The formation of the county industrial belt is the result of the joint efforts of enterprises, government and society. The specific development direction depends not only on the spatial resource endowment, but also on the accumulation of experience in the historical evolution process.
Since this year, news about the price increase of badminton has frequently appeared in hot searches. The words “I can’t afford to play badminton with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan” have hit the sensitive nerves of wage earners.
Just like the reason why the price increase of pork caused widespread controversy, badminton can cause such a wide range of waves because of its high enough universality. According to a report released by the State Sports General Administration, the number of participants in badminton in my country is as high as 250 million, making it one of the sports with the highest number of participants in the country.
The annual consumption of badmintons of less than a few grams can reach hundreds of millions of yuan. Data from Guanyan Tianxia pointed out that as of 2023, my country’s badminton production will be approximately 724 million, and consumption will reach 356 million. The badminton market size will be approximately 856 million yuan.
Although badminton is small, it is a technology-based industry. The processing of a single feather slice can be divided into steps such as rinsing, drying, wooling, sorting, cutting and re-sorting. When the processed feather slices flow into the hands of downstream badminton manufacturers, We have to face a new round of screening, sorting and reprocessing.
The complex process has cut out a meticulous and orderly upstream and downstream industrial chain. From poultry breeding at the source to product manufacturing at the end, the small badminton has become the “rice bowl” that countless people rely on for a living.
Once a strict industrial division of labor is formed, industrial belts based on counties and even villages and towns will naturally emerge. Such spontaneously formed industrial belts are widely distributed in every corner of China and have become the representative “business card” of the county economy in various places.
The badminton industry nourishes two counties – Wuwei in Anhui and Jiangshan in Zhejiang. They are respectively located in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. One is good at feather slicing processing, and the other is good at manufacturing end products.
A badminton supports the pillar industries of two counties.
The two-way journey between sports and industry
As early as more than 2,000 years ago, primitive badminton appeared in many regions around the world. In China, this sport was called “Shuttlecock”, in Europe it was called “Shuttlecock Cricket”, and in India it was called “Shuttlecock Cricket”. Pune”.
This globally popular gene has established the international status of modern badminton. After the 19th century, modern badminton first originated in the United Kingdom. With the global influence of the “Empire on which the Sun Never Sets,” it gradually spread to all parts of the world.
One day in 1873, an earl entertained guests at his home in the town of Bloomington, Gloucestershire, England. During the dinner, several British soldiers stationed in India proposed to play the “Pune” game popular in India, in which woolen threads were wrapped around each other. It is shaped into a ball, with feathers attached to it and hit with a wooden racket.
This interesting sport from a foreign country quickly became popular in the UK. In order to commemorate the birthplace of this sport, Badminton became the English name of badminton.
At the beginning of the 20th century, badminton gradually became popular in Asia, the Americas and Oceania, especially Asia, which has a large population, and has dominated competitive badminton competitions all year round.
Among them, China’s badminton competition level has long been in a leading position in the world. According to the latest data from the Badminton World Federation, after 12 years, the country’s badminton team once again took the first place in five world events.
The advantages of competitive sports can often inspire national participation. Especially in recent years, the sports trend has not diminished, and it has accelerated the popularity of badminton. Data from the State Sports General Administration show that as of the end of 2022, the national badminton court area was 44 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 10%.
Therefore, with the support of various factors such as low threshold, large number of participants, and high competitive level, China has become the mainstream market for global badminton production and consumption.
The manufacturing process of badminton is complex. It can be divided into three links: hair making, ball making and assembly according to parts. Different production stages are composed of dozens of steps. Among them, the wool-making process is even more special. The raw materials are directly obtained from meat ducks or geese. It is also because of the existence of this link that badminton has become a large industry spanning the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
In fact, the price of badminton has increased frequently this year, and the main factor is the increase in prices of two major raw materials: duck feathers and goose feathers.
According to industry standards, there are generally 16 feathers on a badminton, but this does not mean that every feather on a duck or goose can be used to its best advantage. Speed, stability and durability are the measures of badminton. Three major dimensions determine that feathers need to be “selected carefully”.
Generally speaking, a good badminton player often selects only six or seven feathers from each wing of a duck or a goose. These feathers are called “knife feathers” and are shaped like a kitchen knife. They are the best material for making badminton balls. . This means that for every high-quality badminton produced, at least one duck or goose is “consumed”.
Once the price of duck and goose feathers increases, it will inevitably be passed on to end badminton manufacturers. According to previous reports by CCTV Finance, compared with 2023, the price of badminton products from leading manufacturers has generally increased by 20% to 30%, and the price increase of some models has exceeded 60%.
In September, Asia Lion, a world-renowned badminton manufacturer, made a public statement, calling on raw wool and raw material suppliers in the industry, hoping that they would reduce the price of raw wool and raw materials, and announced that it would reduce the current purchase price by 2-3 cents per piece.
The reason for the price increase of duck and goose feathers is that the sales of ducks and geese continue to decline. According to monitoring statistics from the China Animal Husbandry Association, the number of ducks sold in my country has dropped from 4.88 billion in 2019 to 4.22 billion in 2023, while the number of geese sold has also dropped from 630 million to 520 million.
In particular, long-age meat ducks, the main source of feather feathers, have higher costs for large-scale breeding due to their long growth cycle. Against the background of an overall decline in duck and goose slaughter volumes, the slaughter volume has been even more affected.
On the other hand, compared with other ball games, badminton has a higher wear rate, stronger fast-moving consumer attributes, and high repurchase rate consumption attributes that make badminton enthusiasts more sensitive to price increases.
In order to solve the cost problem and achieve “freedom to play”, many badminton enthusiasts have begun to settle for unstandardized balls. Therefore, it has become a new idea for golfers to bypass brand owners and actively penetrate into more upstream factories through social media.
As a result, the complex badminton industry map slowly unfolded, and the Chinese badminton industry belt officially entered the field of vision of ordinary consumers.
Wuwei, Anhui: A city made of feathers
On social media, posts looking for the source factory of badminton are always inseparable from two place names, one is Wuwei, Anhui, and the other is Jiangshan, Zhejiang.
As mentioned before, whether the price of badminton rises or not is influenced by the source breeding industry. “Whoever wins poultry wins the world” is not a joke in the badminton industry, and the above two county-level cities have already been involved in poultry breeding for many years.
Wuwei City is adjacent to the Yangtze River, with rich water systems and a developed breeding industry, especially ducks and geese. The local specialty Wuwei salted duck has a history of over 200 years of production, and the plucked duck and goose feathers have made Wuwei City the “Hometown of Feathers and Downs in China” reputation.
According to the official website of the Wuwei Municipal Government, starting in the late 1970s, wool dealers, known as “goose feather pickers” by locals, began to travel all over the country to purchase feathers and down, and sold them to processing companies in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places. The industry called it “buying all over the country”. , sold nationwide”.
Bingdian Weekly reported in 1995 that Wuwei’s fiscal revenue that year was only 62 million yuan, but migrant workers remitted more than 240 million yuan to their hometowns. At that time, feathers could not be transported by car and could only be mailed through the post office. At that time, the county post and telecommunications office even received a large package of down worth 180 million yuan in one month.
After the 1990s, with the wave of reform and opening up, the “hair dealers” who went out returned to Wuwei with funds and technology. After that, large and small feather and down processing factories began to take root, and Wuwei people transformed from mere traders into feather traders. Slice Producer.
Badminton manufacturing can be divided into three stages: material selection, feather slicing and processing, and badminton production. After the duck and goose feathers are dried in the source farms, specialized “feather dealers” will come to collect the feathers and then sell them to downstream companies. The feather slicing factory carries out the selection, and this process is called material selection.
The feather slicing and processing after material selection is Wuweiren’s special skill. The selected feathers must go through processes such as rinsing, drying, wooling, sorting, cutting and re-sorting before they can become feather slices used by downstream badminton companies. .
With years of development, Wuwei City has gradually formed a characteristic industrial cluster and become one of the main distribution centers for feathers and down in the country. The three major industries of feathers and down, wires and cables, and green food have become a powerful force, supporting the economic development of Wuwei City.
The formation of industrial belts depends not only on the market, but also on the government’s dispatch and allocation of resources. Without regulation and guidance, the so-called “industrial belts” are scattered, and even go their own way, causing resource losses.
Since 2015, Wuwei City has planned and constructed a feather and down industrial park, improving infrastructure and supporting projects. The following year, the Wuwei Feather and Down Association was established, and the association formulated industry self-discipline clauses to standardize corporate operations. At the same time, it takes the lead in formulating the development plan for the feather and down industry, integrating the raw material market, and helping companies introduce talents and conduct training.
With the cooperation of tangible “hands” and invisible “hands”, Wuwei’s feather slicing industry began to go global in the form of a “group army”. The feather slices used by Yonex, the world’s number one badminton brand, for the badminton competition of this year’s Paris Olympics are from Wuwei. Wuwei’s output of high-end badminton slices accounts for 70% of the national supply.
In the first quarter of this year, 37 feather and down enterprises above designated size in Wuwei City achieved a cumulative industrial output value of 860 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.5%.
According to Yang Nengyu, secretary-general of the Wuwei Badminton Association, Wuwei currently has more than 100 enterprises in the badminton-related industry chain, including nearly 30 enterprises above designated size. They are gradually transforming from small workshops to large enterprises. Pornographic films and badminton are exported to Europe, America, Africa, Southeast Asia, etc. Nearly a hundred countries.
Zhejiang Jiangshan: Capture 65% of the country’s badminton production capacity
Wuwei specializes in feather slicing processing, and Zhejiang Jiangshan, 400 kilometers away, is better at manufacturing finished products. The same thing is that they both have unique breeding industry resources.
Jiangshan is the “Southern Gate” of Zhejiang, bordering Jiangxi to the west and Fujian to the south. Superior climate conditions and diverse geology and landforms have given birth to rich biological resources. It is also the hometown of Chinese white geese. According to the official website of the local government, Jiangshan leading geese Product processing enterprises already have an annual production capacity of processing 3 million white geese.
