On 30^th Nov., Southwest Jiaotong University in alliance with China Railway Engineering Services Co. Ltd. convened the first seminar on ecological chain construction of TBM service industry under the theme of “building the new ecosystem of TBM service, opening the new era of engineering service”, in order to tackle with the extreme challenges in building the Sichuan-Tibet Railway effectively. CPC Secretary Wang Shunhong, vice presidents Zhou Zhongrong and He Chuang of the Southwest Jiaotong University, General Manager of CRHIC Li Jianbin, the CPC Secretary and Executive Director Su Yemao and General Manager Mou Song of China Railway Engineering Services Co., Ltd. participated in the seminar.

Li Jianbin expressed in his address that, with construction of Sichuan-Tibet Railway providing new opportunities, as well as new issues and challenges, to TBM service industry, this seminar was a rewarding attempt of promoting reconstruction of the whole TBM service industry and advancement of value chain and was helpful in building a healthy TBM service industrial ecosphere. Under the presence of all the participants, the university and the enterprise signed the agreement on co-construction of a tribological design laboratory for TBM equipment (hereinafter referred to as “joint laboratory”), and Wang Shunhong, CPC Secretary of the Southwest Jiaotong University and Li Jianbin, General Manager of CRHIC unveiled the nameplate of the laboratory.

It is learnt that, by closely revolving around major national strategies like Made in China 2025 strategy, nationwide entrepreneurship and innovation, “the Belt and Road” initiative etc, grabbing the opportunities brought by Sichuang-Tibet Railway planning and construction, in regard of the core technology and scientific research and development of TBM equipment that has gained general concern, the joint laboratory will develop a cooperative development mode within the university and the enterprise by enabling sharing of quality resources between university and enterprise and promoting talent cultivation in both sides, so as to facilitate coordinated lift of university-enterprise and industry-academic research cooperation and academic and industrial influences, to share the huge challenges brought by complex and variable rock strata, low temperature, widely distributed fracture laminas and super long tunneling distance belt along the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, to work towards the technical research and development difficulties in tribological field like service life and abrasive resistance of cutter head and cutter of the TBM equipment, dependability of the main bearing, abrasive resistance and protection of key components and parts, and to break up the foreign monopoly on technology and resources in fields of TBM research, development and production so that to build a sold foundation to national design and production of TBM.

It is acknowledged within the circle that, the establishment of the laboratory is expected to bring about breakthroughs of a batch of self-innovated core technologies, realize industrialization of a batch of international monopolized high-end products, give birth to a batch of important outcomes to provincial scientific research projects, achieve applications for ministerial and provincial or even national research rewards in science and technology, which will make the joint laboratory to be the domestically first-class university-enterprise joint innovation platform for TBM and to become a well-known research and development institute in the TBM industry.

In the seminar, the participating experts also made deep discussions about TBM service industry’s role, function and innovative development in the field of infrastructure construction, by focusing on the topics of “TBM service industry’s present status and the problems faced, sharing and optimization of resources like equipment, talents, technologies, materials, capitals etc., ecological chain construction”.