[1] Before the 1990s, the maximum speed of passenger train transport had long stopped at 120 km/h (75 mph), and faced increasing competition from airlines and highways.

In the same year, the goal of a 200 km/h (124 mph) was formally introduced to the 9th five-year plan as part of the developments related to technology.

The run-in began 20 August 1999, for a period of 12 days, it was involved in many safety tests related to the new, higher speed of the locomotive.

However, due to the use of four 1,000 kW (1,341 hp) which were built on the basis of increasing electrical current to increase the rotations per minute, it approached the technological constraints of DC motors (which in most countries with electric railways had been superseded by AC motors throughout the 1990s for new construction), such that the reliability was poor and it had a high power consumption.

The set had a low reliability, and in a usage period of a year, it was out of service for months, and was only fit to be used as a reserve vehicle.

[10] Despite the low reliability, it served a valuable lesson on the development of high speed electrical multiple units in China, although it did reveal the immaturity of local technology at the time.

To reduce drag and noise, the locomotive is streamlined with shrouds on the roof tops and the lower sides are fitted with skirts.

The driving trailer is built with composite materials, with the windscreen being fitted with electrically heated dual layer anti-shatter windows.

[4] The locomotive design is not dissimilar to the China Railways SS8, as it fulfils a similar role in either pushing or pulling passenger carriages with an AC to DC power conversion.

Both use unequal tri-phase thyristors and adjustable magnetic excitation, allowing the set to maintain a speed of 127 to 200 km/h (79 to 124 mph) in long term operation.

The motor has six sections which can be powered, with C-type insulators, has compensation windings and is designed for medium voltage.

The set control cable runs through the entire train, connecting the motor to the driving trailer.