Planned as the largest project of Mao’s Four-Three Program in the early 1970s, the Wuhan Steel Factory (Wugang) 1.7-meter rolling mill project marked a milestone in China's steel industry. With state-of-the-art steel sheet manufacturing technology sourced from West Germany and Japan, China was able to end its reliance on imported steel sheet metal, a major step forward in modernizing its steel industry. However, the timing of this project—during China’s Cultural Revolution—meant it faced significant obstacles from the outset. West German and Japanese technicians arrived in Wuhan at a time when foreigners were rarely seen in China. Political unfamiliarity and cultural shocks added immense challenges to their work in Wuhan. Meanwhile, Chinese managers and workers were contending with the ongoing chaos of the final stage of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the early turbulence of Deng’s Reform era. These challenges, combined with severe energy shortages, made the completion of the 1.7-meter project a remarkable achievement for both Chinese and foreign participants.
Drawing on archival sources and historical materials from China and Germany, this article presents a new narrative on the development of the PRC’s steel industry and one of its most significant factories from a transnational perspective. Rather than echoing the mainstream Chinese propaganda that idealizes Wugang’s history and the 1.7-meter project, this article reveals the sharp tensions between local and foreign interests and the complexities of implementing technology transfer within a volatile political and social environment.