Why Can Henan Become The World Factory Of Artificial Diamonds

On the basis of technology, it first benefited from the industrial layout of the country in the 1950s.

During the first five-year plan period, the state set the abrasive abrasive industry in the machinery industry in Zhengzhou. Among them, the leaders include the only comprehensive research and development institution of the abrasive abrasive industry in China, Zhengzhou Abrasive Grinding Institute, which was founded in 1958, also known as Zhengzhou Three Grinding Institute.

As the hardest substance naturally existing in nature, in addition to dazzling jewels, the diamond predecessor "diamond" before polishing is also an important industrial material, known as "industrial teeth".

But at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, all our diamonds depended on imports. In order to get rid of the dependence on the import of synthetic diamond, in 1960, the state set up a "121" research group to develop synthetic diamond. In 1963, Zhengzhou Three Mills Institute developed the first domestic double-sided jacking press. On December 6 of the same year, the "121" research group successfully developed China's first synthetic diamond on the two-sided press of Beijing General Machinery Institute.

In 1965, China's first hinged six-sided top press was successfully developed in Zhengzhou Sanmo Institute. This machine with independent intellectual property rights in China is not only 10 times higher than the two-sided top press in production efficiency, but also more cost-effective in consumables. This wave of technology was put into mass production in 1966. In the same year, China produced the first batch of artificial diamonds, which entered the industrialization stage in China.

In the 1960s, the price of one carat of diamond in China was 32 yuan, and the production capacity of a six-sided top press was more than 300 carats a day, equivalent to more than 10000 yuan. Therefore, there was a saying in the industry at that time that described the artificial diamond industry as follows: "When the press rang, ten thousand liang of gold".

The Third Grinding Institute has laid the scientific research foundation for the production of artificial diamonds in Henan, and another key node to promote the development of artificial diamond industry in Henan was in 1980. At that time, Feng Jinzhang, an engineer of the Third Grinding Institute of Zhengzhou, returned to his hometown Zhecheng County to start a business and founded Shaoyuan Diamond Factory, which mainly produces diamond powder.

By 1985, with the rise of "enterprise transformation and system reform", several technical talents in Shaoyuan Diamond Factory had set up their own doors and started the family-style production. Facing the wave of reform and opening up, family workshops have been transformed into large and small enterprises, and the synthetic diamond industry in Zhecheng County has entered a golden period of development. By 2000, Zhecheng has become the "hometown of diamond powder in China", which forms the basis of today's Zhecheng diamond industry.

Before 2009, Zhecheng was mainly engaged in diamond powder processing, and there were no enterprises specialized in diamond single crystal production. With the upgrading of local industrial parks into industrial clusters, a number of diamond projects and enterprises have settled in, gradually forming a relatively complete artificial diamond industrial chain.

In September 2021, Zhecheng Power Diamond (301071. SZ) was listed on the GEM of Shenzhen Stock Exchange. On July 18 this year, Huifeng Diamond (BJ839725) successfully landed on the Beijing Stock Exchange. The listing of the two enterprises within one year also shows the strength of Zhecheng, a small county in this industry.

Not only Zhecheng, but since the 1980s, the technological dividend of Zhengzhou Sanmo Institute has spread to all parts of Henan. Today's leading synthetic diamond enterprises, including Huanghe Cyclone in Xuchang, Sifanda in Zhengzhou, and Huajing (Henan Diamond) in Zhengzhou, are all inextricably linked with Sanmo. In response, some media said that Zhengzhou Sanmo Institute is the "Huangpu Military Academy" of China's diamond industry.