Burgeoning gem industry paves way for prosperity in south China's Wuzhou

The tiny and glittering gemstones have driven the huge development of Wuzhou City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the past decades, turning the once ordinary industrial city into a globally renowned gem hub.

Wuzhou City is home to the largest artificial gemstone trading center in south China, attracting hordes of global orders.

Remarkably, 70 percent of the world's artificial gemstones are produced in the city.

It's hard to imagine that just decades ago, Wuzhou was an obscure light industrial city.

In the 1980s, a Hong Kong entrepreneur saw the potential of Wuzhou's low labor costs and opened the first gemstone processing company, leading to the rapid growth of the industry.

By the 1990s, out of the city's 300,000 residents, 120,000 engaged in gemstone polishing.

Today, the industry is undergoing significant transformation.

Lu Zeshuang, from Guilin City, has spent over a decade in Wuzhou.

After training as a jeweler in Shenzhen City in the neighboring Guangdong Province, he started his own jewelry processing factory.

"If you ask me what's the biggest change in the past decade, it is 'gemstone processing has met intelligence.' In the past, one person could polish over 200 stones daily while now, a machine can polish over 2 million stones in a single day. I started with a small factory of two or three people and have grown to a factory with more than 100 employees. We are even expanding our production line, and our jewelry is sold globally. Rather than saying I have witnessed the rapid development of Wuzhou's gemstone industry, it is actually the development of Wuzhou's gemstones that has made me successful," he said.

Wuzhou also boasts remarkable technology capable of cutting multiple facets on a gemstone just 1 millimeter in size.

Lu demonstrated this with a rice grain-sized gemstone featuring 57 facets - an impressive feat akin to writing on a grain of rice.

From manual polishing to semi-automated and now fully automated processes, Wuzhou's artificial gemstone industry has undergone a significant upgrade.

With 1,200 gemstone processing companies and 400 jewelry manufacturers, a smart comprehensive industrial chain has formed, covering everything from raw material development to design and processing.

The 21st Wuzhou Gem Festival is approaching and will serve as a platform for the local industry to showcase its achievements and promote cultural and economic exchange on the global stage.

Burgeoning gem industry paves way for prosperity in south China's Wuzhou

Chinese scientists have made improvements for the porthole of the Shenzhou-23 spaceship at the launch site to avoid potential emergency situations caused by space debris.

The Shenzhou-20 spaceship's return capsule viewport window suffered a suspected impact from space debris during its mission last year. The three Shenzhou-20 astronauts returned safely aboard the Shenzhou-21 spaceship on Nov. 14, 2025, and later on Nov. 25, China launched the Shenzhou-22 spaceship to provide a return vessel for the three Shenzhou-21 astronauts, who are currently in orbit.

To avoid such a potential emergency during the Shenzhou-23 mission, the porthole improvements were implemented ahead of schedule.

According to the original plan, the porthole upgrade was scheduled for implementation on the Shenzhou-24 spacecraft. However, after the Shenzhou-20 experienced an in-orbit space debris impact that affected the astronauts’ return, the team conducted a comprehensive assessment and decided to advance the upgrade to Shenzhou-23 to ensure a smooth and safe mission.

"The previous version of the viewport window had one layer of anti-ablation glass, while we increased that to two layers for the new window for dual redundancy. In addition, we have taken an extra protective measure as a final safeguard inside the capsule. These make up a three-layer anti-ablation function, adding an extra insurance for the astronauts to work and live safely and securely in orbit, and to return safely," said He Yu, chief commander of Shenzhou spacecraft of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Under normal circumstances, the viewport windows are installed at the spacecraft assembly workshop in Beijing before the capsule is assembled with other ones. But, since the Shenzhou-23 had already been manufactured and placed on emergency standby at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the porthole upgrade was conducted after all three modules had already been assembled -- a process much more difficult due to the confined space inside the capsule.

"Our guiding principle is putting people first. Moreover, we must further demonstrate the strength of China as a major country with strong aerospace capabilities. We will never allow space debris to affect the smooth progress of our mission," said the chief commander.

Shenzhou-23 spaceship undergoes porthole improvements at launch site