The History of Wafangdian Bearing Group

  Wafangdian Bearing Group was established in 1938 and is the birthplace of China's bearing industry. The first set of industrial bearings in the new China was produced here, and it is currently the largest bearing enterprise in China The predecessor of Wafangdian Bearing Factory was Manchuria Bearing Manufacturing Co., Ltd. In the second year after the Lugouqiao Incident, Japanese imperialism, in order to realize its ambition to invade China, established large-scale machinery factories in the Northeast of our country. Exploration, design, and construction began in 1938, and in that year alone, Japan built more than 200 new machinery factories in the puppet state of Manchukuo. It was during this period that Nippon Toyo Bearing Manufacturing Co., Ltd. obtained the right to build Manchuria Bearing Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

  On January 1, 1949, the Northeast Machinery Industry Bureau was established to centrally lead and manage the civilian machinery industry in the Northeast region. The newly renamed Wafangdian Ball Bearing Factory consists of three production units-turning, grinding, and heat treatment-and a mechanical sub-factory, and has officially started bearing production. Due to the destruction caused by Japanese imperialism and the trauma of the war, the factory faced enormous difficulties. However, under the leadership of the new government, all the workers and technicians of the factory actively participated in the socialist record-breaking movement, fully demonstrating the enthusiasm and creativity of the working class. In order to produce steel balls and retainers, the workers worked day and night, conducting hundreds of experiments to develop the grinding and heat treatment processes for the steel balls. Wafangdian Bearing Group is the first factory in China to produce finished industrial bearings.