Español 
English 
हिन्दी 
العربية 
Português do Brasil 
Русский 
日本語 
Deutsch 
한국어 
Français 
Türkçe 
Polski 
Tiếng Việt 
Italiano 
简体中文 As a leading global cemented carbide hub, China has set up many industrial clusters in different cities through decades of development. The global high-end cemented carbide market is long controlled by international companies such as Sweden’s Sandvik and the United States’ Kennametal. In China, cities including Zigong, Ganzhou, Xiamen and Wenling have built their own cemented carbide clusters. These cities focus on mining alloys, tungsten raw materials, deep-processed products and general cutting tools separately.
Among all domestic industrial bases, Zhuzhou in Hunan Province is the most complete and competitive cemented carbide hub. It produces nearly half of China’s total cemented carbide and high-end products. It leads the country in industrial scale, full industrial chain and intelligent manufacturing level.
With more than 70 years of industrial development, Zhuzhou is the birthplace of China’s cemented carbide industry. It is now the largest cemented carbide production base in Asia and the third largest in the world. Its core industrial zone is located in Hetang District, which has become a key choice for global manufacturers, suppliers and investors in the cemented carbide industry.
Industrial data clearly shows Zhuzhou’s core strength. The city has more than 300 upstream and downstream enterprises. It forms a complete and stable industrial ecosystem and ranks first in Asia in overall scale.
Hetang District is the core area of Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide industry. It has 223 professional enterprises and forms the most concentrated cemented carbide cluster in China. Its market performance is outstanding:
-
42% of China’s total cemented carbide sales
-
Over 65% of China’s CNC blade production and sales
-
More than 50% of global spherical alloy output
In 2025, Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide industrial output reached more than 52 billion RMB. Its products are sold to over 80 countries and regions worldwide. They are widely used in mechanical processing, aerospace, new energy vehicles, semiconductors and other high-end manufacturing fields. In 2024, the Hetang cemented carbide cluster was named a National Characteristic SME Industrial Cluster, which proves its important position in China’s industrial layout.
Fig.1 Hunan Advanced Cemented Carbide Industrial Park
Complete Industrial Chain
Besides large production scale, the biggest advantage of Zhuzhou as a top cemented carbide hub is its fully independent and controllable industrial chain.
Different from other clusters that depend heavily on external purchasing, Zhuzhou has built a full production chain. It covers tungsten mining, powder preparation, alloy production, precision tool manufacturing, application service and resource recycling. In the 5-kilometer core zone of Hetang District, enterprises can finish the whole production process from tungsten powder to finished cutting tools. The local supply rate of core materials reaches 85%.
This concentrated industrial layout reduces production and logistics costs. It also speeds up research progress and customized order delivery. This kind of complete supporting system is hard for overseas scattered industrial bases to copy.
In core raw material production, Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group has helped China stop relying on imported high-end tungsten powder. Its new intelligent ultra-fine tungsten carbide powder production line has an annual capacity of 3,000 tons. It realizes domestic production of high-grade raw materials and solves key technical problems in the cemented carbide industry.
Fig 2.Zhuzhou International Trading Center for Advanced Cemented Carbide s & Tools
Tiered Enterprise Ecosystem
A world-class cemented carbide hub needs a reasonable and complete enterprise group. Zhuzhou has built a three-tier industrial system with leading enterprises, listed benchmark companies and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises.
Tier 1: Global Industry Leader — Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group
Known as the cradle of China’s cemented carbide industry, Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group made the first cemented carbide product in China’s industrial history. As the founder and pioneer of the domestic carbide industry, it is the most important leading enterprise in Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide hub. The company runs the industry’s only national key laboratory for cemented carbide and powder metallurgy. It has independent R&D ability for the whole tungsten industrial chain.
