From small shanty factories to the capital of eyewear, what did this small city do right?
There are 1.4 billion myopia patients around the world, 600 million of whom are in China.
Demand gives rise to industries. If Pangdonglai is regarded as the "4A-level scenic spot" in Henan, Danyang of Zhenjiang is another unique landscape in Jiangsu.
With its spectacle lens output accounting for 50% of the world's total and 75% of China's total, Danyang today is called "the Capital of Glasses in China" by the industry.
Every weekend, the daily passenger flow of Danyang International Glasses City can reach more than 10,000 people, exceeding that of the vast majority of 4A-level scenic spots.
The reason is simple: the glasses here not only have a full range of styles, but also are sold at extremely low prices!
Even Xiaomi cannot provide such cost performance.
In a sense, it is hard to find a typical case like Danyang in the regional economy, as it has gone through all stages of the reform and opening-up, and developed from individual economy to listed companies and star industries.
If you take a closer look at the story of "Danyang Glasses", you may also find that there is a "high cost-performance pearl" hidden in the economic entity of southern Jiangsu.
01
A nine-story platform rises from a pile of earth.
In the 1960s, a group of educated youth who worked in glasses factories in Suzhou, Shanghai and other areas went to the countryside in Danyang. Under their guidance and promotion, many small glasses processing factories emerged in Danyang.
With the continuous emphasis of Chinese people on education and the popularization of TV screens, the social demand for glasses has risen sharply.
But at that time, the cost of a pair of glasses was not low.
In the 1980s, there were not even a decent optical shop in many towns and counties. For time-honored brands like Wu Liangcai, the price of a pair of myopia glasses was equal to the monthly salary of an ordinary person, and a good pair of glasses even became a person's social business card.
Thanks to the relaxation of national policies for private enterprises, driven by both profit and demand, technical personnel and sales personnel of some collective enterprises in Danyang left their factories to set up their own businesses. Small workshop-style "shack glasses factories" took root all over Danyang, providing cheap and fine glasses for wholesalers coming from afar.
However, these "shack glasses factories" are small in scale and scattered in distribution, making it difficult to form a climate.
In 1986, the Danyang government established industrial thinking, decided to support the development of local characteristic industries, selected two villages of Chezhan and Shuangmiao near Danyang Railway Station, and built "Huayang Glasses Market" and "Yunyang Glasses Market", the earliest special glasses trading markets in China.
The opening ceremony of Huayang Glasses Market in Danyang County in the 1980s
With the support of policies, only one year later, the number of glasses factories in Danyang developed to more than 400, with an annual output of 6.5 million pairs of glasses, becoming a major pillar of the township financial revenue.
Also benefiting from the overall planning of the government, the products of the two major glasses markets have relatively standardized quality standards, so their reputation is getting better and better.
Glasses merchants from all over the country have noticed that the quality of Danyang's products is similar to that of domestic big brands, but the price is more than half cheaper.
So many out-of-town glasses merchants even went to Danyang with cash to look for goods, and placed orders directly wherever there were available products.
However, the huge market has also attracted the attention of foreign capital. After the Southern Tour Speech in 1992, China's market opened further to the outside world, and a large number of foreign eyewear brands flooded into China.
Compared with large factories like Zeiss and Bolon, the production technology of Danyang glasses is far behind, and there has been no independent brand and image for a long time. How to solve this problem?
After learning from the painful experience, the Danyang government conducted extensive investigations and consulted enterprises, and clarified the new strategic direction — marching into the upstream of the industry.
Tang Longbao, Chairman of Wanxin Optical Group, known as the "Glasses King", communicating with foreign merchants
With the support of policies, some Danyang glasses factories started their transformation, actively introduced foreign capital, technology and techniques, and set up R&D departments to tackle cutting-edge technologies such as resin lenses.
At the same time, the government also actively built optical industrial parks to attract high-quality enterprises, and many excellent eyewear enterprises settled down here, such as Wanxin Optical Glasses, Haichang Contact Lenses and so on.
By the 1990s, the annual transaction volume of Danyang glasses had exceeded 1 billion RMB, making it the largest glasses trading wholesale market in China.
In addition, driven by the eyewear industry, Danyang has been ranked among the top 10 economically strong counties in Jiangsu Province all year round. In addition to the world-famous eyewear industry, it has also nurtured characteristic industrial clusters such as the "Kingdom of Drill Bits", "World of Lamps and Lanterns" and "Aircraft Carrier of Wood Industry".
The new factory area of Zhenjiang Hengshun Vinegar Industry, Source: js.china.com.cn
02
From rural fairs to the capital of glasses, we can see that the planning ability of regional economy is of vital importance.
Especially to build a star industry, it is necessary to coordinate the overall situation, carry out planning across the whole county or city, boldly introduce foreign capital, and invite well-known enterprises to participate in depth.
