Recently, at a crucial juncture when Huaihua’s luggage and leather goods industry is moving to a new stage of quality improvement, representatives of the industry from across the country gathered in the blessed land, attending the Investment Promotion Conference of the Luggage and Leather Goods Industry to discuss the grand undertakings of industrial development and share the cooperative experiences.
This event was not only a promotion conference showcasing the strength and potential of Huaihua’s bags and luggage industry, but also an opportunity for jointly pursuing development and creating a shared future.
At the promotion conference, 15 projects settled in Huaihua with a total investment of 713 million yuan. Over the past two years and more, Huaihua’s luggage and leather goods industry has grown from promise to prominence. It has attracted 200 projects with a total investment of 13.6 billion yuan, drawing all five major luggage industry clusters nationwide to converge in Huaihua.
Amid the trend of industrial transfer, why are enterprises from all over the country enthusiastic about investing in Huaihua? Huaihua is a thriving hub for investment and a blessed land for development.
As the first city in China to systematically plan and comprehensively advance the development of the luggage and leather goods industry at the municipal level, Huaihua has identified this sector as a leading industry clustered around its international land port. It has been incorporated into the city’s “5+10” modern industrial system and included in Hunan Province’s “4×4” modern industrial layout.
Currently, as the national industrial chain undergoes in-depth restructuring and the regional economic landscape accelerates its reshaping, the luggage and leather goods industry is embracing a critical window of opportunity for layout optimization and upgrading. Endowed with solid foundations, robust platforms and sincere commitment, Huaihua is not only a new space for industrial layout, but also a fertile ground where dreams can take root, blossom and bear fruit.
“In recent years, Huaihua has invited merchants from Hunan Province to invest in the city, which has provided a stage for me to fulfill my long-cherished hometown-bound aspirations and dreams,” said Mou Xiaofeng, a Huaihua-born entrepreneur who returned to his hometown and founded Hunan Xiangtong Industrial Co., Ltd.
To date, Xiangtong Company has invested nearly 2 billion yuan cumulatively and built a fully-integrated production base for telescopic luggage. As a leading figure in the industry, Mou Xiaofeng has not only spearheaded the rise and upgrading of Huaihua’s luggage industry, but also built a bridge connecting Hunan merchants worldwide, attracting a number of enterprises to settle here and bringing new development opportunities to Huaihua.
Over the past two years plus, Huaihua has been striving to build itself into an international hub of bags and luggage. The city now boasts 200 enterprises along the industrial chain, including 40 above-designated-size ones, with a total output value exceeding 6 billion yuan. Its foreign trade exports have reached 1 billion yuan in total, with products sold far and wide to Europe, the United States, ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions. A complete industrial chain covering upstream, midstream and downstream sectors—from finished product manufacturing to the production of key components such as telescopic rods, wheels and zippers, and further to foreign trade e-commerce support—has taken solid shape across the land of Wuxi (the historical name for Huaihua and its surrounding areas).
At the promotion conference, drawing on his personal experience as a Huaihua native returning to start a business, Mou Xiaofeng delivered a heartfelt speech and extended his most sincere invitation to all merchants present: “We warmly welcome you to join the warm and opportunity-filled big family of Huaihua’s luggage industry.”
The development of Huaihua’s luggage and leather goods industry originated from, and has thrived on, the trust of numerous entrepreneurs.
Reporters observed that at the investment promotion conference, there were many entrepreneurs who have been long-term business partners of the city and are optimistic about its luggage industry.
What they all see is Huaihua’s capacity to uphold and honor trust.
As a national comprehensive transportation and logistics hub, Huaihua enjoys two major geographical advantages: it is the intersection of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor and the Shanghai-Kunming Corridor, as well as the junction of the strategies for the Rise of Central China and the Western Development. Six railways and eight expressways converge in the city in a snowflake-like pattern, forming a well-established multi-modal transportation network integrating road, railway, waterway and air transportation.
Huaihua International Land Port has emerged as the bridgehead of central China opening up to ASEAN. It has developed seven major international logistics corridors, including those linking China with Laos and Vietnam, forming a multi-dimensional transportation pattern featuring smooth internal connectivity and extensive external links.
“By leveraging the hub advantages of the Huaihua International Land Port, the overall logistics efficiency of our product exports has been increased by 15%, with lower costs and significantly enhanced competitiveness,” said Man Linhua, chairman of Mayang Senjia Luggage Co., Ltd. “Today, our luggage products can conveniently take the China-Central Asia Railway Express and travel along the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, being steadily exported to more than 30 countries and regions across the globe.”
According to Man Linhua, the development of an enterprise must keep pace with the times and ride the tide of opportunities. From an initial 100-square-meter family workshop, the company has expanded into a modern intelligent factory; its team has grown from just a handful of people to over 400 stable employees. Starting from zero annual output value, the company achieved 70 million yuan in 2024, with a goal of exceeding 100 million yuan in 2025.
Today’s Huaihua cherishes every bit of trust bestowed upon it and will surely take more concrete measures to translate this trust into fruitful outcomes of win-win cooperation, working hand in hand with all stakeholders to create a brand-new future for Huaihua’s luggage and leather goods industry.
Behind the industrial development lies strong organizational support and pragmatic service guarantees.
In recent years, municipal and county-level governments in Huaihua have issued policies to support the development of the luggage and leather goods industry. The Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, three districts and three counties have set up a special working group to provide on-site services. Departments including Development and Reform, Commerce, Human Resources and Social Security, and Customs, as well as various financial institutions, have joined forces to fully safeguard enterprise development, address difficulties and empower growth, forming a work pattern characterized by high-level promotion, vertical coordination and inter-departmental collaboration.
“When we put the enterprise relocation on the agenda in 2024, we had many options, but ultimately we chose Huaihua for its investment-friendly environment,” said Dai Peng, general manager of Hunan Zhixing New Material Technology Co., Ltd.
From the very beginning of project negotiations, leaders of Zhongfang County presided over special meetings on multiple occasions to coordinate and resolve difficulties. The company needed to lease 21,000 square meters of standard factory buildings, involving complex procedures. However, with the full-range agency services provided by the special working group for the luggage industrial chain, the company only took three months to complete the relocation in September 2024 and put the factory into production in December of the same year.
Investing and setting up factories in Huaihua means not fighting alone, but joining a warm and dynamic “industrial big family”.
At present, Hunan Zhixing has launched three luggage production lines, equipped with more than 100 sets of advanced equipment, employed over 120 local residents, and its products are exported to more than 20 countries and regions, with an annual output value of 18 million yuan.
Boasting smooth logistics, abundant labor resources, strong factor guarantees and an excellent business environment, Huaihua has been repeatedly awarded the title of China’s Most Attractive City for Investment.
By further strengthening factor guarantees, optimizing service mechanisms and creating a better development environment, Huaihua is determined to boost the development and expansion of enterprises, and is working with entrepreneurs to write a new chapter in the high-quality development of the luggage and leather goods industry.
(Translated by Yang Hong)