Does a u-shield need to be used to log in to the National Railway Procurement Platform with a random code?

No need.

Select certificate login in the login drop-down box, and then click Login; when selecting random code login, enter the user name and password, select random code login in the Login drop-down box, and then click Login.

U-Shield, the customer certificate USBkey launched by ICBC in 2003 and obtained a national patent, is a high-level security tool provided by ICBC for online banking services. It looks like a USB flash drive, and its security performance is like a shield, which means U-shaped shield, so it is named: "U-shield".