Danyang has established such industrial thinking, attracted star enterprises and foreign investment through favorable policies, formed a good collaborative ecosystem of industrial chains, and empowered the regional economic growth of Danyang.
Today, Wanxin Optical has become one of the world's largest production bases of resin lenses, with an annual output of over 100 million pieces and annual sales of more than 1.2 billion RMB.
Mingyue Lenses was successfully listed in 2021, and Jiangsu Taojing Company is the largest eyewear e-commerce enterprise in China.
However, the improvement of scale benefit does not mean the strong hard power.
Although Danyang Glasses has lowered the price of lenses, the lenses that can be independently produced at present are still mainly mid-to-low end products.
In terms of industrial chain segmentation, the high-end lens raw material market in China is still monopolized by Japan and South Korea.
The core profit of glasses lies in the lens, and the core technology of the lens lies in the refractive index.
The lenses with a refractive index of 1.67 on the market were developed by South Korean enterprises back in 2008, and the resin lens monomers with a refractive index of 1.67 and above produced by many large factories in Danyang still need to be purchased from South Korea's KOC and its affiliates.
As for high-end lenses with a refractive index of 1.74, the technology and pricing power are still in the hands of European and American large factories.
Tan Haojun, a well-known media figure in Danyang, once pointed out that the vast majority of eyewear manufacturers in Danyang are small and medium-sized enterprises, and there is a lack of leading enterprises with real industry influence and core technologies.
If Danyang Glasses wants to achieve high-quality development, it must upgrade in a coordinated way, and pursue deeper industrial development, stronger brand power and greater influence.
The growth of Danyang Glasses started from reform and opening-up, and the solution to its problems also lies in reform and opening-up.
In 2021, Danyang put forward the slogan of "Highland of China's Eyewear Industry, City of World Eyewear Culture". Near the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity High-speed Railway Station, it invested more than 8.5 billion RMB to build Danyang Eyewear Characteristic Town, focusing on planning and constructing 10 major projects including eye hospitals, optometry technology clubs and optometry-themed commercial streets.
Under the advocacy of the government, many enterprises have begun to introduce the world's top R&D teams and technical processes, and integrate advantageous resources.
Taking "Quanzhen Optical" as an example, it takes independent R&D as the core, actively benchmarks against foreign high-end brands, conducts in-depth R&D, and obtains a number of global leading patented technologies, with an internationally advanced level in the R&D and production of photochromic lenses.
Quanzhen Optical
In addition, with the development of new internet sales, more and more eyewear enterprises in Danyang have begun to actively expand the online market and overseas market, combining traditional eyewear manufacturing with cross-border e-commerce, live streaming marketing and other forms.
Strive for sales volume from the market, reputation from consumers, and influence from the whole country.
03
Only innovators make progress, only innovators become strong.
Danyang's indicators such as comprehensive strength, scientific and technological innovation, green development and new urbanization quality stably rank among the top 20 of the top 100 counties in China.
Zhenjiang, behind Danyang, is also full of vigor and enterprising spirit.
As the prefecture-level city with the smallest area and the smallest population in Jiangsu Province, Zhenjiang is the most low-key city in Jiangsu.
If the breakthrough development of Danyang Glasses in the past was inseparable from the government's efforts to attract high-quality resources, today's Zhenjiang has already provided a ready-made excellent development environment.
In the report on the business environment index of national-level economic development zones, the business cost index of Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone ranks second in China, and the ratio of housing price to income ranks first in China!
In addition, as the former capital of Jiangsu Province before liberation, Zhenjiang also has 2 5A-level scenic spots, with mountains and rivers around, and historical sites everywhere, making it a very livable city.
Xijin Ferry Tourist Attraction in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province
In terms of educational resources, Zhenjiang has 5 undergraduate universities including Jiangsu University and Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, ranking third in the province.
It can be said that Zhenjiang is a rare treasure land for investment and entrepreneurship in southern Jiangsu and even the Yangtze River Delta economic entity, a real potential stock.
In addition to the eyewear industry, Zhenjiang also has many hidden champions in the manufacturing industry. Huilong E-Tong and Meike Solar were selected as China's unicorn enterprises, Xunjie Medical was selected as China's potential unicorn enterprise, and there are 10 manufacturing single champion enterprises including Hengshen New Materials.
From glasses to new materials, and then to high-end manufacturing.
Adhering to innovation-driven development, digital transformation, and cultivating specialized, refined, differential and innovative enterprises, Zhenjiang's path of high-quality development is solid and powerful.
Looking back at the legend of Danyang Glasses and Zhenjiang's "achieving great things with small foundations", we see the perseverance and enterprising spirit of Zhenjiang people, as well as the city's focus and foresight on industrial manufacturing.
Where can I overlook the vast land of China? The scenery is all around Beigu Tower!
This article is from the WeChat official account "Zhengjie Bureau" (ID: zhengjieclub), Author: Zhengjie Bureau, 36Kr publishes with authorization.