A tunnel boring machine made by Taiyuan North Heavy Machinery Co and China Shipbuilding Industry Co is completed on Dec 20. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

Jinyang One, a tunnel boring machine (TBM) developed by Taiyuan North Heavy Machinery Co and China Shipbuilding Industry Co, succeeded in test run on Dec 20. It is the first tunnel boring machine independently assembled by Shanxi private enterprise.

Founded in 2006, Taiyuan North Heavy Machinery in Jinyuan district, Taiyuan, focuses on manufacturing and R & D of heavy machinery products in metallurgy, mining, and coking.

The 96-meter machine was a result of two companies' cooperation after six months of assembling and trials. China Shipbuilding Industry Co, one of world's top 500 companies headquartered in Beijing, reached partnerships with Taiyuan North Heavy Machinery in May after seven business trips to Shanxi for learning about Shanxi Company’s production and assembly capacities.

It took Taiyuan North Heavy Machinery only six years to assemble and conduct trial run on Jinyang One, while the production of a tunnel boring machine usually takes eight to ten months. Jinyang One will be used in constructing Subway Line 2 in Taiyuan from mid-January 2018.