Beijing, Oct. 19 -- China on Monday announced new export controls on key machinery, including tunnel boring machines (TBMs), in a move that could adversely impact India's infrastructure development.
The restrictions were aimed at safeguarding national security and interests, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said. The export controls will take effect on November 18.
The restrictions on exports of tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and related items could affect several Indian projects, including underground metro systems, high-speed rail lines and tunnels in various locations, including border areas.
China has restricted exports of TBMs to India in recent years. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck in 2024 that Beijing was not allowing a German company manufacturing TBMs in China to export them to India.
China's new restrictions also cover walking excavators and plateau-type wet shotcrete machines, according to the commerce ministry's announcement.
A walking excavator is a machine designed to move across all-terrain conditions using the combined movements of its working attachment, outriggers or wheels, allowing it to carry out excavation work in difficult terrain.
A plateau-type wet shotcrete machine is used in high-altitude plateau areas to transport mixed materials to a nozzle and spray them onto a working surface by adding air and an accelerating agent.
The new measures also optimised export controls on certain dredger-related items, including slurry pumps, dragheads and cutterheads that meet specified technical thresholds, according to the announcement.
On Friday, MOFCOM released a draft plan proposing new export restrictions on 14 technologies spanning sectors from artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology to photovoltaic solar power.
The proposed curbs could have significant implications for global technology competition, particularly for countries reliant on Chinese AI.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.