Chinese guitar capital's stairway to export heaven
In the mountains of Guizhou, the town of Zheng'an has turned its central square into a giant guitar sculpture and its streets into a chorus of music. Within a decade the place, once devoid of any instrument industry, now supplies one in seven guitars sold worldwide.
The boom began when local officials launched a “return the phoenix to the nest” programme, coaxing migrant workers back home. One of the first to answer was Zheng Chuanjiu, founder of Shenqu Guitar, who set up a factory in the new economic zone and soon attracted dozens of fellow villagers.
The cluster now hosts 87 home‑grown brands, backed by tax holidays, rent‑free periods and streamlined export rebates. The region’s humid climate and abundant timber also give a natural edge, a point emphasized by master luthier Zhang Weiyi, who hand‑crafts about 150 instruments a year from ox‑bone inlays.
By 2025 the town shipped roughly 2.5 million guitars—worth 248 million yuan—to more than 40 countries, while the sound of practice rooms and street musicians fills the square. The success illustrates how targeted industrial policy can revive a rural community, turning a former “brain‑drain” into a vibrant cultural hub.