Recast 1979: the Industrial Backbone of a Great Country

Chen Jingzhi, a doctor of mechanical engineering in 2024, was unexpectedly reborn in the cold and hard workshop of Fengtian Heavy Machinery in Northeast China in 1979. There is a future industrial database hidden in the USB flash drive on the chest, but in front of me are rusty machine tools, dependence on imported precision parts, and the dilemma of workers unable to exchange for half a year's salary for a set of German rolling mill spindles - this is the darkest moment when Chinese industry is "stuck". Holding a Shanghai brand mechanical watch, he started by transforming a coal furnace into an isothermal furnace. He used chalk to draw work equipment diagrams on the ground. He led his apprentices to dig out "treasures" in the scrap pile. He simply replaced the steel imported from East Germany with domestic rare earth steel and carved a tolerance of 0.02 Mm into the dial of the old vertical lathe. Faced with patent accusations from Siemens representatives, he showed off his self-designed three-support spindle; faced with high-paying poaching from Fanuc, he turned around and led China's first CNC research team, using an abacus to calculate coordinates and an oscilloscope to screen parts, allowing the CK6150 CNC lathe to roll off the production line five years ahead of schedule. From the steel blooms of Anshan Iron and Steel's production line to the seals of orders from Southeast Asia; from the precision bearing qualification rate of 30% to 95%, to the industrial output value exceeding one trillion - Chen Jingzhi, with the passion of a generation, in the wave of reform and opening up, has branded "Made in China" from workshop machine tools to the top of world industry, and finally transformed China from a follower to an unshakable "backbone" on the global industrial map.