Porcelain wares unveiled at the 2024 Shandong Province Cultural Tourism Industry High-Quality Development Conference.
The designer of Yinfeng Ceramics is painting on the cup.
Appeared on the "Five Dragons Playing with Pearls" disc of CCTV's Year of the Dragon Spring Festival Gala.
Yinfeng ceramics appeared at state banquets.
Appearing at state banquets, appearing on CCTV Year of the Dragon Spring Festival Gala, European royal families purchasing... Porcelain, a treasure of Chinese civilization, has repeatedly amazed the world thanks to the exquisite skills of skilled craftsmen in Luozhuang District, Linyi City.
A furnace burns for thousands of years. After the first kiln fire was lit here 4,500 years ago, this small town gradually became a porcelain capital in the north of the Yangtze River. Today, the kiln fire of inheritance and innovation is booming, and Luozhuang Ceramics is on a new journey.
Gao Songshi Shaoqi reports from Linyi
Make tableware into art
The daily-use porcelain here is stunning internationally
In the exhibition hall on the first floor of the Yinfeng Ceramics Museum in Luozhuang District, Linyi City, a group of blue and white banquet porcelain is placed in a prominent position, firmly attracting the attention of visitors. This group of porcelain wares named "Mengshan Love" was unveiled at the 2024 Shandong Province Cultural Tourism Industry High-Quality Development Conference held not long ago. In the middle of the porcelain body, elegant ink strokes outline the majestic beauty of Mengshan Mountain. According to Wang Limei, director of the design center, this set of porcelain is based on the design ideas of porcelain for state banquets and is paired with exquisite tables to demonstrate the cultural heritage of Luozhuang Ceramics as well as its superb creative skills and porcelain making standards.
In the exhibition hall, displayed together with this group of porcelain wares are fine products that have frequently amazed domestic and foreign audiences. The "Five Dragons Playing with Pearls" spring plate featured in CCTV's Year of the Dragon Spring Festival Gala, limited-edition gift porcelain for the Beijing Olympics, limited-edition porcelain for cooperation with APEC official organizations, porcelain for the 2017 "Belt and Road Summit Forum" state banquet, and was selected for the wedding of Prince William of the United Kingdom. Used as gift porcelain, British Queen's birthday gift porcelain.
"We treat these products like art creations. From the shape to the decoration, every detail has been repeatedly demonstrated, pondered, and modified, and even every line of the pattern has to be discussed." Wang Limei said, Silver Feng porcelain not only achieves the unity of function and beauty, but also integrates technology and art. This is a double test of design level and production technology.
Currently, the daily-use ceramic products produced by Yinfeng Ceramics mainly include five series: white porcelain, bone china, stoneware, silver jade porcelain, and artistic porcelain. It has created many firsts in the industry and has become the largest in the world. Production base for aviation porcelain and hotel porcelain. "Especially our bone china, which is made through high-temperature firing and low-temperature glaze firing. The porcelain has high whiteness, crisp sound, and more luster." Chen Zukun, general manager of Shandong Yinfeng Co., Ltd., holding a plain-colored handle in his hand If you shine a flashlight on the teapot from the inside out, the teapot will suddenly appear crystal clear, with no trace of impurities visible.
The "Silver Phoenix" in the Yimeng Mountains and its dazzling achievements of "flying" to more than 80 countries and regions around the world are the epitome of Luozhuang Ceramics.
“The national ceramic map is incomplete without Luozhuang, and ceramics cannot be mentioned without Luozhuang.” Vice Chairman of the Luozhuang District CPPCC and District Federation of Industry and Commerce, who has devoted more than 30 years of his green years to the ceramics industry Chairman Li Jibao regards ceramics as one of the souls of Luozhuang.
Linyi, Shandong Province, known in the industry as the "Porcelain Capital of Jiangbei", is an important ceramic production area in the country, and Luozhuang has gathered nearly 80% of the city's ceramic industry production capacity. Li Jibao said that at one time there were no less than 80,000 non-local employees working in the Luozhuang ceramic industry chain with thousands of lines. Nearly one-third of Luozhuang household income was linked to ceramics. "Nowadays, many outsiders come to Linyi and comment that there are shadows of southern cities here, but initially people used this sentence to describe Luozhuang, which shows that the development of Luozhuang has profoundly affected Linyi."
Daily porcelain and architectural porcelain go hand in hand
The tree of industry bears fruit
Ceramics are known as the perfect combination of water, fire and earth. Among them, the most important raw material "soil" is mostly composed of clay, quartz sand, and feldspar. Clay is like the "muscle" of ceramics, which facilitates shaping before firing. Quartz sand acts as a "skeleton" to give ceramics a certain strength, while feldspar is more like a "binder" that can reduce firing costs. The heating temperature can also make the finished ceramic products denser.
Different from the complexity of design and production of daily-use porcelain, architectural ceramics are as straightforward and simple as its products. In the Zhiqiang Ceramics production workshop under Shandong Huayu International Holdings Co., Ltd., rows of conveyor belts are rolling with white and translucent floor tiles. Passing by the inkjet machine overhead, the robotic arm presses and presses, and after multiple rounds of processing, The flowing water pattern on the drawing was stamped onto the brick body from the original mold.
