World’s largest-diameter boring machine put into use for Yangtze River railway tunnel

China's domestically developed, world's largest-diameter vertical shaft boring machine "Qiming" was officially put into operation in Taicang City of east China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday, for the Chongming-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel project.

The "Qiming" shaft boring machine has a digging diameter of 24 meters, a main unit height of approximately 13 meters, and a maximum digging depth of 75 meters.

At the operation site, which is 200 meters from the south bank of the Yangtze River, the machine will dig vertically for over 50 meters to complete Shaft No.2 of the Chongming-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel.

According to technicians, Shaft No. 2 is equivalent to a maintenance station for "Linghang", China's domestically developed, world's largest-diameter high-speed-rail shield tunneling machine, which has already excavated over 10,000 meters along the underwater railway channel.

However, the geological environment at this location is complex, posing extremely high safety risks during construction for vertical excavation.

Therefore, the "Qiming" machine is equipped with multiple innovative technologies such as tunneling self-adaptation and assembly self-synchronization, successfully solving major technical problems of invisibility, intangibility, and inaccuracy in ultra-deep water-rich composite strata.

Application of the machine promotes upgrade of ultra-deep vertical shaft construction from the traditional excavation mode to an intelligent construction mode, according to officials. "We have adopted the operation mode of minimal manpower above ground and no manpower underground, which allows us to tunnel in both soft and hard rock earth structures. The machine can handle both very soft and rough terrains, making it highly adaptable to various geological formations," said Fu Bowei, deputy manager of the Chongming-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel Project under China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd.

The Chongming-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel runs 14.25 kilometers in total mileage, with 13.2 km planned for boring. Once operational, it will allow high-speed trains to pass beneath the Yangtze River without reducing speed.

The Tunnel, connecting Chongming in Shanghai with Taicang in Jiangsu Province, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. As a key project on the Shanghai-Nanjing section of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway, it will significantly reduce the travel time between cities along the Yangtze River such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Hefei.

World’s largest-diameter boring machine put into use for Yangtze River railway tunnel

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.

"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.

This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.

By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.

China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.

The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.

"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.

China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting