Since the beginning of this year, more than 10 topics such as "Cao County horse skirt is in short supply", "College students return to Cao County to sell Hanfu", and "Cao County Hanfu goes global" have appeared on the hot search list of social media and news portals, with hundreds of millions of dissemination. With the rapid rise of Hanfu's market share, Cao County, Shandong Province has not only become the center of the "Hanfu Universe", but also used Hanfu to "break the circle" to drive the economy to "expand the circle", build a development pattern of "prospering the industry with culture and promoting culture with industry", and explored a "Cao County Path" for the high-quality development of the county economy.
Cultural self-confidence drives the hot sales of Caoxian Hanfu
The off-season is not light, and production and sales are booming, which is the feeling of the reporter when he visited the Hanfu merchants in Cao County. In a newly built factory in Huozhuang Village, Ancailou Town, Cao County, four jacquard machines are in operation. An Peng, general manager of Shandong Huaqianyouxia Textile Co., Ltd., said that he was busy during this time and did not sleep before 1 o'clock in the morning.
At the beginning of this year, the horse face skirt was a big seller, and under the huge number of orders, the horse face skirt fabric was in short supply, "it has always been the customer who sent orders to the door." In April this year, Anpeng purchased 6 jacquard machines, and plans to complete 22 jacquard machines in the next 3 years. He told reporters: "Now the machine runs 24 hours a day, the workers work in two shifts, and we are arranging to stock up in advance." ”
Staff from Cao County, Shandong Province introduced the horse face skirt making process to the Korea people at the "Hospitality Shandong, Good Product Shandong" 2024 Korea Promotion Event. Photo by reporter Yao Qilin
Whether the product is good or not, consumers know best. In the Caoxian Hanfu exhibition hall, you will often see some new models without labels. "This is one of the new products this summer, and as soon as it was launched, it was in short supply, and it has not had time to name it yet." Li Zilei, the person in charge of the Youai Joint Entrepreneurship Base, introduced that this long skirt is made of imitation acetate fabric, compared with the traditional horse-faced skirt, there are no pleats, lighter, and a stronger sense of drape, which is suitable for daily wear by female consumers of all ages.
Walking into Daji Town, Cao County, there are few vacant storefronts on both sides of the road, and shops such as fabric sales, clothing plate making, tailoring and sewing, digital printing, and express logistics are densely packed for several kilometers. Thanks to the development of the performance clothing industry for more than 10 years, Cao County has formed a fine and complete market division of labor with the family as a unit.
"With a permanent population of more than 1.35 million, Cao County is one of the most populous counties in Shandong and was once the largest county in Shandong in terms of labor export. More than ten years ago, the villagers tried to produce special costumes such as studio costumes and performance costumes, and went everywhere to sell, although there was a certain market, but the market share was limited, until they inadvertently knocked on the door of e-commerce, and the clothing industry plugged in its wings. Sun Xueping, secretary of the general party branch of Sunzhuang Village, Daji Town, introduced.
Driven by market conditions, Cao County, which is famous for the production and sales of performance costumes, has fully turned to the production of Hanfu. Hu Chunqing, the person in charge of Cao County Chenfei Garment Co., Ltd. and the president of Cao County Hanfu Association, said that within a radius of 5 kilometers from Cao County Daji Town, Ancailou Town and surrounding towns, all supporting facilities from pattern making, fabrics, cutting, to printing, sewing, and garments have gathered.
The industry gathers towns and towns, and achieves the advantages of low cost and fast shipment of Hanfu in Cao County. "This asset-light entrepreneurial model, as long as you dare to think and dare to do, everyone can get started." Yan Deyin, one of the first Hanfu practitioners in Ancailou Town, said that more than 10 people in his team have opened shops and started businesses independently, "which is equivalent to cultivating more than a dozen bosses." ”
On the rural wall, slogans such as "It's better to go home to Taobao than to run around" and "Open an online store to sell the world, e-commerce clothing is rich and prosperous" replaced the past "don't love your hometown and make a lot of money" and "one person goes out to work, and the whole family gets rid of poverty and becomes rich". Under the role of e-commerce, Cao County has undergone a turning point, not only the rise of a complete industrial chain of garment processing, but also the rapid occupation of the domestic market. According to statistics, in the first half of the year, the online sales of Hanfu in Cao County were 4.06 billion yuan, an increase of 18%, and the market share accounted for more than 50% of the country.
In the past, Hanfu was a niche product, and there were not a few that cost more than 1,000 yuan for a set. Nowadays, a set of Caoxian Hanfu mostly ranges from 100 yuan to 300 yuan, which solves the problem that students and young people "can't afford to wear" Hanfu.
Cultural self-confidence, clothing first. Li Jie, executive member of the Academic Committee of the China Fashion Designers Association and dean of the School of Fashion of Shandong Institute of Arts and Crafts, believes that behind the popularity of Hanfu in Cao County, new Chinese clothing, including Hanfu, is in a rising period of development, and traditional Chinese clothing is being modernized. After the material life is gradually satisfied, people's spiritual demand for national culture and national self-confidence is rising.