“We are currently focusing on producing 90cm×180cm ceramic plates. After research and development, we can not only produce the effects and quality on the market, but the brick surface can also show infinite continuous patterns, and the process is also made to be super non-slip and super wear-resistant. "Xu Haiyang, general manager of the company, said that a new high-end ceramic sheet project was launched here in 2017. This is the first company in Jiangbei region to enter this track. It can currently produce a thickness of only 5.5 mm, which can be used as TV backgrounds. Dry-hanging ceramic rock slabs for walls and exterior walls. From workwear to home decoration, Zhiqiang Ceramics has been exported to many countries and regions in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Europe, and has appeared in more space fields.
Xu Haiyang’s relationship with architectural ceramics can be traced back to 2000. At that time, Guangdong Foshan architectural ceramics had already emerged in the industry. Luozhuang, who has a long history and skill in ceramic making, sensed new opportunities and set out to build a ceramic production line. According to Xu Haiyang's recollection, from 2000 to 2004 alone, more than 60 new companies were established in the building ceramics industry, becoming an important force in the ceramics industry in Luozhuang District. In the following 10 years, the company continued to update its production lines, the pursuit of output and scale made Luozhuang once the largest producer of interior wall tiles in the country.
"In other production areas, it is difficult to see daily-use porcelain and architectural ceramics developed equally in the same place." Li Jibao said that Jingdezhen in Jiangxi specializes in artistic ceramics, Foshan in Guangdong is most famous for architectural ceramics, and Luozhuang is not only famous for its daily It is famous for its porcelain products, and its production capacity of building ceramics also played an important role in the country.
“The most distinctive advantage of Luozhuang is logistics cost.” Li Jibao believes that Luozhuang relies on the “logistics capital” Linyi’s extensive transportation network and low transportation costs to offset the cost of imported raw materials from other places. "Moreover, the agglomeration of construction and ceramics enterprises has brought about the layout of upstream and downstream supporting enterprises, further reducing enterprise production costs. This is also an important reason why the Luozhuang production area has survived many industry 'involution' competitions."
Traditional industries are heading towards a new “runway”
Pursue a differentiated development path
Luozhuang, which once became the largest producer of interior wall tiles in the country, did not have a smooth road to the development of the ceramics industry. Due to realities such as fragmented layout, environmental protection transformation, and market demand, this industry has shrunk from more than 130 companies to the current 9 companies.
“It is not easy to guide a place to form a complete industrial chain. The ceramics industry in Luozhuang grew freely in the early stage. It has the shortcomings of pursuing large quantities, low prices, and ignoring quality. In the long run, it will definitely be a hidden danger to the development of the industry. "Li Jibao believes that although transformation and upgrading bring pain, it is an opportunity for the healthy development of the industry. In order to speed up the recovery of the ceramic industry, Luozhuang District has introduced new concepts, applied new technologies, and vigorously developed emerging industries, bringing this traditional industry to a new "runway" and moving towards high-end and digital intelligence.
“Looking back now, if we don’t work hard to transform and improve, we will only be eliminated faster in the future.” Xu Haiyang believes that the Luozhuang building ceramics industry must take a differentiated path to get to where it is today. "With the country's vigorous development of energy-saving buildings and green buildings, the demand for green and environmentally friendly building materials is growing. Stimulated by the development of the green building materials market, the ceramic panels produced by Zhiqiang Ceramics represent the transformation and upgrading of building ceramics to thinner and lighter weights. "Currently, Zhiqiang Ceramics will launch iterative products every month, and expand the variety of multi-functional slates by strengthening investment in research and development.
An art ceramics company called "Huamantian" also provides a vivid example of differentiated development. Skipping the traditional firing process, they directly aimed at the difficult hand-carved pottery bricks, carving architectural art ceramics that are both "artistic, ornamental and collectible". In addition to manual carving, machine knife technology is also used. Under the operation of a team of nearly 100 designers integrating R&D, production and sales, we have successfully launched color carvings, 3D inkjet, and 5D carvings that can be used for sofas and TV background walls. Dynamic graphics, ceramic floor mosaics for restaurants and living rooms, and hundreds of other product series. “After deep processing, the original 800mm×800mm floor ceramics cost around 20 yuan each.The price can be above 100 yuan, and the added value of the product is greatly improved. "Li Hongshan, general manager of Huamantian Art Ceramics Co., Ltd., said that they have deployed more than 500 specialty stores across the country, forming a "cultural creativity + ceramic innovation" model.
Luozhuang Jiantao is actively striving for survival, and the development of daily-use ceramics is still like an "evergreen tree". Yinfeng Ceramics, which is well-known in overseas markets, is at its peak and will launch in-depth cooperation with CCTV after appearing on the Year of the Dragon Spring Festival Gala. "We are gradually shifting our market from Europe and the United States to countries along the 'Belt and Road', and from exporting to domestic sales, and digging deep into the domestic market." Chen Zukun said.
In December 2020, the Ministry of Commerce recognized Luozhuang District as a "national-level daily porcelain foreign trade transformation and upgrading base." The "Implementation Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of Daily-use Porcelain Industry in Luozhuang District" issued by the Luozhuang District Government Office proposes to build a 10 billion-level daily-use porcelain industry cluster and form a cluster dominated by new technologies, new products, new business formats, and new models. developing modern industrial system.
