As night falls, the National Stadium in Beijing illuminates in dazzling "China Red," while a little over 10 hours later, in a small town across the ocean in the United States, lamps are lit, their warm yellow light filling the rooms… But many may not know that most of these lamps come from the same place—Guzhen Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, my country.
Guzhen Town is a veritable "Lighting Capital." This small town, covering less than 50 square kilometers, is home to over 30,000 lighting businesses, accounting for 70% of the domestic lighting market and exporting its products to over 130 countries and regions, capturing 50% of the international market.
Buyers select products in a Guzhen lighting market.
The lighting industry in Guzhen Town originated in the 1980s. Taking advantage of its proximity to Hong Kong, local villagers imitated samples brought back from Hong Kong and produced the first Guzhen-made lamp. From there, Guzhen lighting gradually developed from component assembly and workshop processing into large-scale production.
In the 1990s, with the expansion of production, lighting salesmen from Guzhen began to venture beyond Zhongshan and the Pearl River Delta, reaching across the country and the world. "Carrying lanterns to the ends of the earth" became a unique "sight" of Guzhen at that time. To accelerate development, the local government also assisted in establishing a "Lighting Street" and continuously held lighting expos. The reputation of Guzhen's lighting products grew day by day, becoming a local "calling card."
Guzhen has successfully held 31 Guzhen Lighting Fairs, attracting domestic and international visitors to view and purchase products.
"At that time, Guzhen had a strong entrepreneurial and investment atmosphere," recalled Xie Wei, chairman of Zhongshan Songwei Lighting & Electrical Co., Ltd. 23 years ago, he came to Guzhen from Shaanxi and was deeply impressed by the thousands of employees in the lighting factories. He decided to devote himself to the lighting industry and make a big splash. Recognizing the business opportunities and prospects of the industry, he started with a rented 300-square-meter factory and has now built his company into a national brand with over 1,000 stores.
"The platform dividends formed by the regional industries have created a clustering effect, making Guzhen Town the world's largest lighting market," said Xie Wei. He added that Guzhen Town boasts an open and inclusive business environment, "which has attracted many people from other places, like myself, to bring their families here and settle down."
Xie Wei's experience is a microcosm of the development of the lighting industry in Guzhen Town. Over the decades, waves of entrepreneurs have started here, establishing thousands of companies of all sizes, forming a complete lighting industry chain from R&D and design, raw material procurement, processing and manufacturing, to warehousing, logistics, wholesale and retail.
From nothing to something, from small to large, Guzhen lighting has now become one of the world's most complete lighting industry clusters in terms of industrial chain and production scale, becoming a dazzling source of light globally.
The light of Guzhen illuminates the world and attracts more people seeking similar brilliance. Syrian lighting merchant Mu Jia came here in 2012, established his own trading company and opened a factory. He is now busy every day releasing product videos online and participating in various professional exhibitions offline. “My customers used to come only from Syria and a few neighboring countries. But by ‘chasing the light’ in China, I can sell my products all over the world,” said Mu Jia.
Customers select lighting products in a lighting market in Guzhen.
From a single lamp to an industrial cluster, from a small town to the “Lighting Capital,” Guzhen’s innovation in lighting has never stopped. Today, Guzhen’s lighting industry is moving towards intelligence and digitalization, with high-tech and customized lighting products becoming a new trend. A number of technologically innovative enterprises are emerging, developing, catching up, and growing stronger.
“Our high-power lighting fixtures are more than 50% more energy-efficient than ordinary lamps on the market,” said Dong Wenjun, president of Zhongke Longxiang Technology Co., Ltd. He explained that the company integrates intelligent and green technologies into its lighting products through industry-academia-research collaboration, achieving not only more efficient energy use but also reducing environmental pollution.
The lighting product production and design workshop of Zhongke Longxiang Technology Co., Ltd.
From “carrying lamps to conquer the world” to “buying globally and selling globally,” “struggle” and “innovation” have always been the keywords for Guzhen’s lighting industry. As of September this year, the town has 126 high-tech enterprises, 18 specialized and innovative enterprises, and 148 enterprises promoting digital and intelligent transformation, with approximately 1,500 R&D personnel in high-tech enterprises.
The town also promotes the successful transformation of industrial designs by hosting events such as the China International Lighting Fixture Design Competition and the Zhongshan City Industrial Design Competition's Guzhen Lighting Design Special Competition, while simultaneously discovering talent.
A relevant official from the Guzhen Town Industry, Information, Science and Technology Commerce Bureau stated that the next step for Guzhen Town is to focus on strengthening and supplementing the lighting industry chain, attracting strategic emerging industries, and driving the transformation and upgrading of upstream and downstream industries through leading enterprises, thereby comprehensively enhancing the global competitiveness of Guzhen lighting fixtures.