(Yicai Global) Jan. 16 -- China Railway Engineering Equipment Group has finished production of the country's first tunnel boring machine for export to Africa.

CREG will deliver the TBM to Algeria through a deal with an Italian contractor where it will be used on the extension of the airport metro system in the capital Algiers, state-backed Xinhua News Agency reported.

The TBM is 10.5 meters in diameter and 91 meters long, with a horizontal turning capacity of 180 meters making it able to correct and change directions during excavation.

Production took place at CREG's remanufacturing plant in the northern municipality of Tianjin and it took 9 months. The facility is the largest TBM remanufacturing base in northern China.