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
