This comprehensive work examines the vital role of dredging equipment in national economic and defense development, highlighting seven decades of remarkable progress in China’s shipbuilding industry. Through detailed analysis of technological evolution, the book showcases how Chinese workers and technical personnel demonstrated exceptional self-reliance while advancing from basic dredging equipment to sophisticated world-class machines. The narrative particularly emphasizes the industry’s journey of overcoming technical challenges, documenting the transformation that has positioned China as a global leader in dredging technology. As a reference work, it offers invaluable insights and practical knowledge specifically tailored for workers, cadres, and technical personnel in related fields.

Yu Zaihong serves as Deputy Director of the Marine Engineering Department at Research Institute 708 of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Over more than 20 years, she and her team successfully overcame technical challenges to achieve domestic production of large dredgers. This breakthrough not only filled a critical gap in high-tech dredging equipment but also reached world-class standards. Her innovative "hybrid drive" power system design cut diesel engine requirements on large dredgers by 60%, yielding substantial economic benefits.

Wei Qiang serves as Deputy Director of the Marine Engineering Department at Research Institute 708 of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Over more than 20 years, he successfully overcame technical challenges to achieve domestic production of large dredgers.

Ding Yong is a research fellow at the China Ship Scientific Research Center (CSSRC), specializing in dredger design.

Translator: Dr. Luo Zhongwu is an Associate Professor at China Foreign Affairs University, where he supervises graduate students. He has led and contributed to multiple National Social Science Foundation projects and provincial-level key translation projects, with nearly 20 published translations to his credit. In recent years, he served on the translation teams for three high-level government meetings: the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, the Third Session of the 14th National People’s Congress, and the Third Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.