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China Machine Building
The machinery industry has been a leading priority since the
founding of the People's Republic. The industry expanded from a few
small assembly and repair facilities before 1949 to a large, widely
distributed machine-building sector producing many types of modern
equipment. However, as of 1987 the overall level of technology was
still relatively backward. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, China
intended to use large-scale imports to modernize the machinery
industry, but later decided that limiting imports to critical areas
would be less costly. Ministry of Machine-Building Industry plans
called for about 60 percent of the industry's products in 1990 to
reach the technological level of the industrialized countries
during the 1970s and 1980s. Products built to international
standards received priority in allocation of funds, materials, and
energy.
In 1987 the machinery industry was distributed throughout the
country. Nearly all counties and towns had one or more machine
factories. Major machinery centers were Shanghai, Tianjin,
Shenyang, Beijing, Harbin, Changchun, Taiyuan, Luoyang, Wuhan,
Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Lanzhou.
The machinery industry was selected by the State Council to
lead the way in management reform. China's leaders realized that
the quality of machinery would determine the success of
modernization in all areas of the economy. The industry's extreme
compartmentalization (a legacy of the Maoist obsession with selfreliance ) showed a lack of communication among departments or
within regions. Skilled managers were also lacking.
Data as of July 1987
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