Fig.3 Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group
Tier 2: High-End Tool Listed Enterprises — OKE & Huarui Precision
These two A-share listed companies form the key mid-tier force of Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide hub. There are only 10 listed cemented carbide companies in China, and two of them are based in Zhuzhou, namely OKE and Huarui Precision. As domestic benchmark brands for high-end CNC cutting tools, their products are widely used in humanoid robot part production, aerospace precision processing and other high-end manufacturing fields. The two companies have a combined market value of over 10 billion RMB. They guide the upgrading of China’s tool manufacturing industry and promote the whole industry to move toward mid-to-high-end markets.
Tier 3: National Specialized and Innovative “Little Giant” Enterprises
Zhuzhou has a solid and diverse industrial foundation. It hosts 307 cemented carbide-related enterprises, taking up 35% of China’s total industry enterprises. The cluster includes 144 high-tech enterprises, 4 national-level manufacturing single-champion products, 11 provincial-level single-champion products, 3 national hidden champion enterprises, 1 industry craftsmanship benchmark enterprise, 27 national-level specialized and innovative “Little Giant” enterprises, 84 provincial-level specialized and innovative enterprises, and 36 listed enterprises. This complete enterprise group forms a strong and full industrial ecosystem.
The cluster can produce more than 100,000 types of products, which are exported to over 80 countries and regions. In 2023, Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide cluster achieved a total operating income of 57.5 billion RMB, with a year-on-year growth of 2.5% and a domestic market share of over 40%, ranking first in Asia in industrial scale.
In this active industrial ecosystem, 27 national-level specialized enterprises focus on different market segments and own independent core technologies.
Zhuzhou Conocerte makes customized special-shaped cemented carbide products for machinery, mining, aerospace and electronic industries.Zhuzhou Kent produces carbide products for drilling and excavation work with stable quality and standard green production methods. Zhuzhou Jinggong is a high-tech manufacturer of CNC blades, saw blades, mining tools and various non-standard carbide products for global customers. Diyuan Industrial Furnace provides industrial furnace equipment and related technical services, supporting standard and efficient production for local carbide factories. The cooperative development of large, medium and small enterprises forms a rich and active innovation environment for Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide hub.
Fig.4 Zhuzhou Meiteyou Carbide Co., Ltd.
Superior Industrial Environment
For global manufacturers and investors, the competitiveness of a cemented carbide hub depends not only on technology and scale, but also on complete supporting facilities and stable low-cost operating conditions. Hetang District has built a complete service system to support the steady development of local enterprises.
Lower Energy Costs
Hydrogen is a key material for cemented carbide production. The introduction of the Xianggang Messer hydrogen supply project realizes direct pipeline hydrogen delivery. The local hydrogen price has dropped from 7 RMB per cubic meter to 3.5 RMB, helping medium-sized alloy enterprises save up to 1.75 million RMB in energy costs every year. At the same time, the construction of a 110kV substation, energy storage station and rooftop photovoltaic systems reduces local power costs by 10%.
Efficient Multi-Modal Logistics
The newly built industrial railway connects directly to Zhuzhou North Freight Station and Tonggangwan Port. It forms a combined transportation system of road, railway and waterway. It greatly lowers bulk cargo transportation costs and improves cross-border delivery efficiency.
Professional Industrial Park and Global Trading Platform
The Hunan Advanced Hard Material Industrial Park covers 10,000 mu with a total investment of over 30 billion RMB. More than 60 enterprises have settled in the first phase, forming a full industrial chain from raw material supply to finished product sales. With the support of the international trading center, Zhuzhou holds annual global hard material expos. The 2025 exposition gained more than 400 million RMB in on-site orders, building an important platform for global trade and technical cooperation in the cemented carbide industry.
Future Outlook
With 70 years of industrial accumulation, a complete supply chain, low-cost industrial conditions and continuous technical improvements, Zhuzhou’s cemented carbide hub has large growth space.
As one of Hunan’s key advantageous industries, the local cemented carbide industry plans to reach trillion-yuan industrial scale and build a world-class base for hard material research, manufacturing and trading by 2027. From a core Chinese production base to a global cemented carbide hub, Zhuzhou is shortening the gap with international top enterprises and changing the global pattern of advanced hard material manufacturing with stable Chinese manufacturing strength.