China In Photos: China's mega tunneling machine completes Yangtze River underwater tunnel breakthrough

The world's largest-diameter shield tunneling machine, tailored for high-speed railway projects and developed domestically in China, successfully holed through an underwater tunnel traversing the Yangtze River on Thursday.

The unmanned tunneling gear achieved a single continuous underwater drive of 11.325 kilometers under the Yangtze, setting a new domestic record for 15-meter-level shield tunneling.

The full completion of the entire tunnel is scheduled by the end of 2026. Once put into operation, the project will end the island district of Chongming's lack of high-speed rail access, and cut travel time from Chongming via Taicang to Shanghai's Baoshan Railway Station to just 17 minutes.