By Li Xinping, People’s Daily
Towering wind turbines now dot the landscape across China. As the wind picks up, their enormous blades – measuring tens of meters long and weighing several tons – rotate gracefully, converting breezes into energy. None of this would be possible without a set of crucial components: the bearings.
“Years ago, a leading Chinese wind power company planned to deploy wind turbines along the coast and, based on past experience, initially chose foreign suppliers. But when those suppliers failed to deliver, we stepped in,” said Liu Haojie, an engineer at the technology center of Luoyang Bearing Group Co., Ltd. (LYC).
“Leveraging China’s only national key laboratory for aerospace precision bearings, we successfully developed in record time the main bearing for the world’s then-largest 16-megawatt wind turbine, with several technical indicators reaching world-leading levels,” Liu explained.
Every memberof Liu’s team still takes pride in the project. “The turbines equipped with our bearings set a global single-day power generation record at the time, and have withstood multiple typhoons. They are still running smoothly today,” he said.
Known as the “joints” of industry, bearings are essential to nearly any machine or device that involves rotation. Starting from humble beginnings, manually crafting basic bearings with imported tools, LYC has, over its 70-year history, grown into a manufacturer of over 30,000 types of bearings across nine major categories, providing vital support for China’s industrial strength on land, sea, and in space.
LYC’s development mirrors the broader transformation of China’s bearing industry. According to the China Bearing Industry Association, the industry achieved a record revenue of 231.5 billion yuan ($32.13 billion) in 2024, up 6.2% year on year, with total output of 33.7 billion bearing units, a 17.3% increase.
In the first quarter of 2025, 160 major bearing enterprises in China reported a combined industrial output of 25.4 billion yuan, up 11.14% from a year ago. They achieved 7.63 billion yuan in industrial added value, up 10.97%.
From micro machinery to massive equipment, bearings are everywhere, and Chinese-made bearings are moving rapidly up the value chain.
On April 24, the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft was sent to space atop a Long March-2F Y20 carrier rocket, once again showcased the reliability of China’s homegrown bearings.
Key components of the rocket’s propulsion system, such as three-point contact ball bearings developed by Luoyang Bearing Research Institute Co., Ltd. (ZYS) under Sinomach Precision Industry Group Co., Ltd., played a vital role in ensuring this launch.
For the spacecraft itself, ZYS designed high-precision, low-noise, self-lubricating bearings tailored for the drive system, ensuringthe reliable operation ofkey rotating mechanisms.
In recent years, Chinese bearing manufacturers have provided high-quality products for the Shenzhou spacecraft series and the Long March rockets. LYC also developed the precision bearings for the FAST – the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, the world’s largest and most sensitive single-dish radio telescope, helping it achieve unmatched sensitivity and accuracy. Their products also enabled the radio telescope on Changbai Mountain to guide lunar probes with high directional precision.
In March 2024, the main bearings and gearbox bearings for the world’s first 25 MW wind turbine rolled off the production line at Luoyang Bearing Science and Technology Co., Ltd., marking the first applicationin a wind turbine of such large single-unit capacity.
Once heavily dependent on imports, China can now independently design and manufacture critical components for ultra-large wind turbines. This marks a significant leap toward ensuring full autonomy in the wind energy supply chain and safeguarding the industry’s security.
From dancing and marathon running to twisting screws, robots can perform complex, fluid motions with the help of precision bearings that support rotation and minimize friction.
“14 years ago, we started from scratch. After countless trials and improvements, we finally mastered the core technologies for robot bearings,” said Wu Qiaoling, general manager of Luoyang Hongyuan Bearing Technology Co., Ltd. Since 2020, their products have expanded into overseas markets including Japan.
