In 1958, China’s first tractor, “Dongfanghong,” literally the “Oriental Red,” was manufactured in Luoyang. In a letter written by Bulekov, a Soviet tech expert who helped China’s industrial development, he noted: “Oriental Red, what an inspiring name! For thousands of years, Chinese farmers carried their hoes to work under the sun, but now, they are driving their own tractor to embrace the sun.” (Photo provided by YTO Group)

Throughout China’s history, you can hardly find any city that has valued scientific innovation as much as Luoyang, a city that had been the capital for 13 dynasties. Three out of the four Great Inventions of ancient China - paper-making, print technologies and the compass - were invented in this city. Its zeal for science and innovation has been passed on until today, making it a tech hub in modern China.

Entering the modern era, Luoyang has become one of China’s major manufacturing and tech hubs. The first mission it received was to create China’s own tractors. Back in the 1950s, the lack of modern machines in over 800,000 villages across China dampened the country’s agricultural industry, with only cattle and plough as the main options for Chinese farmers.

Liang Jun, China’s first female tractor driver who passed away in 2020 at the age of 90, in a previous interview recalled her first-time seeing tractors in 1948.

“All the tractors we used were imported from the Soviet Union. I was amazed by the modern machine, but at the same time felt dejected, because it seemed far-fetched that I could drive a Chinese tractor someday,” Liang shared.

To Liang’s surprise, China’s domestic-manufactured tractor was created much sooner than she could have ever imagined. In 1958, China’s first tractor, “Dongfanghong,” literally the “Oriental Red,” was manufactured by Luoyang-based YTO Group Corporation. A decade after her first encounter with tractors, China’s first self-designed tractor was put into use on over 60 percent of the nation’s farmland. An image of Liang proudly driving Oriental Red was featured on China’s one-yuan banknote in 1960.

In a letter written by Bulekov, a Soviet tech expert who helped China’s industrial development, he noted: “Oriental Red, what an inspiring name! For thousands of years, Chinese farmers carried their hoes to work under the sun, but now they are driving their own tractor to embrace the sun.”

Oriental Red’s legend continued to thrive over the next few decades, creating more industrial miracles. With its major focus on agricultural machinery, the YTO Group Corporation’s products have been exported to over 100 nations, while a large number of research centers and tech labs were built overseas along the Belt and Road. It also attached great importance to its traditional product –the tractor, creating the world’s first 5G driverless tractor, along with its tech partner, Luoyang Research Institute for Intelligent Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd., which can plan routes and analyze agricultural data smartly, leading to a tech revolution in agricultural industry worldwide.

The world’s first 5G driverless tractor was invented in Luoyang in 2020, which has the potential to significantly change the world’s agricultural industry. (People’s Daily Online/Du Mingming)

The development of tractors is merely the epitome of Luoyang’s modern tech innovation. As of 2020, Luoyang has 1,796 industrial enterprises with an annual business revenue of 20 million yuan or more, covering a wide range of high-tech sectors including robots, high-speed rails and energy saving batteries.

Zou Yirong, executive deputy director and robotic engineering expert from LAMIC, a Luoyang-based research and technological development center, moved to Luoyang from Beijing to continue her study on industrial robots.

Zou and her Tsinghua University colleagues started their research base in Luoyang four years ago, which now has 18 teams with various focuses on high-tech areas such as robots, smart-manufacturing and advanced agricultural machinery. Cooperating with 1,722 companies nationwide, over 30 research projects are expected to be put into manufacturing soon.

“The team I am leading now is working on smart industrial robots. We are trying to make the robot have its own judgment, as well as have the ability to adjust itself to different situations without human interference,” said Zou.

According to Zou, the future robots are able to replace human workers who are now working under stressful and sometimes dangerous conditions, allowing human workers to become supervisors of the robots.

Zou believed that Luoyang’s favorable policies for tech startups, as well as its national innovation demonstration area and seven national key labs, are the major reason for its rise as a modern tech hub.

“With its solid industrial base and favorable policies, young scientists like us can realize our ambitions, further strengthening Luoyang’s tech advantages. The robots we designed are now widely used in factories, providing smart solutions to upgrade the industry. We hope our high-tech products can become Luoyang’s new name card,” Zou said. 

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