On November 2, good news came from National Development and Reform Commission that the national engineering laboratory of high-efficiency, energy-conserving and environment-friendly internal combustion engine, representing the highest level of Chinas internal combustion engine industry, has settled in Yuchai, and the task of laboratory building will be undertaken by Yuchai. The laboratory will be a real open platform for technical R & D and achievement transformation targeting the industry, and will play a critical role in improving Chinas capacity for technical innovation of internal combustion engines and sharpening the core competitiveness of relevant industries. The successful declaration of the project demonstrates the state and industrys high acknowledgement and trust of Yuchais technical R & D of and achievements in internal combustion engines, and is a generous gift to Yuchais 60th anniversary. 

The laboratory is aimed to build a highest-standard and highest-level domestic R & D institution to develop generic and key industrial technologies in such aspects as energy conservation and emission reduction, noise reduction, light weight and control, form and popularize innovative achievements with independent intellectual property right, work out industrial technical routes and standards, pioneer industrial technical progress, improve the overall technical level of Chinas internal combustion engines, narrow the technical gap with developed countries, and sharpen the competitiveness of the internal combustion engine industry as well as pillar industries such as the vehicle industry, construction machinery industry, agricultural machinery industry and ship industry in which internal combustion engines are used as the core component. 

Yuchai will, in accordance with the standard of China number one, world number five, invest nearly RMB 100 million and spend three year in giving full play to its comprehensive advantage as a national corporate technical center and a state-accredited laboratory, to build a national engineering laboratory of high-efficiency, energy-conserving and environment-friendly internal combustion engines on the basis of the existing Yulin R & D base and Nanning R & D base. The laboratorys test and inspection equipment will be import brands such as AVL and HORIBO and will be up to advanced international standards functionally. Combined with complete means of testing, the laboratory will meet the need for testing development processes of various domestic new engine product and technology, and will be up to standards of national and international R & D centers.

The laboratorys settlement in Yuchai as the highest-standard industrial R & D platform was due to Yuchais conditions for and advantages in building such a laboratory. As Chinas largest internal combustion engine manufacturing base, Yuchai boasts a complete range of products, enjoys overwhelming comprehensive advantages in the domestic industry in such aspects as industrialization, technology, talent, research facilities, production, teaching and research cooperation, informatization, funds and management, and can offer strong support for building such a laboratory. Particularly, in R & D strength, Yuchai has built the largest and best-equipped state-accredited corporate technical center and laboratory in the industry, owned a series of proprietary technologies and a top R & D team in the industry, and kept ahead in the industry in R & D strength. In product R & D, Yuchai developed National I to V diesel engines two to five years ahead of the implementation of the national emission standard, and took the lead to introduce the countrys first Euro VI diesel engine sample in step with global engine R & D in June 2011. Besides, Yuchai engines served international sports events such as Beijing Olympic Games, Guangzhou Asian Games and Shenzhen Universiade. Also, Yuchai applied for over 1,000 patents and won over 70% from 2006 to 2010, ranking first among Guangxis enterprises for five consecutive years, and was listed among national advanced collectives in patent work in 2008.

After construction completion, the laboratory will become a base targeting the internal combustion engine industry and integrating several first-classes.

A first-class R & D and experimental base that increases product development efficiency by 20%, saves engine energy by 3% to 5% averagely, accomplishes an achievement transformation ratio and coverage of 50%, undertakes over 50 research projects every year including at least three national ones, applies for 150 patents every year, and makes all road engines up to National V emission standard and some up to Euro VI standards.

A first-class talent training base that takes technical development and project development as bond, and keeps optimizing the structure of laboratory staff by means of production, teaching and research cooperation, upstream and downstream enterprise cooperation and domestic counterpart cooperation, to form a talent team specializing in researches on core technology of internal combustion engines, boost the capacity for independent innovation and train and transfer talents to domestic universities, colleges and engineering laboratories. The total number of the laboratory is expected to reach 680 by 2013.

A first-class industrialized base that establishes a mechanism of inter-enterprise and inter-industry cooperation, applies advanced technologies to the internal combustion engine industry and all relevant industries, intensifies the transformation and popularization of various R & D technologies, accomplishes the cycling of production, teaching, research and application, and makes Chinas technical strength of internal combustion engines up to advanced international standards and promotes the development of relevant industries by establishing industrial technical alliances through production, teaching and research cooperation, strengthening pilot capacity building, constructing R & D achievement demonstration bases, actively popularizing achievements, opening up emerging international markets and carrying out industrial technical exchanges and services.

The laboratorys construction is of great importance to the internal combustion engine industry, will fill a domestic gap in this respect, will enormously alleviate the shortage of high-caliber national internal combustion engineering research institutions and organizations, will effectively solve existing bottleneck problems in the internal combustion engine industry such as unfavorable engineering research and validation environment, backward facilities, imperfect means, insufficient technical strength and unsmooth upstream and downstream relations in transformation of engineering research achievements, will actively undertake major national, local and industrial research projects, will build a national R & D platform and technology popularization center for high-efficiency and environment-friendly internal combustion engines, and will boost Chinas capacity for technical innovation of internal combustion engines and sharpens the core competitiveness of industries relevant to the national economy. This is also another reflection of Yuchais great courage to shoulder social responsibility and its great efforts in performing corporate obligations, adding dazzling splendor to Yuchais 60th anniversary.

(Zhu Xiaojie)