China’s manufacturing in cities through billions of export data
You may have heard that in the world, 6 out of every 10假发come from Xuchang in Henan, 4 out of every 10童车are produced in Pingxiang in Hebei, and 3 out of every 10小提琴are made in Taizhou in Jiangsu.
But you may not know that there are hundreds of similar examples where a city or even a village in China takes responsibility for supplying the world with a specific commodity demand.
Through analyzing data from the General Administration of Customs, The Paper has found that from food to daily necessities, and from medical equipment to office supplies, there are cases where a particular export commodity is primarily sourced from a specific place in China.
Sweet food lovers who want to control their calorie intake must have seen aspartame in the ingredient list of sugar-free drinks. It is a widely used artificial sweetener. People in the Taihu Lake area have a sweet tooth, which coincides with the main production area of sweeteners worldwide. According to statistics, a leading enterprise in Yixing, Jiangsu can produce over 10,000 tons of aspartame per year, and just one company accounts for more than half of the domestic export volume.
When it comes to coffee beans, people may think of Colombia or Ethiopia, but what about coffee makers? Export data shows that nearly 80% of the coffee makers in the world are made in China, covering various categories such as drip, capsule, and espresso machines. For every 3 coffee makers exported from China, at least one comes from Shunde in Guangdong.
In addition to coffee makers, heaters, air fryers, robot vacuum cleaners and other trending products are emerging one after another. The small home appliances sector is becoming a new growth point for China’s home appliance exports. About 60% of the world’s small home appliances come from Chixi in Zhejiang, with a market size reaching hundreds of billions of yuan. The Zhoulang Town in Chixi has a population of only 180,000 but accounts for 70% of the world’s ironing board production.
In the electronics industry, Sichuan is a rising star and has taken over more than half of the country’s tablet exports this year. The foreign trade powerhouse province Guangdong continues to dominate the export of remote-controlled drones and wireless headphones. Among them, Shenzhen has benefited from its industrial cluster advantages, occupying half of the global drone market and driving down prices, promoting the popularization of drone applications.
The needs of the mother-and-child consumer group have not been left behind. Some diaper businesses in Quanzhou, Fujian, started as contract manufacturers and successfully transitioned to independent brands with the help of cross-border e-commerce, selling their products to Southeast Asia, Australia and other regions. Currently, the diaper export volume of Quanzhou accounts for more than 60% of the country, with the sales of leading enterprises reaching billions of yuan.
If China is considered a super factory for the world, then each place within China acts as a unique production workshop with its own specialties.
County Towns: The Backbone of Chinese Manufacturing
German scholar Hermann Simon described “hidden champions” in his book “Hidden Champions: Pioneers of Global Growth” as companies that are leaders in a specific niche but are almost invisible to the outside world. From the perspective of production locations, many counties have certain industries whose output value ranks among the top in their province, the country or even globally. These are truly “county champions”. These county champions widely cover primary, secondary and tertiary industries, forming distinctive industries and products with unique characteristics such as special planting and breeding, special foods, special handicrafts and special manufacturing.
China has more than 1,800 county towns, whose industries form the backbone of our daily consumer goods such as socks made in Zhuji, Zhejiang and shoes made in Jinjiang, Fujian. The Paper梳理了阿里巴巴的《1688产业地图》，发现了上百个地方的300多种产业链。
Some famous industrial chains thrive by exploiting local soil and water resources, following the traditional perception of “local delicacies”. For example, Gannan County in Gansu Province is famous for its Yangjiao peppers with their thick skin, red color and spicy taste enriched with oil. The popularization of Ma Tianjin hot pot in 2023 has once again brought attention to these peppers. Jilin Province is backed by the Changbai Mountains and produces more than 60% of China’s ginseng and over 40% of the world’s ginseng. Fushun County in Jilin was named “Hometown of Chinese Ginseng” in 1995. However, some places are not satisfied with simply selling resources but have embarked on new industrial layouts based on market demand.
Weihai in Shandong is rich in fishery resources and is also
