Golf, a sport long associated with style and elegance across Europe and the United States, has also found a vast market within China. Which county-level city is building a complete golf equipment industrial chain and beginning to take on golf club orders from Western markets?

Amid the global wave of new energy vehicle transformation, power batteries that can withstand collisions and nail penetration tests without catching fire, emitting smoke, or exploding were once considered an insurmountable safety barrier for the industry. Where is the only company in China capable of mass-producing solid-state electrolyte separators that fundamentally eliminate fire risks?

Outsiders might find it hard to believe that the answers to both questions point to Ningyuan County, a small county in Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. Thanks to its advancing "one pillar, one specialty" industrial system, Ningyuan County is steadily expanding its leading new energy and new materials (lithium battery) industry and its specialty light industry and textiles (sports equipment) sector, driving the cluster-based development of its core and specialty industries.

Ningyuan County is also a land of revolutionary heritage. More than 90 years ago, between August and November 1934, the Red Sixth Army Corps—the vanguard of the Long March—and the main forces of the Central Red Army passed through Ningyuan County successively over approximately 11 days, traversing nearly 20 townships and nearly 300 villages, leaving behind multiple battle sites, Long March slogan walls, and revolutionary memorial sites.

Recently, reporters from China Business Journal retraced the Long March route and arrived in Ningyuan County to conduct in-depth research on how the local specialty industries are extending, supplementing, and strengthening their chains, how they are pushing competitive industries toward strength and excellence, and how they are securing a place in national and even global industrial chains. Ningyuan County's rise as a lithium battery hub leveraging its resource advantages, and its industrial transformation from traditional shoe manufacturing to technology-driven golf club production, shine even brighter under the guidance of the Long March spirit.

A Single Separator Layer Catches the New Energy Wave

Walking into Hunan Lidu New Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hunan Lidu") in the Fuyuan Industrial Park of Ningyuan High-tech Industrial Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as "Ningyuan High-tech Zone"), modern factory buildings stand in neat rows, and solid-state electrolyte separator production lines and lithium-sodium battery production lines operate at high speed, forming part of the "heart" of new energy vehicle power batteries.

According to reports, Hunan Lidu is the main engine of Ningyuan County's leading new energy and new materials (lithium battery) industry and a large-scale project signed and introduced by Ningyuan High-tech Zone in 2023. Once fully completed and put into production, it will achieve an annual production capacity of 600 million square meters of separators and 10,000 tons of cathode materials, with an annual output value of 2.8 billion yuan.

"Currently, the company has put into operation 12 solid-state electrolyte separator production lines and 4 lithium-sodium battery production lines. In 2025, it achieved an output value of 160 million yuan and created more than 120 jobs," a person in charge at Hunan Lidu told reporters. The company is currently the only high-tech enterprise in China capable of mass-producing high-temperature-resistant separators (up to 200 degrees Celsius). Its separator technology has passed certification from a number of top domestic battery companies and is being supplied in bulk, with partners including CATL, Ganfeng Lithium, Sunwoda, and Farasis Energy.

On May 31 of this year, Hunan Lidu announced that its solid-state electrolyte separators with a monthly output of 23 million square meters had achieved large-scale mass production, making it the only company in China capable of supplying this product in bulk. Relevant materials show that the core of solid-state electrolyte separators lies in replacing liquid electrolytes with non-flammable solid materials, fundamentally eliminating the risk of power battery fires.

Regarding the technology behind this, Su Qitao, Chairman of Hunan Lidu, stated: "Solid-state electrolyte coated separators can effectively solve the nail penetration fire and explosion issues under the new national standards for lithium and sodium batteries. It may look like just a layer of film, but it actually contains many pores. These pores shrink during discharge and expand during charging."

According to Su Qitao, the company's factory area covers approximately 60,000 square meters and has an annual separator production capacity of 800 million square meters. "Currently, the company's monthly shipment volume has reached 23 million square meters, and it is expected to achieve an output value of at least 650 million yuan in 2026."

The rapid development of Hunan Lidu is just a microcosm of the increasingly mature lithium battery industry cluster in Ningyuan County. According to reports, the area has now gathered lithium battery and supporting enterprises including Hunan Lidu, Jili New Energy, Walton New Energy, Wanfu Technology, Ningna Technology, Qili Technology, and Dapeng Laser, forming a complete chain from "cathode and anode materials—cell manufacturing—separators—electrolytes—intelligent equipment—terminal applications."

Statistics show that in 2025, Ningyuan County's lithium battery industry cluster gathered more than 80 enterprises with a total output value of 7.85 billion yuan, possessing an annual production capacity of 500 million lithium batteries and 1 billion square meters of separators. Multiple upstream and downstream enterprises in the battery manufacturing sector have formed collaborative supporting relationships, building an industrial ecosystem of "leading enterprise guidance with small and medium-sized enterprise collaboration."

A Single Golf Club "Swings Out" an International Industry

While the leading new energy and new materials (lithium battery) industry takes the lead, the development of Ningyuan County's specialty light industry and textiles (sports equipment) sector is equally noteworthy. Ningyuan County is a traditional shoe manufacturing hub. According to research data from the Ningyuan County CPPCC, as of the end of March this year, the county had more than 130 shoe manufacturing enterprises capable of producing 25 million pairs of finished shoes annually. In 2025, the annual output value of Ningyuan County's shoe manufacturing industry exceeded 2 billion yuan.

