China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission recently released the top 10 advanced equipment developed by centrally administered State-owned enterprises in 2021 based on votes of internet users, big data analysis, and experts' opinions. Let's take a look!

Tianwen-1 lands safely on Mars

On May 15, 2021, Tianwen-1 with China's first Mars rover Zhurong successfully touched down on the Red Planet, the first time China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth.

Tianwen-1, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan on July 23, 2020. It entered Mars' parking orbit in February.

Three naval vessels commissioned

The commissioning of three of the People's Liberation Army Navy's latest vessels, the Changzheng-18, the Dalian, and the Hainan, was held at a naval port in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, on April 23, 2021.

Domestically built nuclear reactor goes into operation

China's first nuclear power unit using Hualong One, the country's domestically built third-generation nuclear power technology, was put into commercial operation, announced the China National Nuclear Corporation on Jan 30, 2021.

The success marks a milestone in the development of China's nuclear technology, making China the fourth country to master domestically developed third-generation nuclear technology following the United States, France and Russia.

100,000-metric ton platforms starts drilling for gas

On June 25, 2021, Shenhai Yihao (Deep Sea No 1), the world's first 100,000-metric ton deep-sea, semi-submersible oil production and storage platform, began drilling at Lingshui 17-2, an offshore gas field located 150 kilometers south of Hainan island in the South China Sea.

The domestically designed platform aims to tap into the gas reserve 1,500 meters beneath the ocean surface. The rig can produce about 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, roughly 1.6 percent of China's total gas output last year, according to China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Shidaowan gives China edge in nuclear power tech

The world's first industrial-scale demonstration plant of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with pebble-bed module, the No 1 reactor of the Shidaowan nuclear power plant, located in Shandong province, was connected to the grid and put into operation on Dec 20, 2021, said China Huaneng Group Co Ltd, its operator.

With the reactor in use, China now leads the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology worldwide, which will further boost the country's nuclear renovation development, it said.

First high-speed maglev train rolls off production line

The world's first high-speed maglev train, with a top speed of 600 kilometers per hour, rolled off the production line in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on July 20, 2021.

Developed by China Railway Rolling Stock Corp with independent intellectual property rights, the maglev train is expected to be the fastest ground transportation available when it operates within a few years.

Experts said it demonstrates that China owns capability on high-speed maglev technologies and their engineering approaches.

Sinopharm gets OK to test drug for COVID-19

Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm has gained approval from the National Medical Products Administration to launch clinical trials of a COVID-19 drug based on human immunoglobulin derived from vaccinated people on Aug 30, 2021.

The drug is the world's first COVID-19 therapy that uses plasma containing rich amounts of antibodies to fight off the novel coronavirus, and it adds to the company's expanding portfolio of medical products targeting the disease, including four vaccines that have already been rolled out or are under research.

The experimental medication is being developed by Beijing Tiantan Biological Products, administered by China National Biotech Group, a Sinopharm subsidiary.

Shenzhou XII spacecraft marks key milestone

The successful launch of the Shenzhou XII spacecraft on June 17, 2021, and its docking with Tianhe, the core module of China's space station, hours later marked a major milestone in the country's space exploration program.

The Shenzhou XII, China's seventh manned space mission, carried a crew of three astronauts, the first visitors to the core module of the space station. The successful space mission signifies China's hard work and self-reliance in space technology.

First China-developed control chip goes into mass production

China's first domestic-made control chip for power industry was put into mass production on Feb 19, 2021, after five years of research and development by China Southern Power Grid.

World's first 1,000-ton bridge construction machine put into service

World's first 1,000-ton bridge builder, "Kunlun", was put into use on the newly-built Meizhou Bay cross-sea bridge of Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway on June 22, 2021.

The equipment, developed by China Railway Construction Corporation, has solved the problems of bridge construction and power supply coordination under special conditions and boasts wider application scenarios.

Sources: Xinhua, China Daily