Zhecheng, a small city in eastern Henan Province, has become famous for diamonds in recent years and is known as the "Diamond Capital". Its annual output and export volume of diamond powder account for 70% and 50% of the country respectively, with an annual output of 6 billion carats of diamond single crystals, 10 billion carats of diamond powder, 6 million carats of diamond rough cultivation and processing and sales.
The reporter set out from Zhengzhou and drove more than 200 kilometres to Zhecheng County, Shangqiu City. Driving into the city, a giant diamond model was erected in the county square, reflecting the weight of the diamond industry here.
Consumers are buying artificial diamond jewellery.
Entering Henan Yedafeng New Material Company, rings, necklaces, earrings... A variety of diamond jewellery is displayed in the exhibition hall for customers and consumers to buy. Zhu Yongchao, the head of the company, told the reporter that compared with natural diamonds, artificial diamonds are almost different from "ice in the refrigerator" and "ice in the river". Cultivating diamonds is cheap and good quality, and is entering the homes of ordinary people.
Zhecheng County, once famous for its chilli and beef cattle, is a typical plain agricultural county. There are no mountains and few mines in the area, and the regional advantages of developing the diamond industry are not obvious. What does it rely on to achieve "out of nothing" from small to big?
Technicians are discussing the production process.
In the early 1980s, the Zhecheng County Party Committee and the county government called on foreign people to return to their hometowns to start a business. Feng Jinzhang, who was a polycrystalline diamond research engineer at Zhengzhou Abrasive Abrasivesing Research Institute, was invited to return to Shaoyuan Township, Zhecheng County, to participate in the establishment of Shaoyuan Diamond Factory, the first diamond factory in the county. People in Zhecheng who dare to think about it and dare to break through, explore the market everywhere and look for markets.
Wang Zhanxi, who is now ancient and rare, was the first "crab eaters" in those years. Wang Zhanxi said that the reason why the diamond industry in Zhecheng is "born out of nothing" is that the gradual growth is inseparable from the "determination" of the development of the diamond industry by the Zhecheng County Party Committee and the county government.
As early as 2006, Zhecheng County established an industrial park with supporting software and hardware facilities, focussing on the diamond industry's "building nests to attract phoenixes" and attracting diamond enterprises to enter the park. In 2009, Zhecheng upgraded the industrial park to an industrial agglomeration area, established a super-hard material production base in Zhecheng County, increased investment attraction, improved infrastructure, introduced preferential policies, further integrated diamond industry chain enterprises into the park, and promoted industrial intensification and cluster development.
Diamond powder in the production workshop.
Some diamond production enterprises actively seize opportunities and continue to develop and grow. Among them, Huifeng Diamond started from a family workshop and gradually grew into the largest diamond powder production enterprise in China, producing 3 billion carats of diamond powder a year, and was awarded the title of "Little Giant" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
"A diamond has been sharpened in forty years." Nowadays, Zhecheng County has built an industrial cluster with an annual output value of more than 20 billion yuan, such as diamond raw and auxiliary materials, industrial-grade diamond single crystal, diamond powder, gem-grade diamond, diamond products, diamond jewellery, etc., which has been rated as a national ultra-hard materials and high-tech industrialisation base by the Ministry of Science and technology.
At present, the company has achieved mass production of 1 to 30 carats of cultivated diamonds. In recent years, based on the technical accumulation of 30-carat diamond cultivation, the company has strengthened technological innovation and cultivated 50-carat diamonds under laboratory conditions. This is a milestone for the company. In the future, it will continue to invest in research and development, accelerate technical research, and actively compete for the new track of functional diamonds. Cao Qian, deputy director of the project department of Henan Power Diamond Co., Ltd., said.
Exquisite artificial diamond jewellery.
The reporter found that in the process of the transformation and upgrading of the diamond industry in Zhecheng, some new products filled the domestic gap and maintained a high market share. The artificial monocrystalline diamond powder developed and produced by Huifeng Diamond is widely used in aerospace, equipment manufacturing, optical instruments, precision ceramics, medical devices and other fields. In December 2021, it was recognised as the sixth batch of manufacturing single champion products by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
In terms of diamond monocrystalline, the special shaped octahedral diamond for ultra-fine processing of IC chips developed and produced by Power Diamond has independent intellectual property rights, breaking foreign monopolies and filling many domestic technical gaps. The company produces diamond powder for line sawing, which is in a leading position in the industry.
Sun Ruomei, director of the Management Committee of Zhecheng County High-tech Zone, said that at present, Zhecheng Diamond Industry has 15 provincial-level specialized new small and medium-sized enterprises and 2 national-level specialized new "small giant" enterprises. In the future, Zhecheng County will make efforts downstream, focussing on the development and cultivation of diamond and diamond products, support enterprises to innovate technology, develop new products, and promote the expansion of diamond to semiconductors, cutting-edge medical, aerospace and other functional uses, so that the ultra-hard material industry in Zhecheng will advance to the middle and high-end.
Source: Xinhuanet