太原钢铁（集团）公司称，历时5年攻关，他们已经掌握了用于圆珠笔笔头的钢材料的生产技术。
The company told Xinhua last Tuesday that China-made tips were ready for mass production and were expected to replace
该公司在上周二接受新华社采访时表示，中国制造的笔头已经准备投入批量生产，并有望在未来几年内取代进口笔头。
Stationery manufacturers in China produce 38 billion ballpoint pens every year, but make less than 0.1 yuan on each pen, despite spending millions of dollars
中国文具制造商每年要生产380亿支圆珠笔，但每支笔的利润却不足1毛钱，而每年在进口生产笔头所需钢材上的花费却可达每吨12万元（约1.7万美元）。
Though making a ballpoint pen may seem straightforward, producing a tiny tip with fluent writing effects requires over 20 processes. With machine precision down to the nearest micrometer, requirements for the quality of steel are high as it should be easy to cut but not liable to crack.
制造一支圆珠笔看似简单，但生产出一个顺滑好写的笔头却需要经历20道工序。随着机器的精确度达到将近微米级别，对钢材质量的要求也随之提高。钢材不光要容易切削，还要不易开裂。
TISCO joined a national initiative to develop domestic ballpoint pen tips to move the industry up the value chain in 2011, but the R&D proved difficult.
太钢集团响应国家号召，于2011年开始研发圆珠笔头，以提升产业价值链，但这项研发却十分困难。
Wang Huimian, a senior engineer at TISCO, told Xinhua that the toughest part of the work was finding the right formula.
太钢集团高级工程师王辉绵在接受新华社采访时表示，研发过程中最困难的环节是找到正确的材料配方。
Special microelements must be added to liquid steel to make a quality tip that is able to write continually for at least 800 meters, but the formula had long been kept a trade secret by foreign manufacturers, leaving
要想生产出能够连续书写800米不断线的高品质笔头，必须要在钢液中加入特殊的微量元素，但这一配方长期以来都是外国企业的行业机密，进口是中国制笔生产商的唯一选择。
"We finally made a breakthrough at the end of 2014. Instead of using lumpy additives, their usual shape, we tried to cut them into smaller, linear pieces to get a better chemical interaction to make the steel stronger," Wang said.
“2014年底，我们终于取得了突破。和常见的块状添加剂不同，我们将添加剂切成更小的线状，从而能够产生更好的化学反应，令钢材更加坚硬，”王辉绵说道。
In June last year, the first Made-in-China ballpoint pen tips were produced.
去年6月，首个中国制造的圆珠笔笔头被生产出来。
"The pen tips were wear-proof with excellent writing effects and can completely be substituted for
“这些笔头耐磨又好写，完全可以取代进口笔头，”贝发集团测试实验室主任胡省洋说道。
Beifa has ordered the first batch of domestic pen tips from TISCO, and the company expects to completely replace
贝发集团已经向太钢集团预定了首批国产笔头，并预计两年内能完全取代进口材料。
The pen tip dilemma was first brought under the spotlight by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in January last year, and it gives a small insight into a larger problem faced by Chinese manufacturers -- weak competitiveness in core technology.
去年一月，笔头之问在李克强总理的带头下首次引发关注，并且从小处展现了中国制造业的一个大问题 —— 核心科技竞争力不足。
To move up to the upper level of the supply chain, China has implemented an innovation-driven strategy to create growth opportunities and upgrade traditional sectors.
为提升产业链，我国已经实施了创新驱动战略，以创造增长机会，升级传统产业。
"We are committed to become the leader in industrial steel materials through innovation," said Li Jianmin, technology director of TISCO.
“我们致力于通过创新，成为钢铁工业材料方面的领头者，”太钢集团技术中心主任李建民说道。
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