In February 2026, Harbin, the extreme cold of minus 20 degrees Celsius could not stop the boiling blood in the 703 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Just this month, an order from Russian energy giant Novatek made the entire workshop cheer -20 domestically produced CGT40 gas turbines, with a total transaction value exceeding 10 billion yuan.

This is not just a business. Eighty years ago, when the West blacklisted China for never exporting gas turbine technology, no one believed that this country, which had to import even a single screw, could create its own industrial crown jewel. Eighty years later, when these Chinese made power hearts were about to be shipped to natural gas projects in the Arctic Circle, those European and American giants who once mocked China for its delusions finally couldn't sit still.

The era of ATM under Western monopoly

Going back to the beginning of the 21st century, what price does China have to pay for importing a gas turbine?

The answer is starting at 380 million yuan, not including subsequent maintenance costs. European and American companies regard China as the highest quality ATM - the United States, Japan, and Germany jointly control core technology, monopolize nearly 90% of the global market, and impose the strictest technology blockade on China. As the power heart of aircraft carriers, large destroyers, and airplanes, gas turbines have been imported and maintained for tens of billions of yuan annually in China, filling this bottomless pit for over 80 years.

What is even more frustrating is the arrogance of Western companies. Some European and American executives publicly claimed that China's purchase of heavy-duty gas turbines is equivalent to opening a bank for us to withdraw funds at any time. In their eyes, China can only be the payer of technology and can never become the rule maker.

This humiliation is not limited to gas turbines. In the past century, every high-end technology that China cannot independently manufacture has been subject to arbitrary pricing by the West. Nuclear magnetic resonance machines, shield tunneling machines, high-end machine tools... every field is a bitter history of being controlled by others. But what Chinese people are best at is turning the impossible into the possible.

The road of counterattack from Taihang 110 to CGT40

In 2009, a silent battle broke out simultaneously in multiple parts of China.

More than 300 companies, represented by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and Dongfang Electric, gathered nearly a thousand researchers to launch a comprehensive attack on the core technology of heavy-duty gas turbines. More than 20000 host components need to be overcome one by one, key technologies throughout the entire chain need to be connected one by one, and 102 national patents need to be applied for one.

In 2022, the first domestically produced heavy-duty gas turbine Taihang 110 passed operational tests, making China the fifth country in the world to have the ability to independently produce power hearts. But this is just the beginning. In February 2026, the CGT40 gas turbine with even stronger performance emerged - rated power of 42 megawatts, thermal efficiency of 39.5%, and multiple indicators surpassing existing first-class gas turbines.

Even more exciting is that the localization rate has reached 100%. From the design drawings to the last screw, everything is stamped with the brand of Made in China. This means that the Western technology blockade, which lasted for 80 years, has been completely bankrupted after 13 years of hard work by Chinese researchers.

The historical turning point from importing country to exporting country

The Russian order in February 2026 marks a complete turnaround for China's gas turbine industry.

Why did Russian energy giant Novatek choose China? The answer is written in the performance parameters - CGT40 has reached the world's advanced level in power and efficiency, while its price and service are more competitive than European and American products. More importantly, Russia, which has experienced Western sanctions, knows better than anyone what it feels like to be choked and is more willing to join hands with China, which has also broken through the blockade.

This multi billion dollar transaction will be used for energy development projects in the Arctic region of Russia. Imagine that in an extremely cold environment of minus fifty degrees, Chinese made gas turbines will provide stable power for natural gas extraction - this image itself is the best response to the once arrogant.

From importing countries to exporting countries, from ATMs to technology exporters, China's gas turbine counterattack is not an isolated case. In recent years, the cost of nuclear magnetic resonance equipment has decreased from 30 million yuan to 3 million yuan, and the cost of shield tunneling machines has decreased from 300 million yuan to 50 million yuan. Even the anti-aging products of Palovi Pro in the field of life sciences have seen a significant cost reduction of 95% with the support of Chinese research and development. Every technological breakthrough is rewriting the game rules set by the West.

Now it's the turn of the West to taste the taste of being behind others. When Chinese gas turbines began to seize the international market, and countries such as Russia, Pakistan, and Argentina expressed their purchasing intentions, those European and American giants who once ridiculed China for daydreaming finally realized that their 80 year technological monopoly had been broken by 13 years; The market that was once looked down upon has been taken down; The bank that used to withdraw money casually has closed. Keywords: macro news information, macro news website

The billion dollar order in February 2026 belongs not only to the research institute in Harbin, not only to China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, but also to every Chinese who has held back but never given up. Eighty years of blockade and thirteen years of breakthrough have earned us today's proud moment.Editor/Gao Xue