The city of Liling in China's central Hunan province is famous for its ancient ceramics industry. Cao Chufeng tells us about how this old industry has secured its position in today's modern and competitive market, and created jobs for one-fifth of the local population. 

Liling, a county level city that's been producing ceramics for over 2000 years. A piece produced here, snatched the top prize at the Panama Pacific International Exposition over a century ago. But things have changed a lot since then and this is how Liling ceramics are produced today.

WANG DAGU Director, R&D Center, Hunan Hualian China Industry Co., Ltd. "This is the first intelligent painting equipment that's been imported to China. It uses advanced intelligent printing and special glaze ink technology. It only takes two seconds to finish printing a product. Whereas, hand painting may take more than ten minutes, so the speed is increased by hundreds of times."

And there are also new variety of ceramics that can be used in different sectors for different purposes.

CAO CHUFENG Liling "This object is also made with a special kind of porcelain that is produced here in Liling. And because it's highly resistant to corrosion, it's good with heat dissipation, which means it can be used in the batteries of clean-energy cars. Fascinating huh? How materials that are thousands of years old can be used in today's complex high-tech sector."

Ceramics in Liling is now developed into a modern industrial chain with over 1500 related businesses, that employ over 200-thousand practitioners or one fifth of the local population. On top of automatic production chain, and diversified products, a local businessman thinks, improving the management system can also make great contributions to the development of this industry.

XU JUNQI Chairman of Board, Hunan Hualian China Industry Co., Ltd. "First of all, I think intelligent and modern production requires more systematic and professional management, so that professional talents would want to work for you. And also, we need to set strategic goals, and develop ideas that can determine the path of development."

Local governments are also trying to promote Liling ceramics, treating it as a key industry.

HU CHANGCHUN Deputy Secretary, Zhuzhou Municipal Party Committee "For a long time, Hunan provincial government and Zhuzhou municipal government have attached great importance to the development of Liling ceramic industry, and have issued a series of supportive policies, including allocating special funds. In recent years, Hunan province included the ceramic industry among its 20 emerging advantage industrial chains."

Ceramics produced in Liling are exported to over 150 countries. The city also has China's largest export volume of ceramics produced for daily use. And local businesses are pretty confident that the industry has a significant potential for growth. Cao Chufeng, CGTN, Liling.