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Yongnian District in Handan City, Hebei Province, is China’s largest production and distribution base for fasteners. It can manufacture more than 30,000 types and specifications of fasteners, accounting for 58% of China’s market share, and is known as the "China Fastener Capital". Last year, Yongnian’s fastener output reached 7.1 million tons, with an output value exceeding 50 billion yuan and exports surpassing 1.8 billion yuan.
On July 4, at the production workshop of Guozhi Technology (Hebei) Co., Ltd. in Yongnian District, Handan City, Hebei Province, a 100-meter-long stainless steel bar was fed into a CNC cold heading machine. Within just 10 minutes, more than 2,000 shiny screws of various sizes rolled off the production line.
Screws are among the most common fasteners, and Yongnian produces over 30,000 specifications of fastener products. In 2024, Yongnian’s fastener output hit 7.1 million tons, valued at over 50 billion yuan, with exports exceeding 1.8 billion yuan.
High-end product share surges from 40% to 70%
During a visit to Handan Zhaoyun Power Fastener Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Yongnian District, reporters saw rolls of stainless steel bars processed into "Golden Cudgel"-shaped bolts through more than 20 procedures including heating, annealing and pickling.
Founded in 2009, Zhaoyun is a national high-tech enterprise and a Hebei Provincial "Specialized, Sophisticated, Unique and New" model enterprise integrating R&D, production and sales. "This batch of high-end fasteners—bolts with a tensile strength of 1,220 megapascals—are mainly used for UHV tower equipment in complex environments," said Tian JuLing, the company’s technical director. The firm has just received an order for 1,200 tons of bolts, and workers are racing to fulfill delivery within 20 days.
Stainless steel bars are the core raw material for fasteners, but unstable supply chains, sharp price fluctuations and inconsistent quality have posed severe challenges to the industry. Optimizing procurement, improving production processes and strengthening quality control have become critical breakthroughs for enterprises to cut costs and boost efficiency.
To address this, Yongnian District has continuously improved its industrial chain, attracting more related enterprises to settle in and helping the fastener industry "build chains and form clusters". This has created economies of scale, lowered production costs, and improved product quality and market competitiveness.
"The 'chain-building and cluster-forming' strategy promotes coordinated regional economic development and enhances industrial agglomeration effects. To this end, we have established a district-wide fastener industry alliance to help local manufacturers connect accurately with upstream steel raw material suppliers, conduct centralized procurement of stainless steel bars, joint R&D and coordinated sales, thus reducing costs and increasing efficiency across the industrial and supply chains," said Zhao Xianyong, director of the Yongnian District Fastener Development Service Center.
The strategy has cut industry costs by 10% and raised sales by 20%, while bulk purchasing has saved logistics costs and ensured raw material quality.
A complete industrial chain has also spurred technological innovation and industrial upgrading. At Guozhi Technology’s workshop, over a dozen CNC cold heading machines run automatically, with only one inspector monitoring operations. "Previously, one cold heading machine produced 120 screws per minute. Through the industrial public service platform and joint R&D with university teams, we achieved dual breakthroughs: energy consumption reduced by 40% and efficiency doubled," said Wu Yaheng, the workshop director.
"Through chain-based investment promotion and business-to-business investment attraction, Yongnian has introduced a number of nationally leading high-end equipment manufacturers. The share of medium and high-end fastener products has jumped from 40% to 70%, average profits have doubled, reaching up to 1,000 yuan per ton," Zhao added.
Promoting full-chain green upgrading
At Yongnian’s Hengchuang Environmental Technology High-end Fastener Industrial Park, a large visual screen monitors real-time environmental data across production lines. Amid clanking sounds, small screws drop neatly onto trays.
"Traditionally, screws and nuts required electroplating and phosphating for corrosion resistance, generating polluted wastewater. Now, intelligent systems ensure compliant discharge, helping enterprises avoid shutdown risks and raise production efficiency by 30%," said Wen Jiateng, the park’s director.
In recent years, Yongnian has prioritized green upgrading of the entire fastener industry chain. "We put green development at the forefront because we went through a tough and tortuous transformation," Wen recalled.
In 2017, amid a strict environmental protection campaign, Yongnian’s fastener industry faced a dilemma: upgrade or be eliminated. The district government resolutely pushed industrial transformation, allowing the sector to rebound strongly.
Yongnian consolidated scattered enterprises into industrial parks, shut down non-compliant workshops, introduced advanced environmental technologies and fully automated production lines, implemented intelligent monitoring of wastewater and exhaust gas, increased rail transport and promoted new energy logistics vehicles. These measures achieved efficient resource use, deep pollution reduction and low-carbon circular development.
Results have been remarkable: pollution control costs down 70%, wastewater reuse rate over 90%, and annual PM2.5 emissions down 45%.
Freed from environmental constraints, Yongnian’s fastener industry has revitalized. "We have pursued an innovation-driven strategy, nurturing 3 national 'Little Giant' specialized enterprises, 83 provincial specialized, sophisticated, unique and new SMEs, and 168 national high-tech enterprises, injecting strong vitality into the sector," said Li Weihong, deputy director of Yongnian District Development and Reform Bureau.
Launching a "combined punch" to explore global markets
Order receiving, sorting and shipping—workers are busy at Hebei Gunien Hardware Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Yongnian. "We just signed a $100-million deal with a major German manufacturer, marking our successful entry into the European market," said Ma Chunxia, the company’s general manager. Its overseas warehouse in the UAE has also received multiple orders for expansion anchors, threaded rods, self-drilling screws and other fasteners.
Strong global infrastructure demand has created new opportunities for Yongnian’s fastener industry. In recent years, Yongnian has rolled out a "combined punch" of policies: expert training for foreign trade staff, participation in international exhibitions and development of overseas warehouses, innovating ways to expand global markets.
The government leads enterprises in domestic and overseas exhibitions to secure export orders. In 2025, Yongnian has organized fastener firms to join 3 key international and domestic events, with signed orders worth 36.55 million yuan. Domestically, the 2025 Yongnian Fastener Industry Expo attracted buyers from 43 countries, with 503 on-site deals totaling 138 million yuan.
At the gate of Handan Ruitao Fastener Manufacturing Co., Ltd., heavy trucks loaded with goods head for ports including Tianjin and Qingdao for export. "In January this year, we opened a 10,000-square-meter overseas warehouse in Indonesia, building a safe, efficient and precise storage platform that connects China’s Yongnian fasteners with Indonesia’s construction supply chain," said Tao Shixing, the company’s chairman. Yongnian fasteners are sailing globally, driving robust foreign trade growth: in 2024, total import and export volume exceeded 1.844 billion yuan, up 22.93% year on year. The momentum continued into 2025, with January-February trade reaching 318 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.18%.
