Technology Transfer in China: The Case of Oxygen-Generating Equipment in Steel Industry 1978–1988

Abstract

The production of steel requires large amounts of oxygen, some 50 to 60 cubic meters per ton. With the growth of China’s steel industry, of about 8 percent per year during the last decade, its oxygen producing capacity has had to be expanded accordingly. In the following article, we will describe how this was effectuated through technology transfer, cooperation agreements, expansion of production and imports from foreign countries. Our interest focuses on

• the performance of the main producer of cryogenic equipment in China, the Hangzhou Oxygen Plant Manufactory, in its implement-tation of a 10-year license agreement with the West German Company Linde A.G. concluded in 1978 with TECHIMPORT;

• the promotion by the national government of a coordinated development of native industries by means of technology transfer;

• the selection process of foreign oxygen-generating equipment in three Chinese steel plants under different administrative control and economic conditions, and their contract negotiations;

• the contract provisions for supervision of construction and training of operating personnel, and subsequent execution of the agreements.