September 13, 2026
Strivers, in Their Own Words | 36 Years in Torch: Chen Taiping Crafts Bearings That “Turn Out” Chinese Precision
In the production and R&D workshops of TCB Bearing Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in the Torch High-tech Industrial Development Zone, countless components take shape through precision processes. Control at the micron level is the strictest bottom line of high-end equipment manufacturing — and it is the standard that Chen Taiping, Guangdong Provincial Model Worker and deputy general manager of TCB, has held onto for 36 years.
A technically trained graduate of Beijing Institute of Technology in 1989, Chen has witnessed the transformation of China’s high-end bearing industry — from heavy reliance on imports to independently mastering core technologies and helping set industry standards. His career is a living example of the zone’s symbiosis between talent and industry.
Focused Research, Facing the Gap
Steadfast manufacturing resolve
In the 1980s, China’s bearing industry was trapped in a predicament: able to manufacture, but hard to manufacture well. The domestic high-end bearing market was almost entirely monopolized by foreign brands, and core components for home appliances, machine tools and even aerospace long depended on imports. Take the mainstream 6204-2RS bearing of that era: most domestically produced units struggled to push vibration values below 60 dB, while imported bearings stably stayed under 40 dB. A gap of merely 20 dB — yet a technical chasm standing in the way of China’s high-end manufacturing.
Chen entered the bearing industry in 1989, drawn quickly to the technology behind this “small component.” The pragmatic manufacturing atmosphere of the Torch zone gave him solid ground to work. From a junior newcomer to a veteran of half a lifetime, he has quietly persisted on the bearing R&D and manufacturing front line for 36 years. In his view, there are no shortcuts in high-end manufacturing: “The gap is narrowing, but the road is still long.”
Focused Breakthroughs, R&D-Testing Synergy
Holding the industry’s benchmark steady
Quality upgrading of precision bearings is never the refinement of a single manufacturing step, but the synergistic resonance of R&D innovation and testing verification. In 2025, TCB’s self-developed bearings for petroleum machinery reached a critical node of batch delivery when the customer abruptly required an additional third-party dynamic-and-static load test report, without which shipment would be suspended. Relying on the zone’s complete science-and-technology service infrastructure, the company quickly connected with a local testing institution and, moving efficiently from sample submission to data verification, obtained the authoritative report in only three days and completed the order on schedule.
“Testing equipment and bearing R&D are not sequential — they advance in step and support each other,” Chen says. Core equipment independently developed by his team — such as a tooth-profile error testing device for multi-wedge sheave elevator diverter pulley bearings and performance simulation test rigs — was created within this closed-loop system, effectively filling technological gaps in related testing equipment. On the industry-university-research front, TCB has established deep cooperation with Henan University of Science and Technology to jointly tackle core technical problems in the industry.
Looking back on the industry’s development, Chen is full of emotion: in earlier years, all testing and verification of China’s precision bearing industry had to follow foreign standards, with the voice of the industry held by foreign institutions. Today, he has participated in formulating two national standards and two industry standards, formally moving from an “executor” of standards to a “maker” of the industry’s benchmark.
Professional Excellence in Precision
Crafting efficiency through accuracy
Thirty-six years of front-line experience have given Chen a deep understanding of technology and management: “Doing technology, you are only responsible for the data; doing management, you must lead a group of people to do things right.” With solid technical foundations and persistent, pragmatic commitment, he has been honored as a Zhongshan High-Level Urgently Needed Talent, one of Zhongshan’s Top Ten Craftsmen, and a municipal and provincial model worker, while also serving as a member of the municipal CPPCC.
In Chen’s eyes, the model-worker spirit and the craftsman spirit are not about “slow, meticulous work” but about “accuracy” — doing it right the first time and reducing rework is itself efficiency. With 80% of TCB’s products exported to Europe and America, the ability to compete on the international stage rests precisely on this “precision.”
To young people aspiring to join manufacturing, Chen’s message is sincere: there is no overnight success in manufacturing — only by settling in, staying steady and digging deep can one realize self-worth through products that ship. “The six words — dedication, focus, professionalism — are not constraints; they are support.”
Source: Zhongshan Torch Release (WeChat). Originally published September 13, 2026; translated and adapted by TCB.