On the land of China, more than 2,800 county-level administrative districts are scattered, where the heat is steaming - 74% of the country's population works and lives in the county scene; it is also vigourous - it is the first scene of economic transformation. Every day, changes occur in the county, and individual efforts radiate through geographical bonds, driving the whole region forward. The first season of the Daguo Qiang County series selects the characteristic industries of six counties and tells the story of one county and one production. They include "suppliers" of food, clothing, housing and transportation, "attackers" with key technologies, and "hard backbones" of high-quality development. It is the flowers blooming in thousands of counties, paving the way for the rapid rise of China's economy.
There are so many diamonds in barrels. Let me see who is so proud?
Zhecheng County, located in Shangqiu, Henan Province, used to be famous for growing peppers. Now, this traditional agricultural county has "planted" diamonds and made a name for fame on the international stage!
How awesome is Zhecheng?
As we all know, expensive diamonds are one of the most successful marketing myths in history, but in recent years, a mysterious force has pulled diamonds down the price altar...
Put graphite powder and other raw materials into a six-sided top press. After 7-15 days of growth, a cultivated diamond is born!
Crystal structure, physical, chemical and optical properties are completely consistent with diamonds, and key indicators such as refractive index and dispersion are more than enough. From one carat to ten carats and even 50 carats for you to choose, Henan Zhecheng has become an important player in the global diamond market by cultivating diamonds.
Today, there are more than 120 diamond industry enterprises in a county in Zhecheng. The whole chain is integrated into the upstream and downstream of diamond products, with an annual output of 6 billion carats of diamond monocrystalline, 10 billion carats of diamond powder, and 6 million carats of diamond rough cultivation and processing and sales.
How to describe how awesome Zhecheng is in one sentence? With 1,359 artificial diamond patents in hand, the world's first standard for cultivating diamond products was formulated by Zhecheng!
In 2021, the global output of cultivated diamonds was 9 million carats, and Zhecheng monopolised 4 million carats.
It can be said that Zhecheng let "diamonds replace diamonds" on his own.
From 40% cheaper than natural diamonds to 70%, 80%, or even 99% cheaper today, some experts shouted: "Maybe in the future, if you buy soap in the supermarket, you will also get a diamond!"
Why is Zhecheng awesome?
What does a plain agricultural county with no mountains and few mines rely on to make the sparkling diamond dream a reality?
It's a long story. In the 1950s, China focussed on the development of heavy industry. But at that time, China's diamond could not realise self-sufficiency.
In 1960, the former First Ministry of Machinery Industry of the People's Republic of China set up a project, and the Sanmo Institute in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, accepted this "glorious and arduous task". In 1963, China's first artificial diamond was born.
Officially overcome the production problems of key raw materials in the industrial field, allowing China to successfully enter the global research and development track of superhard materials.
In the 1980s, in the tide of reform and opening up, Zhecheng called on outsiders to return home to start a business, and the engineers of Zhengzhou Sanmo Institute returned to Zhecheng County to establish a diamond factory. It is here that the first batch of mature technical backbones in Zhecheng have been cultivated. After the restructuring of the factory, diamond powder processing enterprises have blossomed everywhere in Zhecheng County.
However, how can the family workshop grow into a giant in the diamond industry? The foresight of the government and the courage of the enterprise are indispensable.
In 2006, Zhecheng established an industrial park to "build nests to attract phoenixes" around the diamond industry. In 2009, Zhecheng upgraded the industrial park to an industrial agglomeration area by building factories, reducing rents, providing low-interest loans, and matching scientific research institutes, among which 180 large and small enterprises in Henan Province were included. Since then, the diamond industry in Zhecheng has had a large-scale advantage.
The scale advantage came, but the price continued to decline, so local enterprises began to find products with higher added value and invested heavily in the research and development of monocrystalline synthesis technology. After more than 40 years of processing diamond powder, Zhecheng Manpower strives to go upstream of the industrial chain, which also lays the groundwork for cultivating diamonds.
If the think tank from Zhengzhou Sanmo Institute and the scientific research institute makes Zhecheng stand on the shoulders of the giant, the effort of Zhecheng people is to pick up the pearl on the industrial crown. With long-term accumulation, the micro powder business has developed into a synthetic single crystal water, and Zhecheng has been promoting the "determination" of the diamond industry for decades to forge a golden signboard of "diamond capital".
At the entrustment of Zhecheng, China has been firmly on the throne of the world's largest cultivated diamond producer for more than 20 years. And our "diamond freedom" is also just around the corner!