The national railway system of China, China Railways (Zhongguo Tielu), introduced the QJ 2-10-2 design (under a different designation) in 1964, and continued to build these locomotives until 1988. The Datong works constructed all but a handful of the 4714 QJs erected. The class received its final designation of Qian Jin, "Advance" or "March Forward," in 1971. In approximate non-metric specifications, they had 59-inch drivers, 25½x31½-inch cylinders, and 213 p.s.i. of boiler pressure; they produced 62,800 pounds of tractive effort. Their grate area totaled 73 square feet, their evaporative heating surface 2831 square feet, and their superheating surface 1518 square feet.

In 2006 the Iowa Interstate Railroad had two QJ 2-10-2s shipped to the United States for excursion service, Nos. 6988 and 7081. On September 16 of that year they operated a triple-headed fan trip from the Illinois-Iowa Quad Cities to Bureau Junction, Illinois and return, together with Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261. I was present and took this digital photo of No. 6988 leading the special into Bureau Junction. No. 6988 has since been given a more American appearance; the pilot and drivers are standard black, the casing has been removed from the top of the boiler, and a gray smokebox front holds a single modern-style American headlight with bell mounted above. In this guise she was featured, along with partner 7081 which retains her Chinese appearance, at the 2011 Train Festival based at Rock Island, Illinois. The locomotives are now owned by the non-profit corporation Central States Steam Preservation Association.

All QJs have been retired from the China Railways, but a few still serve industrial or mining operations in more isolated regions. For further information on the QJ locomotives visit the Railography web site from the United Kingdom.