Zhecheng China: The World’s Largest Lab-Grown Diamond Production Hub
The Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry has turned a small Henan county with no natural diamond reserves into a global leader in cultivated diamond production. Located about 50 kilometers southwest of Shangqiu city, Zhecheng has built an extraordinary “stone-to-gold” industrial legend through continuous technological innovation. On March 31, a media delegation visited Zhecheng to explore how this small county developed a world-class lab-grown diamond sector from scratch.
At the showroom of Henan Liliang Diamond Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in the Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry, large-sized cultivated diamonds shine brightly under the lights. Chen Yanan, director of the project department, explained that lab-grown diamonds have identical physical and optical properties to natural diamonds but cost only one-fifth to one-tenth as much. The company now mass-produces lab-grown diamonds ranging from 0.1 carats to 50 carats, with products sold worldwide.
Liliang Diamond has built a complete industrial chain covering R&D, production, cutting, polishing, inlaying, and sales. In October last year, the company successfully produced a 156.47-carat lab-grown diamond single crystal using the high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) method. Certified by the International Gemological Institute (IGI), it is the world’s largest lab-grown diamond single crystal. This achievement proves that the Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry leads the world in large-sized single crystal technology. With excellent thermal conductivity, these diamonds will also support advanced cooling solutions for the electronics and information industry.
While Liliang Diamond pioneers large-sized cultivated diamonds, Huifeng Diamond specializes in diamond micro-powder and strengthens the Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry ecosystem. Huifeng Diamond produces over 250 million carats of products monthly, more than half of which are exported to Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and other global markets. Its artificial single-crystal diamond micro-powder has been recognized as a national manufacturing single champion product by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Gao Jie, deputy general manager of Huifeng Diamond, noted that diamond micro-powder is widely used in smartphone chip cooling, screen polishing, aerospace, precision manufacturing, optical instruments, and medical devices. The company plans to expand applications of diamond micro-powder to extend and strengthen the industrial chain of the Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry.
The rise of these two listed companies is no accident. Zhecheng’s industrial cluster includes 223 enterprises focused on superhard materials, forming a full supply chain for raw materials, single crystal synthesis, micro-powder processing, product manufacturing, and lab-grown diamonds. The Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry produces 6 billion carats of diamond single crystals and 15 billion carats of diamond micro-powder annually. It accounts for over 90% of China’s diamond micro-powder output and exports, and 60% of China’s large-sized lab-grown diamond production.
From the “Hometown of China Diamond Micro-powder” to a global “Diamond Capital,” Zhecheng’s transformation comes from persistent technological research and clear government strategies to extend, supplement, and strengthen the industrial chain. With goals to strengthen single crystals, refine micro-powder, expand products, and highlight diamonds, Zhecheng is building a globally competitive superhard materials industrial cluster.
These small diamond stones carry huge potential. They serve as sharp “tools” for industrial manufacturing and become dazzling jewelry for consumers. More importantly, they tell the world the strong story of the Zhecheng lab-grown diamond industry and China’s advanced manufacturing success.