North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, is one of the heavy industry bases in China and boasts expertise in iron and steel industry, and equipment manufacturing industry.

Baotou is an ideal place for CRCHI’s production base as the city, along with its neighbors including Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, have started work on metro projects and relevant manufacturing equipment is in great demand, said Liu Feixiang, president of CRCHI, at the signing ceremony.

Founded in 2007, CRCHI is a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), which ranks 79th among the world's top 500 enterprises. It is a professional enterprise which integrates research, design, and manufacturing of high-end underground engineering equipment and track equipment. Currently CRCHI has manufacturing bases in Changsha, Zhuzhou, Longchang, Lanzhou, and Urumchi, with registered capital of 3.85 billion yuan.

Hu Rong (L), district mayor of Qingshan, signs a strategic cooperation framework with Liu Feixiang (R), president of CRCHI, on a one billion yuan ($150 million) shield tunneling machine project, Oct 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]