Hammering home Longyao's nail trade

Longyao county, which is located in Hebei province and about 300 kilometers southwest of Beijing, is the nail-making center of China.

According to the county's development and reform bureau, it produces about half a million metric tons each year, 80 percent of the nails used nationally and more than 60 percent of those used globally, and has an annual output value of 2 billion yuan ($292 million).

Longyao's association with the humble nail began in the mid-1980s, at a time when only family workshops existed. After nearly four decades of development, the county is now home to some 60 companies that employ 20,000 workers who produce about 400 different types of nails.

Popular domestically, Longyao nails are sold to 30 countries and regions around the world, including the United States and Russia.

The industry is centered in Gongzi village in Weijiazhuang town.

"Small as the nail is, people cannot live without it," said Ma Zhihua, manager of one of the factories in the county, adding that nails are used in many aspects of life, such as in making home appliances and furniture, ships and trains, as well as for use in decoration and construction.

Ma was one of the first in the town to get into the industry.

In the 1980s, he had a furniture factory which required large quantities of nails for production.

By coincidence, he discovered that the nails he used were made nearby.

As supplies were always short, he had the idea of making them for himself, not only to supply his furniture factory, but also to sell.

Discovering that he could learn the process at a State-owned nail factory in Xingtai, he jumped at the chance, especially as there was an iron and steel factory to provide the necessary raw materials near his furniture factory.

Ma immediately bought two sets of nail-making machines.

He said that the nails he produced were of higher quality, and no longer bent as easily when hammered into a wall or a piece of wood as the nails he had previously bought. That helped him attract a lot of new customers from the start. "As we expected, our nails were very popular, with demand always exceeding supply," he said.

Joined by a handful of other pioneers, their success soon encouraged other villagers to follow suit, and many bought nail-making machines of their own.

In Gongzi village, almost all the households are involved in the business, either making nails or selling them.

Successors always outperform their predecessors.

Liu Zhonglin was one of those who followed Ma's example. Helped by the pioneers, Liu set up a factory and today, he sells nails to places like Russia and India.

"Given the convenient access to raw materials and to proven techniques, it was difficult to resist joining in," Liu said.

To Ma's mind, their success is due to national policies of reform and opening-up, as well as to later policies rolled out to support the development of private business.

"The nail industry in Weijiazhuang ushered in good opportunities for rapid development. With our geographic advantages and early adoption of nail-making, we have gradually opened up and taken control of most of the Chinese market," Ma said.

He added that Longyao's factories are now busy developing high-tech, high value-added products.