Chinese county sparkles into diamond powerhouse

In a quiet county in central China's Henan Province, farmers no longer till the land; they now craft diamonds.

This is the remarkable twist in the story of Zhecheng County, once a state-level poverty-stricken area, where residents relied heavily on farming. Today, it has blossomed into China's "Diamond Capital," producing lab-grown gems that account for nearly half of the national total.

"Having a diamond was generally beyond imagination in the past, but now it has entered many ordinary households," said Pang Aihong, general manager of local brand Hold Diamond.

The transformation is rooted not in mining, but in manufacturing. Inside production halls of companies like Henan Liliang Diamond Co., Ltd, graphite blocks were pressed under immense heat and pressure in specialized machines. Within just seven to 15 days, they emerged as pure, lab-grown rough diamonds, a process mimicking nature's work over billions of years.

For consumers like Li Jiaqing, a resident shopping for an engagement ring, the appeal is clear. "We heard that the quality of cultivated diamonds from Zhecheng is as good as natural ones, and the price is much more favorable," Li said.

That favorable price is a fraction of mined diamonds -- sometimes just one-fifth or one-tenth -- with store staff like Wang Xinxin noting they often boast superior color and clarity.

Zhecheng County now hosts 65 diamond retail stores and has drawn over 600,000 tourists this year for diamond-related shopping.

But the sparkle extends far beyond jewelry. Known as the "industrial teeth," diamond and other superhard materials are critical in sectors from oil drilling and auto manufacturing to aerospace and semiconductors. Zhecheng's innovation, however, lies in branching this industrial strength into creative consumer goods.

Liliang Diamond, for instance, has launched collections featuring traditional Chinese motifs like jade dragons, zodiac animals, and Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC) culture, winning market applause.

This success is built on a robust industrial ecosystem. The county has nurtured over 200 companies in the superhard materials sector, forming a complete industrial chain, according to Meng Xiangchen, director of the administrative examination and approval bureau of Zhecheng's high-tech industrial development zone. This includes two national-level "little giant" enterprises and 15 provincial-level specialized firms.

With such scale, China has firmly established itself as the "world factory" for lab-grown diamonds, boasting a full ecosystem from research and development (R&D) to retail, as noted by Ye Zhibin, head of the Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of China.

Looking ahead, the county aims even higher. "We will increase R&D efforts to meet the needs of advanced manufacturing and future industries, such as semiconductor heat dissipation and optical windows," said Chen Yanan from Liliang Diamond's project department.

Supported by local government initiatives encouraging tech upgrades and downstream expansion, Zhecheng's diamonds are being pushed into new frontiers, from traditional industrial uses to functional applications in healthcare, semiconductors and more, said Meng.