In Shangyou, Jiangxi, how can one develop a multi-billion-dollar industry from a piece of fiberglass?

No ore is produced, far from the market, no trains... Shangyou County in Jiangxi Province, located in the mountainous area, has used "a piece of fiberglass" to pull out a 10 billion-level industry. Why does a small mountainous county with a permanent population of only more than 260,000 gather 195 fiberglass companies and form a complete industrial chain from raw materials to finished products?

Glass fiber, the full name of which is fiberglass, is made of quartz sand, limestone and other 6 kinds of minerals through high-temperature smelting, wire drawing, winding, weaving and other processes. It is usually used in reinforcing materials, electrical insulation materials, thermal insulation materials and circuit substrates in composite materials.

Shangyou fiberglass production has a history of decades. Relying on the abundant electricity from the Shangyou River Hydropower Station, Shangyou County established the first domestic glass fiber factory 35 years ago. However, in the early days, Shangyou's fiberglass enterprises were mainly engaged in primary wire drawing, with small scale, high energy consumption and low efficiency. There was a lack of leading enterprises to drive, and the supporting industrial chain was incomplete. Multiple factors restricted the development and growth of the industry.

With the help of the local government, the production lines of old fiberglass enterprises have been transformed and upgraded, and their products have been updated, which has promoted the development of the industry. However, as the scale of the industry expands, the cost of raw material procurement and logistics transportation has affected the growth of corporate benefits.
In response to the problems encountered by enterprises, Shangyou County government and enterprises worked together to conduct a full investigation. In 2012, fiberglass new composite materials were made the county's leading industrial industry, and they actively attracted investment to improve the industrial chain, gradually forming a glass fiber industry cluster.

With long-term efforts and continuous efforts, Shangyou's fiberglass industry has emerged from the development dilemma of "scattered, small, chaotic and poor". Upstream and downstream supporting enterprises have extended from primary products such as fiberglass yarn, yarn, and cloth to deep processing fields such as electronic substrates, environmental protection equipment, and new energy. The cluster product types have exceeded 100, achieving full coverage of the five-level industrial chain.