摘要：A combined fireworks and drone performance show in Liuyang City, central China's Hunan Province, December 7, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

A combined fireworks and drone performance show in Liuyang City, central China's Hunan Province, December 7, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

By Sergey Gordeev

Have you used a hairdryer this morning? Perhaps a razor, an air-fryer, a fridge, an ice-maker, a blender, or a coffee machine? From any of the above to the computer or the smartphone on which you are probably reading this article – chances are, most of the things we use every day are "Made in China." But, where exactly? And by whom? These are the questions with which I – and a team of colleagues at CGTN – set out on a journey through the small county towns in China that make a big impact on the global economy.

We chose four cities – Liuyang, Changle, Kunshan and Cixi – and took a deep dive into four thriving industries, each making a unique contribution to the global supply chain. What we discovered was that even though each industry – and each city's story – was unique, there were some characteristics that they all shared that led them to success. Here are just five of them.

Honoring tradition while embracing the new

Liuyang, a small county town nestled in the foothills of the Nanling Mountains, in central China's Hunan Province, is known as the birthplace of fireworks, whose history in this town dates back about 1400 years ago. Today, Liuyang produces about 60 percent of the word's pyrotechnics – with an annual output exceeding 50 billion yuan ($6.96 billion). And even though technologies have evolved, the basic principle of making fireworks has essentially remained the same as it was centuries ago when fireworks were first invented: Handmade containers are manually stuffed with gunpowder and capsules containing different fire effects. It is done by skilled workers – usually women – who have worked in the industry for generations. And the production lines are traditionally wrapped around the nearby mountains – mainly for safety reasons: It keeps the dangerous production away from the city, provides a naturally safe storage for explosive gunpowder, and spreads the shell-making stalls to minimize danger for individual workers.

Yet with all the respect for tradition, the fireworks industry in Liuyang confidently embraces contemporary trends. One company is developing new types of firecrackers with different-colored smoke that can be used for the increasingly popular baby gender reveal parties. Another is working on the largest fireworks display shell ever produced in China, with an explosion almost half a mile wide. And a young company founded by several Gen Z college friends is confidently taking over the market traditionally dominated by time-honored brands.

The Starbucks China Coffee innovation Park in Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu Province, September 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

An eye for opportunity – and the courage to pursue it

Kunshan is a city in China's eastern province of Jiangsu, just about 50 miles west of bustling Shanghai. In the early 2000s it became a leading producer of electronics – yet it was another, less-obvious business opportunity that recently attracted the attention of the entrepreneurs in the local government. They noticed the increasing demand for coffee in nearby Shanghai, and decided that coffee would be Kunshan's next frontier.

But how can a city that does not even grow coffee beans become a commercial hub for the coffee industry? The government started by building one of the world's largest warehouses for the storage of green coffee beans, creating easy access for local coffee roasting enterprises to green beans from around the world. It then created favorable conditions like tax incentives and streamlined customs procedures to entice coffee companies to move in.

Today, only a few years later, Kunshan roasts 63,000 tons of coffee beans a year; that's 60 percent of China's total. In September, 2023, the Starbucks China Coffee Innovation Industrial Park was inaugurated in Kunshan. Chinese coffee roasting and retail giant Luckin Coffee opened a massive $120 million roasting plant in Kunshan in April, 2024. Kunshan is also home to 30 leading coffee brands. The local entrepreneurs' eye for opportunity – and the courage to pursue it – turned what was once a risky business venture into a booming success.

The spirit of innovation

Cixi is a small coastal city in east China's Zhejiang Province. The household appliances made here are used daily by hundreds of millions of families in over 100 countries worldwide. It is estimated that more than 60 percent of the world's small home appliances are made here.

This is, in large part due to the unique industrial chain ecosystem, where 90 percent of any components for anything produced by more than 2,000 enterprises in Cixi can be obtained within a 30-minute driving distance. But it's also due to the relentless spirit of innovation, which, for these enterprises, is not just an option – it is a key to their survival.

One of the best examples of innovation came from a company in Cixi that makes small refrigerators. Regular, boxy refrigerators were cheap to make, but were not very interesting to look at. The trendy, in-demand retro-look refrigerators with rounded corners required expensive molds and lots of extra plastic. An innovative solution? Take the cheap-to-make, boxy refrigerators, add rounded edges on top, polish the whole thing – and, voila! A retro-look refrigerator for less than 10 percent of the cost of the conventionally made model.

Passion and pride in their work

Thirty years ago, Changle – a modest county in the Shandong Province – was mostly a farming community specializing in growing watermelons and wheat. Today, it produces two million electric guitars each year, accounting for about 30 percent of the electric guitars made anywhere in the world. How did it happen?

In the mid-1990s, when China extended its policy of openness to the rest of the world, a Korean company decided to invest in the local community by converting a violin factory into a factory that made electric guitars. As the business grew, so did the demand – and so did the number of local residents who took a chance by opening their own business in the guitar-making industry.

But while most factories in the region settled for being an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for well-known brands, one company decided it was time for Changle to take credit for the guitars it produced. This entrepreneur opened his own, Chinese brand.

At first, things did not go so well. The company would give guitars away free of charge, just to put them into the hands of musicians. Some stores would not even carry them as free samples. Then, things started to change. The passion for the product, strict quality control, and the sincere pride this company took in creating its very own, Chinese brand finally paid off. Musicians started sharing their feedback online, the popularity of the guitars grew, and it is now one of the most successful companies in the region.

The spirit of cooperation

One would think that in a world ruled by competition for the attention of the customer, the relationship between companies in any given sector would be that of, well, competitors.

I was surprised to find out that it was just the opposite. In every industry, we saw countless examples of companies supporting each other, collaborating, and co-existing peacefully in a friendly, almost family-like atmosphere. In Cixi, when one company got an order that exceeded their production capacity, a "rival" company, instead of poaching the customer, offered to help on favorable terms. In Kunshan, a coffee shop chain turned to different roasters for different types of roasted coffee beans. In Liuyang, family-owned fireworks production companies regularly gather for dinner – and come together every Saturday for a spectacular fireworks show at the local Sky Theater, built specifically for pyrotechnic displays.

And this may just be the ultimate "secret" behind these small towns' stories of success. Industrial clusters, innovation, adaptability, flexibility and openness to change are all very important factors. But it's the spirit of cooperation and the family tradition of mutual empowerment that will keep these entrepreneurs – and these industries – thriving for years to come.

Hosting this documentary series, I met so many business owners, company and government representatives, families and entrepreneurs. And what impressed me the most was just how modest these people are.

The products they make are a key part of the global supply chain, bearing the "Made in China" label known all over the world. But the story behind the label is the unknown story of each of these hard-working entrepreneurs who quietly show up for work every day, passionately believing in what they do.

Their products are so much more than just a way to make life more convenient (small home appliances) or something that brings more joy to everyday life (fireworks or electric guitars). They are a driver of the economy, on both the local and the global scale. They are examples of something that's made in China – and distributed worldwide – connecting people, families and communities all around the globe.

Sergey Gordeev is an Emmy Award-winning TV host, with a Master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, who has worked at National Geographic, Fox Sports, NTV America and, most recently, as a host for the CGTN Documentary channel in Beijing.

来源：中国网一点号