"Developing the industry with literature" has become a trend
Cao County is known as "the founding place of Shangtang and the first capital of China". The tomb of the Yuan Shengzu Shrine commemorating Yi Yin, who "counterattacked" from a slave cook to become a famous minister of the Shang Dynasty, is located in the large market town in the south of the county; "Shang Zu" Fan Li once did business in Dingtao in the north of Cao County all the year round, and was buried here. In Cao County, which has a long history and profound cultural heritage, traditional culture-related industrial clusters led by the Hanfu industry have developed rapidly.
"We pay attention to doing a good job in inheriting articles and realizing the transformation of 'fingertip skills' to 'fingertip economy'." Wang Qian, member of the Standing Committee of the Cao County Party Committee and Minister of Propaganda, said that Cao County is rich in traditional handicraft resources, with 3 national intangible cultural heritage items and 53 provincial and municipal intangible cultural heritage items. These intangible cultural heritage old crafts have bloomed with new charm in the new era and become a new carrier for the masses to increase their income and get rich.
The national intangible cultural heritage project Caoxian Jiangmi people are a kind of hand-made art with flour and glutinous rice flour as the main raw materials, and has expanded from a single animal shape to a variety of shapes such as figures, flowers, birds, insects, and fish. In the past, the business of Jiangmi people in Cao County was very good, and the local saying "one flat shoulder and two ropes, go all over the world without poverty" to describe the business is hot.
On September 26, 2023, in the "Handmade in Shandong" boutique exhibition area of the 9th Nishan World Civilization Forum, participants were introducing the works of Caozhou noodles, a national intangible cultural heritage. Photo by reporter Guo Xulei
The development of a skill is inseparable from inheritance, but also inseparable from innovation. "At first, the Jiangmi people in Cao County only had the basic style of 'signing', and only used a bamboo skewer as the pedestal, which was convenient for craftsmen to walk the streets and alleys to sell, but it was not suitable for the current market." Yang Jihua, the fifth-generation inheritor of the Jiangmi people in Cao County, said, "We combined the sculpture skills with the production of the Jiangmi people, integrated knives, scissors, combs and other tools into the production, and at the same time explored a variety of shaping methods such as kneading, pinching, cutting, picking, pressing, sticking, and pasting." Several inheritors formed a team to continuously innovate the process and developed the case-setting Jiangmi people, which became an instant hit in the art market; With the help of the government, we have also successively broken through the bottlenecks of production, preservation and transportation, and set up studios, established processing plants, opened online stores, and appeared in international exhibitions, so as to drive more people to inherit skills and expand employment. Today, Cao County's rice noodles generate an annual income of 4 million yuan, and four works are collected by UNESCO.
Shandong Cao County Yunlong Wood Carving Craft Co., Ltd., located in Sun Laojia Town, Cao County, is a national intangible cultural heritage inheritance unit of Cao County wood carving. In the exhibition hall of the "Three Wood Innovation Center", craftsmen hand-carved Buddha statues, wood carved screens and various furniture carving decorative components are dazzling. For more than 20 years, Cao County's wood carving skills have "branched out", and more than 300 craftsmen have been brought out by Cai Xiufang, chairman of Yunlong Wood Carving Company and national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Cao County wood carving. Caoxian wood carving has developed from a family craft to a landmark cultural symbol of Heze and one of the pillar industries of the county.
In Cao County, which is known as the "wood art capital of China", the structure of forest processing industry has been continuously optimized, and a development pattern of "one park, two cores, and multiple districts" has been formed, with an annual output value of more than 100 billion yuan. According to the relevant person in charge of Cao County Industry and Information Technology Bureau, "One Park" is Cao County Home Furnishing Industry Demonstration Park; The "two cores" include the core area of plate and furniture in the west of the city dominated by Zhuangzhai Town and the core area of wooden handicrafts in the north of the city dominated by Pulianji Town and Qinghe Street; "Multi-district" refers to the Qingqi Miscellaneous Wood Processing Zone, the Guying Jiqitiao Processing Zone, the Shaozhuang Curved Wood Processing Zone, and the Niji Handicrafts Taobao Gathering Area.
According to reports, in recent years, the local party committee and government have guided Caoxian wood carving and grass willow weaving to adapt to the global market demand, strengthen creative development, lay out cross-border e-commerce, and actively create popular products. At present, Cao County is the only cross-border e-commerce industrial belt of wood products in the country, of which the coffin industry in Cao County occupies 90% of the market in Japan, and more than 30,000 kinds of products of wooden handicrafts, wood carving, grass and willow weaving are exported to more than 60 countries and regions, with a total output value of more than 10 billion, driving more than 100,000 people to work.
