Beijing: China Monday announced new export controls on key machinery, including tunnel boring machines, 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 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.
Under Monday’s announcement, exporters of the relevant items must apply for licences from MOFCOM in accordance with China’s Export Control Law and Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items.
The announcement also requires exporters to accurately identify and declare controlled items, specifying their dual-use export control codes in customs declarations.
For items not subject to export controls but having similar technical specifications or performance, exporters must provide detailed technical parameters to substantiate their declarations, state-run Global Times reported.
Customs authorities may seek further verification if the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the declared information is in doubt. Shipments will not be released during the verification process, the announcement said.
The export controls will apply to dredger slurry pumps with an inlet diameter of at least 0.55 metres and a maximum rotational speed of no more than 400 revolutions per minute (rpm).
Dredger slurry pumps are heavy-duty centrifugal pumps designed to suck up and transport dense mixtures of water and solid materials — such as sand, gravel, silt, clay, and mine tailings — from the bottoms of rivers, lakes, harbours, and oceans.
Key components specifically designed for such pumps will also be subject to export controls, including pump casings with an inner diameter of at least 1.3 metres and impellers with a diameter of at least 1.3 metres.
The controls also cover dragheads used in trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHDs) with a suction pipe diameter of at least 0.55 metres, as well as cutterheads used in cutter suction dredgers (CSDs) with an outer cutter ring diameter of at least 2.1 metres, the announcement said.
TSHDs and CSDs are two of the most widely used marine vessels for excavating underwater sediments, but they operate using entirely different mechanisms and are suited for different environments.