As early as the 1980s, Jiangshan white goose breeding became an important way for people in Jiangshan City and surrounding areas to increase their income and become rich. At that time, Jiangshan was responding to policy calls to vigorously develop township enterprises. Wucun Town, the most economically dynamic town in Jiangshan City, took the lead in establishing Jiangshan White Goose Trading Market.
Like Wuweiren, goose feathers, an agricultural and sideline product, are also targeted by local people. Under the leadership of the government, a down processing factory was established in Wucun Town. Later, the breeding of white geese declined, but the down and feather processing enterprises were preserved.
In 1985, Zhou Jianjun, who served as the chief of the supply and marketing section of the down factory in Wucun Town, was assigned to work in the badminton factory. Before that, he worked as a barefoot doctor and long-distance transport. The “business talent” in the bones of Zhejiang people allowed him to work in the reform and opening up. In the early days, he became a local household worth tens of thousands of yuan.
After entering the badminton factory, Zhou Jianjun’s business enthusiasm made him unwilling to become a “section chief” sitting in an office. He visited the front lines of the industry, ran the market in Guangdong, studied production in Chaoshan, and learned the grinding machine equipment of the local factory just from memory. Draw it on the drawing, come back and make a one-to-one replica, and finally open up sales in the Yiwu market.
After ten years of hard work, by the time Zhou Jianjun left the badminton factory in 1994 to establish Jiangshan Hangyu Sports Products Co., Ltd., he had become an industry expert, mastering everything from production to sales.
In 1998, Jiangshan Municipal Government commended leaders in 10 industries, and Zhou Jianjun was awarded the title of “Badminton King”. Today, Hangyu Culture and Sports has become the largest badminton enterprise in Jiangshan City.
Zhejiang Jiangshan Duojiao Industrial Co., Ltd. emerged at the same time as Hangyu Culture and Sports. It is now the second largest badminton company in Jiangshan City after Hangyu Culture and Sports. However, unlike the former, Jiangshan Duojiao focuses on overseas markets.
During the Asian financial crisis in 2008, Jiangshan Duojiao entered the Korean market by taking advantage of the exchange rate advantage of RMB against Korean won. Now it has become one of the top three large-scale suppliers in the country. Its own brands “Jiangshan Yan” and “Leska” are well-known in South Korea. Badminton sales occupy two of the top five places.
Hangyu Culture and Sports and Jiangshan Duojiao, one is the king of domestic sales, and the other is overseas expedition, they go hand in hand to become the “twin stars” of Jiangshan badminton industry belt.
Like Wuwei, the “enterprises perform and the government sets the stage” model has also been applied to the development history of Jiangshan’s badminton industry. As early as 1996, Jiangshan City established the Badminton Industry Association, and in 2004, the Badminton Industry Leading Group was established. The badminton manufacturing industry has been included as one of the six major industries to be supported and developed.
The badminton industry in Jiangshan City has gradually developed and expanded under the effect of years of “combination boxing” by building venues, connecting high-speed rail, organizing events, and inviting star players. According to previous reports by Xinhua News Agency, Jiangshan City produces 180 million badmintons annually, accounting for 65% of the country’s badminton output, making it a veritable hometown of badminton.
Due to its outstanding achievements, Jiangshan Sports Bureau has become the only county-level sports bureau that has survived in Zhejiang Province.
Conclusion
The formation of the county industrial belt is the result of the joint efforts of enterprises, government and society. The specific development direction depends not only on the spatial resource endowment, but also on the accumulation of experience in the historical evolution process.
From the perspective of resource endowment, both Wuwei and Jiangshan are located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and have a long history of poultry breeding, which laid the foundation for the badminton processing industry chain to take root.
Judging from the process of industrial evolution, the development trajectories of the two places are both similar and each has its own characteristics.
Wuwei’s badminton industry was first born out of private commercial trade, and “goose feather pickers” traveled all over the country to open up trade routes across the country. After the 1990s, these foot traffickers relied on the “pot of gold” they saved to start factories and engage in industry. With the support of local governments, township private enterprises broke ground and grew, supporting the development of the Wuwei economy.
Compared with the spontaneity of inaction, the local government was present in the initial stage of Jiangshan City’s badminton industry. Before the emergence of private enterprises, the new force supporting the down and feather processing industry was township enterprises. They transformed farmers into industrial workers and laid the labor foundation for the development of the badminton industry in Jiangshan City. Only then did the private economy flourish after the 1990s.
Our country has a vast territory and different resource endowments in different regions. Under the spontaneous economic behavior of enterprises and the conscious macro-allocation of the government, local industries with different characteristics have precipitated in various regions. They compete with each other and cooperate together, making China the “world factory” status.
Now with the beginning of a new round of globalization, China’s “county economy” will face greater challenges, but the eyes of industry, capital, enterprises, and talents have focused on this vast ocean, and the county economy will Unique resilience integrated into the new wave of global trade.
Note: Text/Xianzi, article source: Guanchao New Consumption (public account ID: TideSight), this article is the independent opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Yibang Dynamics.
