Complete industry chain

For Liu Rui, director of Hangji's economic development bureau, the advantages of Hangji also lie in its complete upstream and downstream industry chains.

The Sanxiao Smart Logistics Command Center has 115 logistics companies and more than 1,000 vehicles to form a carrying capacity of 1.25 million metric tons in all, ensuring high efficiency in transportation.

The Jindu International Hotel Supplies City, a huge commercial complex in Hangji, is home to about 280 trading companies. Some 190 of them are engaged in the toothbrush business directly or indirectly. It has become the national trading center, information center, experience center and design center for the toothbrush industry.

In 2023, the China. Hangji E-commerce Industrial Park was put into operation, with functional areas including live broadcast rooms, unmanned supply chain supermarkets, conference and training centers, business negotiation centers, business guidance centers and internet celebrity coffee bars.

Nearly 300 e-commerce enterprises have already set up shops here or have agreed to start operations in the park. It aims to expand the market for local enterprises, Liu said.

About 25,000 people out of the 45,000 local population are involved in the secondary sector of manufacturing. Supporting companies related to toothbrush packaging, brush-making machinery, precision molds, new materials, automated equipment and other fields injects extra economic momentum into the town.

LMZ (Jiangsu) Industrial Co Ltd, headquartered in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, built its production lines in Hangji due to its location and resources.

"The Yangtze River Delta where Hangji is located is a huge market. Our main customers, domestic large hotels such as Huazhu and Atour, all have their headquarters in Shanghai," said Lan Jin, general manager of LMZ.

On the other hand, compared to Liuzhou, Yangzhou is closer to equipment manufacturers and raw material suppliers, and can solve everything within a radius of about 200-300 kilometers, Lan said.

Regarding raw materials, DuPont, the leading manufacturer of toothbrush bristles, has a factory in Wuxi of Jiangsu, while ordinary nylon bristles are also produced in Wuxi and Huai'an in the province, he said.

World is Hangji's oyster

In 2003, Hangji was dubbed Chinese Toothbrush Capital by the China National Light Industry Council. Its toothbrush exports to more than 80 countries and regions account for 90 percent of China's total exports of toothbrushes.

A microcosm of the trend is Yangzhou Minsheng Brush Daily Chemical Co Ltd in Hangji, which exports 90 percent of its toothbrush products.

Jia Hui, its marketing director, said its main customers are in the retail sector, such as overseas platforms like Amazon and large supermarkets abroad. Asia, Europe and South America each account for 30 percent of its export sales, while North America accounts for 10 percent. In 2023, its export sales reached about $10 million.

"In recent years, market demand and our sales have been steadily increasing," she said. "Domestically produced daily personal care products such as toothbrushes have very obvious advantages in terms of both quality and price. Besides, our industry already has very comprehensive quality standards in place, and we have always strictly controlled quality during the production process. Additionally, the industrial scale and mature supply system in Hangji make our products highly competitive in the international market."

She said the company maintains close contact with distributors to develop products tailored to specific user profiles based on their feedback and analysis.

For example, in a certain supermarket, customers buying toothbrushes are mainly housewives from nearby communities. When choosing daily personal care products, they prioritize cost-effectiveness and tend to prefer cool color schemes, and soft bristles. "So we develop customized products for them," she said.

"Over the past year, foreign distributors have also felt the pressure of an economic downturn. In the past, distributors would order more products and keep some in stock. However, currently, they are basically buying as much as they sell, with minimal inventory. The procurement cycle for products has become longer compared to previous years. Nevertheless, we remain confident in the future of this market," she said.

Yangzhou Duo Love Hotel Supplies Co Ltd in Hangji began to produce toothbrushes for hotels in 2009. It also began exploring overseas markets since 2023, eyeing Canada, Singapore and Thailand where the size of the ethnic Chinese population is substantial.

Ren Shan, its general manager, said the company plans to build branches in those countries to cut prices to benefit customers, boost demand and track market changes in time.

Hangji has worked to boost its foreign trade by subsidizing companies to attend international trade fairs and consumer goods exhibitions. It also offers guidance on laws and policies for companies, said Liu from the economic development bureau.

Contact the writers at chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn