First of 300 GE China Mainline Locomotives to Arrive in China

Company committed to country’s sustainable infrastructure growth.

ge.com - August 21, 2008

(PRNewsChannel) / Beijing, China and Erie, Penn. – GE Transportation, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), announced that the first China Mainline Locomotive (CML) will be delivered around Aug. 30, 2008, to the Tianjin Port in Tianjin, China. After being transferred to the Tanggu Depot for inspection, the locomotive will make its way to China’s capital Beijing.

Locomotive “CML 50001” is the first of three hundred 6,000-horsepower Evolution® Series China Mainline Locomotives being delivered to the Ministry of Railways P.R. China (MOR). The contract was signed in October 2005 and valued at $450 million.

GE Transportation is headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania (USA), and will supply the 300 locomotives in an industrial cooperation with Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works (QSY) based in Changzhou, China.

With a peak output of 6,250-horsepower, the engine offers 40% more power at 30% less weight than Evolution® Series locomotives currently utilized in North America. The lighter weight design increases the eco-friendly properties of the locomotive. The Ecomagination-certified GEVO, 16-cylinder engine generates 84% fewer emissions and increases fuel efficiency by 3 to 5%. Ecomagination is a company wide commitment to developing technology designed to help customers satisfy environmental challenges, to maximize performance and reduce cost.

“The result of a eight-year, $400 million development effort, the Evolution® Series locomotive is the most technologically advanced, fuel-efficient and low emissions diesel-electric, heavy-haul locomotive to-date,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO of GE Transportation. “GE Transportation’s eco-friendly rail technology is an integral part of China’s sustainable Infrastructure development.”

Two Evolution® Series locomotives will be shipped fully assembled from Erie, Pennsylvania (USA), to Beijing, China. The remaining 298 locomotives will be either manufactured as kits or parts at GE Transportation’s U.S. headquarter facility and then assembled in China by QSY. Kits began shipping on May 18, 2008. Delivery of the kits will be completed by the end of 2009.

Lorenzo Simonelli hailed the shipment as a great milestone for GE’s rail business, which is capitalizing on growth opportunities around the globe. “The Mainline project is critical to GE Transportation’s success in China and presents us with the opportunity to become a long-term strategic partner to China’s Ministry of Railways.”

Other leading rail products by GE Transportation include modernization programs to overhaul aging locomotives and GE’s Trip Optimizer. GE’s Trip Optimizer is a fuel and emissions saving control system for locomotive operation. It determines and follows the optimum speed profile over a trip or route to minimize fuel consumption, within the constraints of maintaining the schedule. Using a sophisticated system of sensors, on-board computers, advanced mathematics algorithms, closed loop control and GPS, GE’s Trip Optimizer improves railway and locomotive efficiency and meanwhile reduce the fuel consumption as well as the emission reduction.

“Our customer MOR sought a product that would significantly improve hauling capability and running speed on the China mainline, while at the same time reducing emissions to meet increasingly rigorous Chinese environmental requirements,” said Tim Schweikert, President of GE Transportation China. “The locomotive they will receive will meet and exceed those requirements.”

Added Schweikert: “This is exciting news for both GE and our partner, Quishuyan. We are three months ahead of the original contract schedule, which means the MOR will receive the first mainline locomotive early. Our industrial cooperation with Quishuyan shows GE’s commitment to growing in China and positions us as a lead to replace China’s aging fleet of 6,500 mainline locomotives in the years to come.”

"We are so glad that the first fully assembled China Mainline locomotive has been shipped from GE Transportation's Erie plant," said Chen Du, Chief Engineer Senior of Qishuyuan. "We wish the China Mainline locomotive assembled by GE and Qishuyuan in China will have the same high-quality as the fully-assembled locomotive to arrive soon in China."

The first Evolution® Series locomotive is scheduled to arrive in China in late August 2008. The first locomotive assembled by QSY will follow in October. In order to facilitate the success of the industrial cooperation, GE established three onsite teams in Changzhou, Chengdu, and Zhuzhou, consisting of 20 local Chinese manufacturing and quality engineers to provide technical support and aid in the assembly of the 298 kits. GE Transportation expects to have all assembled locomotives delivered to MOR by June 2010.

GE Transportation’s commitment to China’s sustainable growth goes far beyond its contributions to the country’s rail market by building upon its technology leadership in the marine, mining and wind industries worldwide.

“Now, more than ever before, GE Transportation serves as a local company in China. We are closer to our customers and committed to this market,” said Schweikert. “On May 30, we broke ground on an Off-Highway Vehicle (Mining) assembly plant in Shenyang. The 17,000 square feet manufacturing facility will produce electric motorized wheels for Off-Highway Vehicles. We will focus on technology localization and new product introduction, especially in key infrastructure industries, such as rail, mining, marine, wind and stationary power, to support China’s rapidly growing industries.”

About GE Transportation China
Established more than 100 years ago, GE Transportation, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is a global technology leader and supplier to the railroad, marine, drilling, mining and wind industries. GE provides freight and passenger locomotives, railway signaling and communications systems, information technology solutions, marine engines, motorized drive systems for mining trucks and drills, high-quality replacement parts and value added services.

GE entered the Chinese market 100 years ago, we built our first light bulb factory in China back in 1908. Since 1984, China imported the first 420 units of ND5 diesel engine locomotives manufactured by GE Transportation. GE Transportation established GE Transportation System (China) Co., Ltd. in Beijing, in 2002 to provide R&D, manufacture and service operations. In 2005, the Ministry of Railways P.R. China ordered 300 Evolution® Series locomotives for its China Mainline. In 2008, GE Transportation broke ground on its first Off-Highway Vehicle (Mining) assembly plant and established GE Transportation (Shenyang) Co., Ltd. The company has generated double-digit business growth for the past six years. The company provides employment opportunities to 245 employees across China and maintains offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Datong, Chengdu, Changzhou and Golmud.

Today, GE Transportation is a $4.5 billion global enterprise and serves as an integral part of China’s sustainable Infrastructure development. For more information visit www.getransportation.com

Press Contacts:
Stephan Koller
+1 814 875 3457
+1 814 431 3150 (mobile)
 
Lisa Li
+86 10 6787 5577 x559
+86 1351 1059 851 (mobile)

This press release was sent by the press release distribution service PRNewsChannel, the Official Newswire of the Inc. 500|5000 Conference.