With the advantage of talents, we will take care of the business environment
The "counterattack" of Cao County in Shandong is remarkable: more than 10 years ago, it was still an economic depression and a provincial-level poor county in Shandong, but now it has changed, ranking first in Heze City in terms of GDP, and also ranking among the top 100 counties in the country for the digitalization of agricultural products and the top 100 counties in the country for economic investment potential. Relying on characteristic industries such as original Hanfu, performance costumes, wood products and agricultural products, Cao County has formed an exclusive business card in the country.
Experts believe that Cao County's access to the Internet is like a catalyst, allowing the business consciousness accumulated by history, the people's initiative spirit, the pragmatic innovation of the government and the traditional advantageous industries to have a chemical reaction, form a kinetic energy of humanistic vitality and industrial innovation, and continuously promote the high-quality development of the county economy and rural revitalization.
-- Developing a "capable economy" to stimulate industrial upgrading. Cao County is located in the southwest of Shandong Province and the junction of Shandong and Henan provinces, with a registered population of 1.69 million, and is the largest human resources county in Shandong Province. In recent years, Cao County has spared no effort to attract "capable people" to return to their hometowns, really make good use of "capable people", encourage "capable people" to take the lead, and a group of "development leaders, industry leaders, and rural understanding people" have accelerated the economic development of Cao County.
Like Sun Xueping, the "model worker of Shandong Province" who led the villagers to develop the e-commerce economy, Li Jianlu, secretary of the general party branch of Libazhuang Village, Wang Yunying, secretary of the party branch of Wangshanzhuang Village, Cailou Town, Ancailou Town, and Wei Xiangan, secretary of the party branch of Huoshentai Village, and a number of leaders who became rich took up the post of village party organization with the support of the villagers and became the vanguard of rural revitalization in Cao County.
"If the agglomeration of the industry has achieved the advantages of Caoxian Hanfu, the return of young people to their hometowns has quickly strengthened sales, design, operation and other links, and boosted the development of branding and quality." Li Zilei, who returned from studying abroad, said that the Youai joint entrepreneurship base has attracted more than 300 anchors, operators and other personnel, including exhibitions, logistics, design centers and nearly 100 live broadcast rooms, and has also introduced Kaos intelligent manufacturing Hanfu production line to promote the high-quality development of the Hanfu industry with data and technology. "Post-85" Huang Xiaoyan has worked hard in the south for more than 10 years, and now she has become the manager of Cao County's Hanfu Yuncang through the Tang Dynasty. She said: "Although I work in the township, I am close to the market, the pace is very fast, and there is a constant stream of customers every day. ”
More and more highly educated talents are returning to their hometowns to start a business and find employment as the first choice. At present, Cao County has 3 doctors, nearly 100 masters, and nearly 10,000 college students who are highly educated talents engaged in e-commerce. In recent years, Cao County has attracted a total of 50,000 people to return to their hometowns to start businesses, and driven 350,000 people to engage in the e-commerce industry.
-- Innovating the business environment and revitalizing the private economy. The "landing office" to ensure the construction of key projects, the "e-commerce office" to guide the development of the e-commerce industry, and the "business transfer office" to improve the business environment...... In view of the rapid development of the e-commerce economy, Cao County has innovated and launched a number of new institutions and new mechanisms in recent years to open up a "green channel" for industrial development. In addition, Cao County has also planned · construction of e-fashion town, Caoxian digital economy industrial park, rural e-commerce industry demonstration area centered on Daji Town, and e-fashion capital· China (Caoxian) Huafu Intelligent Innovation City, and the high-quality development pattern of "one park", "one district" and "one city" of e-commerce in Cao County is accelerating.
Hu Chunqing said that in order to avoid homogeneous competition, Cao County established a Hanfu Association to help Hanfu manufacturing enterprises establish a cooperation mechanism with design institutions and colleges and universities, and encourage enterprises to build their own brands; In order to protect independent innovation, Cao County has set up a special intellectual property rights protection center, which has shortened the processing time of patent applications from the traditional 180 days to 10 days.
"Our goal in creating a business environment is to do things without asking for people, the future is predictable, convenient and efficient." Zhao Fulong, secretary of the Cao County Party Committee, said. Today, Cao County has become one of the most active places in the private economy in the north, with more than 14 million business entities, calculated according to the permanent population, equivalent to one business entity in 10 people, and about 30 people have an enterprise, and small and medium-sized enterprises are "overwhelming".
According to preliminary statistics, in the first half of this year, Cao County is expected to achieve a GDP of 32.53 billion yuan, ranking first in Heze City, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%. Local people believe that Cao County is based on the cultural "two innovations", relying on the advantages of cultural resources, adhering to the idea of seeking truth and pragmatism and adapting measures to local conditions, so that the industry is rich and full of vitality, so that it can change from "temporary red" to "long-term red" and embark on the road of high-quality development.
Source: Economic Information Daily