In the intelligent production workshop of Yongzhou Huisheng Shoes Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huisheng Shoes"), there is no traditional "human wave tactic" of conventional manufacturing; instead, visitors are greeted with a sense of digital technology. In 2025, Huisheng Shoes was selected for the national-level 5G factory list, becoming a typical example of Ningyuan's traditional industries leapfrogging from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing."

While shoe manufacturers are transitioning toward "intelligent manufacturing," Ningyuan County is also writing a new story of industrial transformation from "making shoes" to "making clubs." In the Gaoxin Sports Equipment Industrial Park located in the Western Industrial Park of Ningyuan High-tech Zone, 10 multi-story factory buildings and 1 comprehensive office building have risen, becoming the core engine driving the development of Ningyuan County's complete golf equipment industrial chain.

According to reports, the industrial park was jointly developed by the Ningyuan County People's Government and Hunan Gaoxin Holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Gaoxin Holdings"). Phase one was put into production in April 2024. It is an export-oriented, modern specialty golf full-industry-chain park featuring openness, innovation, industrial synergy, and green low-carbon development, committed to building a widely recognized and influential "Ningyuan Golf" brand.

A person in charge from Ningyuan County told reporters that the Gaoxin Sports Equipment Industrial Park has introduced 14 enterprises including Hunan Lianxin Sports Goods, Yongzhou Xinduan Precision Technology, and Hunan Jialei Sports Goods, basically forming a complete golf equipment industrial chain integrating molds, club heads, shafts, grips, and bags. "In 2025, the golf industry chain achieved a total output value of 200 million yuan, creating more than 700 jobs."

"After the project is fully completed, enterprises in the park will provide nearly 5,000 jobs, with total output value expected to exceed 5 billion yuan and annual tax revenue reaching 500 million yuan," said a person in charge from the Party Working Committee and Management Committee of Ningyuan High-tech Zone. Currently, enterprises in the park cover the full range of golf production categories, forming a full-industry-chain model featuring specialized division of labor, industrialized collaboration, and cluster-based development.

"We are now using this full-industry-chain model mainly to build the largest and internationally influential world-class golf equipment industrial base in the country," said Tan Zhihong, General Manager of Gaoxin Holdings.

Securing a Place in the Global Industrial Chain

From "individual champions" to "cluster collaboration," how has Ningyuan County—a small inland city in southern Hunan—secured a place in the global industrial chain amid the era of restructuring and fierce competition?

According to reports, in recent years, Ningyuan County has vigorously implemented the "163" project, built the "Shunxin Ban" government service brand, and provided dedicated "assist-and-proxy" services, enabling enterprises to handle affairs with "zero errands." These efforts have become the driving force behind the local push to upgrade traditional industries toward intelligence and excellence and accelerate the construction of a specialty industrial system.

Innovation-driven empowerment, targeted investment attraction and talent recruitment, and business environment optimization are the "three magic weapons" for Ningyuan County in building a collaborative industrial chain development pattern. A person in charge from Ningyuan High-tech Zone told reporters that in recent years, the zone has closely focused on the "one pillar, one specialty" industries to plan projects, attract investment, and optimize services, introducing three "parks within parks"—the Golf Sports Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park, the Lithium Battery New Materials Industrial Park, and the Shunde Cultural Crafts Industrial Park—creating a vibrant situation of gradient development across three major industrial clusters: new energy and new materials, light industry intelligent manufacturing, and cultural creativity.

Currently, Ningyuan County's lithium battery industry has built an industrial chain integrating cathode and anode materials, separators, and electrolytes, and has entered Hunan Province's "one core, one pole, three auxiliaries" spatial layout. "We will continue to focus on lithium battery manufacturing, accelerate the improvement of park facilities, deepen industry-university-research collaborative innovation, promote the growth of the lithium battery industry alliance, and strive to build a lithium battery industry highland with influence across the province and even the nation," said Liu Zhiming, Member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Ningyuan High-tech Zone.

"In 2026, Ningyuan County will adhere to strengthening chains and clustering industries, and strive to expand the industrial economy with greater efforts. We will vigorously implement the action to cultivate and strengthen new industries, adhere to the full-industry-chain development approach, push competitive industries toward strength, and unswervingly expand and strengthen core and specialty industries," stated Ningyuan County's 2026 Government Work Report.

Specific pathways include continuously expanding the leading new energy and new materials (lithium battery) industry, strengthening regional industrial collaboration, and consolidating its position as the chain leader of Yongzhou City's lithium battery industry chain. It will also continue to expand the specialty light industry and textiles (sports equipment) industry, support the extension, supplementation, and strengthening of the golf sports equipment industry chain, and cultivate related sports equipment industries.

According to reports, looking toward the "15th Five-Year Plan," Ningyuan County will leverage its existing industrial foundation and resource endowments to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system with Ningyuan characteristics, focusing on building an advanced manufacturing base. While developing and expanding the new energy and new materials (lithium battery) industry cluster, it will also expand and strengthen the specialty light industry and textiles (sports equipment) industry, striving to be recognized as a provincial-level industrial cluster in Hunan.