Township’s ambitions on the button

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Creative button designs made by factories in Xitang, Zhejiang province (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

When Lu Luoyi received a set of buttons for her high-school graduation, it proved to be a life-changing gift.

“They were beautifully intricate works of art from out of town,” said Lu, now 59. “I thought about the huge amount of expertise that went into making them and wanted to do something similar. You can say that’s what helped get started on my career path.”

Lu, with more than 70 colleagues, makes buttons out of seashells at a factory in Xitang, a township of Jiashan county in the city of Jiaxing, in Zhejiang province.

The raw material comes from the coastal areas about 186 miles away, before being made into more than 300,000 buttons that pass through Lu’s hands every day to help adorn the latest fashion trends worldwide.

“The most beautiful ones can seem like pearls that glow under the moonlight,” she said. “Probably nowhere else can such buttons be created.”

Xitang’s button producers form a pillar industry of Jiashan that employs more than 20,000 people. They boasted an annual output of more than 110 billion buttons in 2021, half the domestic market, and contributed nearly 70 per cent of local tax revenue, according to the county.

Because it is at the forefront of Chinese button production, Xitang has been called the world’s button centre, with everyone across the globe on average having at least 10 buttons made in the township.

The button business in Xitang features a comprehensive industrial cluster with a complete range of products and materials, ranging from metal and resin to natural shell and husk, as well as handcrafted items and those made with precision technology.

The township’s button industry centres on the village of Dashun, which hosts 678 companies that together produced goods worth 5.8 billion yuan (£707 million) in 2021, local authorities say.

Yu Shanfeng, 53, a company head who also heads local industry associations, said Dashun is at a high point in its development, with its production poised to scale even greater heights.

“We have a century of button-related businesses here. The shift is now towards green, sustainable, innovative and technology-driven growth that makes the most of our experience and infrastructure as we consolidate our strengths.”

He also said that as part of the green push and technological upgrading, one of his latest subsidiaries uses an intelligent manufacturing system that covers mobile customer orders, product tracking, quality control and logistics management, and ensures that emissions, wastewater and other byproducts are effectively processed and recycled.

“Our recycled products go beyond clothing and textiles. They cover creative cultural products, bags, shoes, accessories and stationery. We’re looking at 7 to 8 per cent recycled items for our production so far and are targeting up to 70 per cent of green use,” Yu said.

A cultural motif on a button made in Xitang (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

“Our development inroads not only improve the level of enterprise management, but also meet the high standards of our customers. A hallmark of local enterprise is the full involvement of our residents in a major industry. Any significant development in the field means more shared prosperity among us all.”

Qian Xiaogang, a deputy director of the management committee of the city of Jiaxing’s comprehensive free-trade zone, said local second-generation business people have a global perspective and are in tune with the latest trends.

They give priority to environmental sustainability, e-commerce and other digital channels so the industry can upgrade and stay ahead domestically and internationally, Qian said.

“From Europe to Asia, they have gone and looked abroad and are now tapping the global market, most notably through online platforms.”

“Our young business people are also exploring more overseas collaborations to participate further in global conventions, exhibitions and trade shows in the US and Europe.”

Previously published on Chinadaily.com.cn