Another Way for 'Jinjiang-made' Products To Go Overseas

When people think of Jinjiang in Fujian, the first thing that usually comes to mind is shoes and clothing. A number of sports brands started here and went nationwide, making this county-level city a benchmark for the development of China’s private economy.

Guided by the 'Jinjiang Experience,' the GDP of Jinjiang City grew from 27.7 billion yuan in 2002 to 386.18 billion yuan in 2025, leading the county-level economy in Fujian for more than 30 years. Today, Jinjiang’s economic output ranks among the top three in China’s hundred strongest counties.

But today’s Jinjiang isn’t just about shoes and clothing anymore.

Beyond its traditional industries, a group of manufacturing companies that focus on niche markets are climbing up the industrial chain toward high-end production and gradually integrating into the global industry system.

Kaida Group Co., Ltd. FJ (“Kaida Group”) is one of them.

This company doesn’t produce end products, but a sheet of plastic packaging film. From food packaging to medical packaging, from material research to plastic recycling, behind a single sheet of packaging film lies a continuously extending industrial chain.

The company's newly developed material will further improve the quality of its products--Photo by People's Daily reporter Chen Lanyan.

"Actually, it all started because the local food industry was doing pretty well, so some niche companies in related sectors just sprang up," said Guo Tao, General Manager of Kaida Group.

In the 1990s, food companies like Panpan and Qinqin grew rapidly in Jinjiang, driving the continuous improvement of upstream and downstream supporting industries. Kaida Group, founded in 1999, initially provided packaging services for local food companies.

This kind of growth path is not uncommon in Jinjiang.

For a long time, Jinjiang has formed a manufacturing ecosystem of 'leading companies driving growth, supporting companies developing, and coordinated development along the industry chain.' The leading companies drive the supporting enterprises to grow, which in turn expand into niche areas, gradually forming a complete industry chain and moving toward the high end over time.

The development of Kaida Group is a microcosm of this industrial ecosystem.

In 2007, Kaida Group started applying for BRC certification. As an important threshold for entering the European market, this certification wasn’t mandatory at the time.

"Since the products already met EU standards, why not go international?" Guo recalls.

After that, the company gradually opened up international markets, and now exports consistently account for 20% to 30% of business, mainly targeting mature markets like Europe and North America.

In Guo’s view, the international market brings not just orders but also standards.

"Australian clients will ask you: where’s your certification? Where are your standards?"

In the company's showroom, all kinds of packaging products are on display--Photo by Chen Lanyan, People's Daily Online.

This kind of standard-driven pressure also pushes companies to move into higher value-added areas.

In 2017, Kaida Group launched a medical device packaging project. To enter this field, their products had to go through multiple tests, including ethylene oxide sterilization and material barrier performance, with the verification process taking up to a year. In the lab, a single material testing device costs 1.3 million yuan, and the company also plans to bring in an electron microscope worth over 2 million yuan.

In recent years, with the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, more and more Jinjiang companies are shifting from scale expansion to technology-driven growth.

At the same time, the industrial chain is continuing to extend.

From resin procurement, material modification, film production, to food and pharmaceutical packaging, and then to post-consumer plastic recycling, Kaida Group has gradually formed a complete chain.

"Today you drink a bottle of milk and throw the bottle away. Eventually, these plastic bottles will be collected through recycling channels and sent to factories for reprocessing," said Guo Tao.

As early as around 2016, facing the rising green packaging requirements in European and American markets, the company began exploring the circular economy and the use of recycled plastics.

Today, the company participates in Starbucks’ coffee lid recycling project in over 1,000 stores in Shanghai and provides packaging services for numerous products at Sam’s Club.

From traditional packaging to medical packaging and the circular economy, every step of transformation requires continuous investment. This year, to support the company’s needs for technological improvement, capacity expansion, and technology upgrades, the Jinjiang branch of China Construction Bank, in cooperation with local industry and information departments, provided them with interest-subsidized "Tech Upgrade Loans for Specialized and Innovative" projects, helping the company reduce financing costs by over 1.6 million yuan.

In the lab, the R&D team is busy testing new products--Photo by Chen Lanyan, People's Daily Online

Meanwhile, China Construction Bank, relying on its tech-focused branch in the Jinjiang Economic Development Zone and considering companies' tech qualifications, provides services like guidance on tech finance policies and promotion of government interest subsidies, extending financial support throughout the entire process of enterprise innovation and development.

The continuous flow of financial 'lifeblood' also ensures Jinjiang’s manufacturing industry can upgrade and transform smoothly.

As companies move up the industrial chain, the city helps them access wider markets.

In recent years, Jinjiang has been steadily pushing its 'Jin Products Go Global' initiative. The 'Jin Products Go Global' command center, established in 2025, has become a key platform for promoting local companies' global expansion.

Data shows that since the implementation of the initiative, Jinjiang's exports to markets like Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Poland, and Chile have all achieved double-digit growth.

From shoes and apparel to food, packaging materials, and new materials, more and more Jinjiang companies are participating in global division of labor in various ways.

At the end of an interview, Guo Tao smiled and said, 'While others focus on one pair of shoes, we focus on a single film.'

This sentence reveals another side of Jinjiang manufacturing.

In this city known for shoes and clothing, more and more companies are no longer directly targeting consumers. Instead, they are deeply involved in areas like materials, equipment, and components, continuously making breakthroughs in technology, standards, and the industrial chain.

They may not have household-name brands, but they are becoming vital parts of the global industrial chain.

While people still associate Jinjiang with shoes and clothing, a new batch of globally oriented companies has already emerged from there.