Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, Oct. 14 (Xinhua)

By Zhao Donghui and Wei Biao, Xinhua News Agency

A small pen with a big ambitions. From research and development of steel for nibs and different iterations of pen-making enterprises to the fading of pen repairers into obscurity from the heyday of customized pens, these are all footnotes the history of evolution of China's manufacturing industry.

Manufacturing is the foundation of a country, the foundation of a strong country.General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the important role and status of the manufacturing industry, and clearly pointedout that the development of the real economy requires a robust manufacturing industry.

Xinhua News Agency reporter recently in Shanxi, Shanghai, Gansu and other places around the “one pen" interviews found that the development of the pen helped write the history the “bigarticle" of Created in China.

The question of a small nib

How is a small pen nib made? Many people do not take this issueseriously. Working for 30 years in research and development at the TISCO Technology Center, Senior Engineer Wang Hui Mian had many sleepless nights. The small nib "action" was too difficult.

Have you ever had an experience of the nib ball falling off, or ink leaking, or intermittent delivery of ink whileusing ballpoint pens? ......these conditions have a lot to do with how the nib of the ball canget stuck in seat body. The ball seat has an opening thickness of less than 0.1 millimeters, and the ball must fit just right, ensure smooth writing, but also not leak. The nib is even more complex,there are five grooves to guide the ink, and the processing requiresprecision up to one thousandth of a millimeter, finer than a strand of hair.

Wang Huimian was not the only one facing challenges with this problem.Before 2016, China had about 3,000 pen companies with more than 200,000 employees producing 30 to 40 billion ball point pen nibs on ball seats, but all had to rely on imports. "Why can't a big pen-producing country produce its own tiny nibs?" --The "nibquestion" confounded China's entire manufacturing industry.

In order to give the ballpoint pen a "Chinese nib", in 2011 China began key technology research. Wang Huimian's Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., related domestic research institutes and pencompanies began undertaking a national research project - "penindustry key materials, preparation technology research, developmentand industrialization".

For these researchers, finding the best ratio of special trace elements and adding them accurately was the "key" to open the door to the success of nib steel research and development. In the absence of any reference materials, finding the perfect formula was like "finding a needle in a haystack".

Inorder to discover the confidential formula that foreign companies held in secrecy, Wang Huimian and his colleagues have performed hundreds of experiments, continue to accumulate data and adjust the parameters and design process. In order to write "Created in China”on a small nib, researchers and developers continuously chipped away at this challenge, one round after another. Nibs with stainless steel materials, easy cutting, rust and corrosionresistance, performance stability and other process challenges were tackled one by one.

After five years of experimentation and data accumulation, in September2016, TISCO announced the successful research and development of nibsteel materials for the market. After TISCO's nib steel was introduced to the market, the prices of foreign nib steel dropped by nearly one-third. Both the market demand and market share of TISCO nib steel skyrocketed.

The innovation didn’t end there. Recently, a new generation of environmentally friendly nibs with stainless steel developed by TISCO has begun mass production. Wang Huimian said "this time we stand at the same starting line with foreign countries."

Carvingout a new market

Werely on "specialization" to create opportunities, but also need to flexibly respond to rapidly changing market forces.

To many people, electronics are the norm of office life, with traditional stationery a distant memory. But Shanghai M&G Stationery Co., Ltd. has relied on its pen to create a big businessworth over 8 billion yuan.

Jinyuan District, Taiyuan City, at an elementary school near the Wujiabao District, each day before and after school, the most lively place is in front of the M&G stationery store. The 10-square-meter hut is crowded with parents and students shopping for stationery. There are more than 70,000 M&G stationery specialty stores like this across the country, many of which can be found around every school. For over 10 years, M&G stationery has realized double-digit growth in revenue, with total revenue in 2018 over 8.5 billion yuan, up 34 percent year-on-year.

"The stationery industry's future growth stems more from product and consumption improvements. There is still huge market space to tap into in the future,” exclaimed Chen Huxiong, president of M&G Stationery.

This summer, M&G launched a “small brush” neutral pendesigned to reduce hand fatigue, middle finger calluses and sweatypalms. Within 6 weeks, e-commerce sales reached more than 1 millionunits, becoming a viral product.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to vigorously develop the real economy, eliminate in effective supply, cultivate innovative kinetic energy, reduce operating costs, and promote the accelerated development of the manufacturing industry toward digitalization, networking, and intelligent development.

One small pen, infinite possibility for creativity. The "Pleasant Writing Cushion" neutral pen, which features a front cushion spring structure, effectively reduces writing fatigue. The"Quick-drying" series of pens allows students to bid farewell to their ink-stained hands when doing homework, leaving acleaner paper surface. The animation pen, popular amongst youth, was developed to meet the needs of young people. Pens are no longer cold and lifeless.

Today,M&G stationery products are exported to over 50 countries andregions, with marketing teams and partners around the world. ChenHuxiong claimed that the development strategy for the next five yearswill see M&G stationery accelerating their international presence.

Ducks are the first to the changes in river temperature. The new generationof designers have reached a consensus: new consumer scenarios continue to emerge, traditional stationery enterprises must remainopen-minded and actively tap into new consumer demands in order to adapt to changing consumer trends.

The story that "a single pen" can write will be more vibrant!

Everyday, the sun rises anew, what remains unchanged is the momentum of innovation.

Outwith the old, in with the new. A single pen can be a major player inthe spectacular drama of life. There is talk about pen repairers, yet perhaps some people have not even heard of this line of work.

In the past, in the streets of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, there was never any difficulty finding a pen repairer. Today, seeking out a pen repair master is comparable to finding a needle in the haystack. A reporter traveled all around Lanzhou for days, around schools and stationery stores, only to find a  single pen repairman who hadchanged his profession.

50-year-oldJiang San has a stall at the Yongchang Road night marketin Lanzhou City,.Thirty years ago, he used to repair pens with his uncle, Wang Youfu.These days, he makes keys for a living.

Post-2000,the once bustling pen repair industry no longer exists. Ballpointpens, neutral pens and other writing tools have become increasingly convenient. Computers and the Internet have taken over, and writing with a pen transformed from being an essential skill into a hobby.

General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that China's economicstructure has recently undergone significant changes, accelerated its heightened consumption habits, and entered an active period ofinnovation. If someone’s way of thinking is still stuck in the ways of the past, not only will it be difficult for them to carve out a future for themselves, but they will also miss out on many opportunities.

When pen repairers faded out, personalized pen products began emerging.