In the 1953 movie 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,' Marilyn Monroe wore a peach-colored satin dress and sang 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend,' making diamonds a coveted jewelry item for countless women. In 'Titanic,' besides the touching love story of the protagonists Jack and Rose, there was also the deep blue diamond 'Heart of the Ocean' that ran through the entire film.
So, how valuable are diamonds, which are loved by women? Henan has the most say in this issue. Here are the reasons:
There is a saying in the superhard materials industry: "The world looks at China, and China looks at Henan." Currently, China's single-crystal diamond production accounts for about 95% of the world's total production, and Henan's production of synthetic diamonds accounts for 80% of China's total. Today, Zhecheng County, Henan, has become the "Diamond Capital of the World."
Colored diamond jewelry is nurtured by technology. In 2019, there was a major breakthrough in large-grain colored diamond technology at Zhongnan Diamond in Henan. Zhongnan Diamond produces 7 billion carats of diamond annually, and the production of synthetic diamonds accounts for 46% of the world's total and over 50% of China's domestic production.
Diamonds are essentially raw diamonds. Therefore, China's production capacity in the diamond field is still considerable, accounting for about 50% of the world's total production capacity, of which 80% are "Made in Henan.
Diamonds are also known as "carbonado," which is a mineral composed of carbon atoms. In a sense, diamond sellers are also "selling carbon." Many people believe that diamonds are expensive because they are rare, but are diamonds really that rare?
To clarify, synthetic diamonds and natural diamonds have the same chemical and physical properties, and cultivated diamonds can be comparable to natural diamonds in terms of crystal structure integrity, transparency, refractive index, and dispersion. By simulating the environment in which natural diamonds are formed, it is now possible to mass-produce synthetic diamonds that are identical to natural diamonds, but the retail price on the market is only about one-third of that of natural diamonds. Affordable synthetic diamonds provide consumers with more choices. For example, a natural diamond ring that costs one million yuan can be replaced by a synthetic diamond ring that costs only 100,000 yuan.
In 2021 alone, Henan produced 3 million carats of cultivated diamonds. Imagine how many couples can use them? Therefore, Henan takes the wish of "May all lovers eventually become couples" seriously.
Cultivated diamonds are just one of the achievements of Henan's superhard materials industry development. Superhard materials represented by diamonds are the darling of the industry and are known as the "king of materials," "industrial teeth," and "ultimate semiconductors.
As the king of materials, diamond has excellent mechanical properties as well as many excellent properties in terms of heat, light, sound, electricity, and chemistry, such as the highest thermal conductivity, high carrier mobility, high insulation, excellent optical transparency, and chemical stability, making it have excellent application potential in cutting-edge technology fields such as aerospace, nuclear industry, new-generation semiconductors, and high-power devices.
Initially, China's synthetic diamonds relied entirely on imports, and in today's terms, this was a technology that was "neck-restricted" by foreign countries. The breakthrough eventually came from Zhengzhou Sanmo Technology Co., Ltd.
Zhengzhou Sanmo Technology Co., Ltd., established in 1958, is a research company specializing in abrasive tools and grinding technology. At that time, grinding wheel factories were being built all over the country, but they lacked the most core material - synthetic diamonds.
In industry, special tools need to be cut and polished, and only superhard materials can do the job. In 1960, the National Ministry of First Machinery Industry assigned the task of researching synthetic diamonds to Sanmo Technology Co., Ltd.
According to Mr. Wang Guangzu, the "father of synthetic diamonds" in China, at that time, there was a lack of related research materials and experts in the field, and China could not "borrow force" from the Soviet Union due to their deteriorating relations.
However, the Chinese are best at tackling difficult problems. In 1963, after three years of hard work, Sanmo Technology Co., Ltd. successfully developed China's first synthetic diamond, making China the fifth country to develop diamond after the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries.
Subsequently, Sanmo Technology Co., Ltd. collaborated with the Jinan Foundry and Forging Machinery Research Institute to develop China's first diamond-making machine, the six-sided top pressure machine, in 1965. It is said that the institute leader rewarded all researchers with "a bowl of braised noodles" for their achievement.
From the development of the first synthetic diamond to the development of the first cubic boron nitride and cultivated diamond, Sanmo Technology Co., Ltd. has always been at the forefront of China's superhard materials industry. With their leadership, the superhard materials industry in Henan has been booming.
As of the end of 2021, there are over 300 superhard material enterprises in Henan province, with an industry scale of 40 billion yuan. Among them, there are about 30 enterprises with annual sales of over 100 million yuan. Zhengzhou, Changge in Xuchang, Zhecheng in Shangqiu, Jiaozuo, and Fangcheng in Nanyang have become industrial clusters for superhard materials. Currently, the top three superhard material companies in China, Zhongnan Diamond, Huanghe Whirlwind, and Liangtong Diamond, are all from Henan province.
From scratch to a large scale, China's superhard material industry has reached a new stage of development. Although China is a major country in superhard materials and products, it is not a superpower yet, and the industry's technology level still lags behind the international leading level. Some advanced superhard material technologies are still controlled by countries such as the United States and Japan.
Henan is also striving to break through. Data shows that Henan's market share in the field of products and composite materials is relatively small, and the types of products are relatively few, with a relatively narrow application field. It needs to develop towards high-grade, multi-variety, serialized, and specialized directions.
In summary, the superhard material industry in Henan province also faces the problem of being "large but not refined." There are two potential risks: first, low-price dumping. There are mostly upstream raw material products, with fewer high-end products and functional application products. Some high-end products still need to be imported at high prices from abroad. Second, overcapacity. The competitiveness of mid-to-high-end products is weak, and the specialization and refinement of some mid-to-low-end products are insufficient, leading to overcapacity.
On July 28th, at the 14th Party Congress of Changge City, Secretary Zhang Zhongmin clearly pointed out that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, our city should give full play to our industrial and locational advantages, seize the strategic opportunity of manufacturing industry development entering a golden period, and build a more dynamic Changge. R&D funding will increase by an average of more than 20% per year, and our innovation and entrepreneurship system, scientific and technological talent support, scientific and technological achievement transformation, and high-quality enterprise cultivation system are at the forefront of the province. The added value of high-tech industries accounts for more than 60% of the added value of above-scale industries, and we have built a national innovation-oriented county (city).
As a leader in the global superhard material industry, Huanghe Whirlwind Group continues to strengthen the core role of Party leadership, achieving a transformation from scratch to a large scale, and from weak to strong in the superhard material and related industries.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, how will Huanghe Group further improve on the basis of strengthening its core business of superhard materials?
Seizing the opportunity of new infrastructure construction, leveraging the pioneering role of superhard materials as the "teeth" of industrial development in new infrastructure, implementing "5G+ smart factory" to optimize production processes, improve product quality, and reduce production costs;
Huanghe Whirlwind Group has already begun to layout applications for optoelectronic and thermal, third-generation semiconductor, high-end applications of diamond and diamond products, and military and aerospace fields. Currently, it has established cooperative relationships with many universities, set up provincial key laboratories for optoelectronic materials, and has reserved a large number of related talents. It will play an important role in solving key engineering problems such as chips.