China is a global manufacturing powerhouse but falls short of being a manufacturing giant. Bearings, hailed as the “joints” of mechanical equipment, account for only 5% of the global high-end bearing market. Data from two sources indicate that China’s high-speed rail bearings rely on imports from Japan or Germany.
According to Chinese customs data, the import value of bearings in the first three quarters of this year reached $26.7 billion, exceeding $40 billion in 2023.
Liu Qiaofang, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Bearing Industry Association, pointed out in an article that most of the high-speed rail bearings in China are imported from abroad. The high-speed trains CRH1 and CRH5 use SKF bearings from Sweden, CRH2 uses NTN and NSK bearings from Japan, and CRH3 uses FAG bearings from Germany.
Beijing Red Union Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. mentioned on its website in October last year that China can currently only produce ordinary bearings for speeds below 140 kilometers per hour. For high-speed train bearings exceeding 250 kilometers per hour, China still relies on imports. Statistics show that China needs to import about $1 billion worth of high-speed rail bearings annually, accounting for over 90% of the global market.
Not only high-speed rail but also wind power equipment bearings in China heavily rely on imports. The domestication rate of wind power main shaft bearings in China is only 33.0%, mostly for wind power equipment of 3.0 megawatts and below. The localization rates of gearbox bearings and generator bearings are even lower, at 0.58% and 0.2%, respectively.
Bearings are indispensable key components in various mechanical equipment, from small mechanical watches to high-speed trains, cars, machine tools, wind turbines, as well as aerospace, ships, and other essential sectors. China imports bearings that are used in critical areas such as high-speed rail, wind power, and medical equipment.
Jiangsu Wanda Special Bearing Co., Ltd. mentioned in its IPO prospectus to the North Exchange in November 2023 that in 2022, the world’s top eight bearing companies held about 75% of the global bearing market share, particularly monopolizing the mid-to-high-end bearing market. These eight companies include SKF from Sweden, Schaeffler from Germany (including INA, FAG, and LuK brands), NSK from Japan, JTEKT from Japan, NTN from Japan, TIMKEN from the United States, NMB from Japan, and NACHI from Japan. Chinese companies only hold a 20% market share, mainly focusing on mid-to-low-end products.
Data provided by the China Bearing Industry Association in February 2024 showed that China has nearly 10,000 bearing and bearing-related product manufacturers, but high-end products only account for 5%, while mid-to-low-end products represent over 80%. In 2022, China imported 2.721 billion sets of bearings worth $4.564 billion.
According to the data compiled by Golden Spider Bearing Network from Chinese customs, China imported 97,352 tons of bearings from January to July 2024, with an import value of $2.064 billion.
In terms of import amount, the top 5 importing countries are Japan, Germany, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States, with import values of approximately $502 million, $351 million, $261 million, $149 million, and $129 million, respectively.
Industry experts point out that imported bearings have a reliability rate of over 98%, with an actual lifespan being 8 to 30 times the calculated lifespan. In contrast, domestic bearings have a reliability rate of only 96%, with an actual lifespan ranging from 3 to 5 times the calculated lifespan. This indicates a distinction between being “usable” and “good quality,” leading to imports being chosen for China’s large aircraft C919, Y-20 transport aircraft, and high-speed rail projects.
Based on the friction properties, bearings can be divided into rolling bearings and sliding bearings, with rolling bearings further categorized into roller bearings and ball bearings, with the roller being the key component of roller bearings.
Liu Qiaofang, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Bearing Industry Association, stated that China’s roller production in the bearing industry primarily consists of Level II and Level III rollers, accounting for about 80%, while Level I rollers make up approximately 5%, and Level 0 rollers are less than 5%. Currently, the mass production of Level 0 and Level I precision rollers remains a bottleneck for high-end bearings.
Regarding China’s reliance on imported high-end bearings, Wang Dongsheng, Executive Deputy Director of the China Academy of Sciences Shandong Technology Transfer Center, pointed out that the main issue lies in material quality: “Without high-quality steel, high-end bearings can never be produced.”
High-speed rail bearings require dimensional and shape tolerances to be controlled within the micron level to ensure minimal vibration or deviation of the vehicle. They also need reliability rates above 98% and actual lifespans from 8 to 30 times the calculated lifespan to guarantee long-term operation without faults or damages.
Moreover, high-speed rail bearings must possess good wear resistance, corrosion resistance, temperature resistance, impact resistance, and other properties to adapt to operating environments in different regions and climates.