(EST Pub Date) Science and Technology in Communist CHINA Through 1970

--4»
‘...
...u....“1-4..
h
i
1
1
l
1
1
Approved for Release: 2018/01/30 C00659420
D
rcs 4425/¢(b)(3)
only a few important plants in each major machine
building category, and these plants do not have the
advantage of the support of a complex of smaller
subcontracting plants. Special problems include
a shortage of facilities for making and processing
large castings and forgings and for making precision
machinery and precision hydraulic equipment, the
poor quality of Chinese ball bearings, a deficiency
in designing capability, a low degree of specializa-
tion, and inferior plant practices.
222. The Chinese will not achieve by 1970 the
technological capability to produce machine tools
for either a substantial variety and volume of ad-
vanced weapons or a wide range of civilian items.
Rapid progress and useful results may be attained
in a few special fields, with possibly a few spectacu-
lar achievements. The breadth of progress in ma-
chine building depends most importantly on the
extent that construction of new plant capacity can
be resumed and maintained. This in turn depends
on availability of resources, including imported
machinery and equipment and foreign technical
advice, as well as domestic technical skills.
223. b. MACHINE TooLs—Most of the machine
tools produced in China are general purpose tools
of simple design and of the type that has been
manufactured abroad for the past 20 years. The
Chinese claim to be able to produce _native-designed
machine tools, but there is no evidence of the ex-
istence of such tools.
Only very small numbers of
precision machine tools are produced. The Chi-
nese do not make transfer lines, numerically con-
trolled, or other specialized mass-production ma-
chine tools. Bevel gear cutting machines and in-
terior grinders for antifriction bearing races par-
ticularly are in short supply.
224. The Chinese have been attempting to make
wup for deficiencies in machine tool production by
importing precise, automatic, and specialized types
of equipment, which will be required in increased
quantities during the next 5 years, and by collecting
technical information from abroad. Through these
means, some improvement in the production of pre-
cision machine tools may take place by 1970.
225. c. CIVILIAN MACHINERY AND 1-:QU1:PMENT—
The Chinese are able to produce most of the simple
types of machinery required for industrial con-
struction. They have produced several hydro-
electric generators of 72,500 kilowatts, and recently
reported production of a 100,000 kilowatt hydro-
electric unit. They also have produced thermal
electric generators of 50,000 kilowatts, some nitro-
gen fertilizer equipment, coal mining equipment,
simple steel and petroleum production equipment,
and nearly all of the equipment needed for light
industry. The chief fabrication problems are in
the production of machines requiring large castings
and forgings or fine balances and close tolerances,
equipment requiring high pressure, and devices for
precision measuring and testing. Importations of
equipment to produce alloy “metals, metallurgical
rolling equipment, complex petroleum refining
equipment, and specialized chemical equipment
will be necessary in order to achieve increases in
the production of such priority commodities as
chemical fertilizer, special steels, and petroleum
products. Equipment of this type already is being
sought and purchased in the Free World.
226. Although the production of most transpor-
tation equipment is Well below peak levels at-
tained in 1958-60, the Chinese have built small
quantities of steam locomotives, freight cars, trucks,
piston aircraft (the Colt An-2), and ships of over
10,000 tons. The “Chinese have not yet produced
satisfactory diesel or electric locomotives; because
of low priority, inadequate production facilities,
and shortages of some materials, diesel locomotives
are unlikely to be produced in significant numbers
by 1970. In the past year or so, truck production
has been resumed and is showing steady gains.
The Chinese still cannot produce the modern air-
craft required for long-distance commercial flights
and have imported Viscounts from the UK and
IL-18s from the USSR. Further imports will prob-
ably be required by 1970, especially for interna-
tional flight operations. Merchant ship produc-
tion also has been resumed recently, though the
Chinese probably still import some of the more
complicated components for these ships.
227. The Chinese, with Soviet Bloc assistance,
have established a well-equipped .production base
for electronic components and end-items. The in-
dustry, comprising more than 70 plants and capa-
\4s
Approved for Release: 2018/01/30 C00659420 ,
~_._...
--a_...
A
__“__
%
Ti
. l
.
Li,
Hi1‘
M.-l
N~\
l
i
1
l
ll
I
1.
'l;
l
l
hf i
I
1:;
T
Li
‘J
Ill?
Y I
1
'l
|l.
fl
iw i
.. ,
.1!
1*;
i:
{l
I1
“:1!
ll
Ir
‘E
\i
la:
1;.
13¢
!
~
1
I
a
i
1
.
I
l