The city that produced China's first electric locomotive has gone global, with many of the world's electric trains now tracing their roots back to Zhuzhou in the country's central province of Hunan.
At CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Company, a subsidiary of the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, engineers and technicians have been working at full stretch to complete the latest meter-gauge train destined for Malaysia's Electric Train Service (ETS).
"For this train, this third version from our [ETS series] product. Compared with the previous project, we've installed a lot of intelligent and economical device or system on the train. So something like the DAS system, the system can give economical driving advice to the driver. So the driver following this advice can reduce the energy consumption more than 10 percent for the operator," said Ren Zewen, locomotive technical manager at the company.
It is just one of many trains produced by the company that are now used globally, from Türkiye to Brazil, and from Belgium to Mexico. In all, CRRC Zhuzhou's products span six continents and over 50 countries and regions. The most recent batch of locomotives for export to the Netherlands has successfully rolled off the production line.
Remarkably, it all started 66 years ago when the company, then known as Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Works, produced China's first electric locomotive.
Founded in 1936, CRRC Zhuzhou and its predecessors have witnessed major advances in China's electric locomotive industry, transitioning from general to heavy loads, from direct to alternating currents, from normal to high-speed rail, and from a sector reliant on imports to becoming a major exporter.
Cradle of China's electric trains becomes global locomotive exporter
A high-level dialogue between Chinese and African officials, researchers and students was held in Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday to discuss China-Africa cooperation in science, technology and cultural areas.
The event, called "China in Springtime: China's Development Opportunities for the World", focused on the outcomes of China's "two sessions," which approved China's 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026-2030 that maps out the country's high-quality path toward modernization, and explored opportunities for cooperation between China and the African countries.
Hosted by China Media Group (CMG), event participants discussed China's development priorities and their global implications for the next five year period.
Many agreed that China's development presents an opportunity for the world, and China's stability will inject more certainty into the international community, adding that the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges provides a new opportunity for deepening exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa.
Many participants said that China and African countries should jointly promote the building of an even closer China-Africa community with a shared future through more open and inclusive dialogue and cooperation.
At the event, several guests from South African academic, business, and educational circles discussed themed topics such as "Technology Empowering Modernization: New Momentum for China-Africa Innovation Cooperation" and "Mutual Learning Among Civilizations and Global Communication: New Frontiers for China-Africa Media Cooperation".
The event also featured screenings of several CMG productions, including a cultural program introducing China's ancient and modern technologies and the thrilling robotic martial arts performance from CMG's 2026 Spring Festival Gala.
Global dialogue event in Cape Town discusses China-Africa cooperation in science, technology, culture
