Longyaocounty,whichislocatedinHebeiprovinceandabout300kilometerssouthwestofBeijing,isthenail-makingcenterofChina.

Accordingtothecounty'sdevelopmentandreformbureau,itproducesabouthalfamillionmetrictonseachyear,80percentofthenailsusednationallyandmorethan60percentofthoseusedglobally,andhasanannualoutputvalueof2billionyuan($292million).

Longyao'sassociationwiththehumblenailbeganinthemid-1980s,atatimewhenonlyfamilyworkshopsexisted.Afternearlyfourdecadesofdevelopment,thecountyisnowhometosome60companiesthatemploy20,000workerswhoproduceabout400differenttypesofnails.

Populardomestically,Longyaonailsaresoldto30countriesandregionsaroundtheworld,includingtheUnitedStatesandRussia.

TheindustryiscenteredinGongzivillageinWeijiazhuangtown.

"Smallasthenailis,peoplecannotlivewithoutit,"saidMaZhihua,managerofoneofthefactoriesinthecounty,addingthatnailsareusedinmanyaspectsoflife,suchasinmakinghomeappliancesandfurniture,shipsandtrains,aswellasforuseindecorationandconstruction.

Mawasoneofthefirstinthetowntogetintotheindustry.

Inthe1980s,hehadafurniturefactorywhichrequiredlargequantitiesofnailsforproduction.

Bycoincidence,hediscoveredthatthenailsheusedweremadenearby.

Assupplieswerealwaysshort,hehadtheideaofmakingthemforhimself,notonlytosupplyhisfurniturefactory,butalsotosell.

DiscoveringthathecouldlearntheprocessataState-ownednailfactoryinXingtai,hejumpedatthechance,especiallyastherewasanironandsteelfactorytoprovidethenecessaryrawmaterialsnearhisfurniturefactory.

Maimmediatelyboughttwosetsofnail-makingmachines.

Hesaidthatthenailsheproducedwereofhigherquality,andnolongerbentaseasilywhenhammeredintoawallorapieceofwoodasthenailshehadpreviouslybought.Thathelpedhimattractalotofnewcustomersfromthestart."Asweexpected,ournailswereverypopular,withdemandalwaysexceedingsupply,"hesaid.

Joinedbyahandfulofotherpioneers,theirsuccesssoonencouragedothervillagerstofollowsuit,andmanyboughtnail-makingmachinesoftheirown.

InGongzivillage,almostallthehouseholdsareinvolvedinthebusiness,eithermakingnailsorsellingthem.

Successorsalwaysoutperformtheirpredecessors.

LiuZhonglinwasoneofthosewhofollowedMa'sexample.Helpedbythepioneers,Liusetupafactoryandtoday,hesellsnailstoplaceslikeRussiaandIndia.

"Giventheconvenientaccesstorawmaterialsandtoproventechniques,itwasdifficulttoresistjoiningin,"Liusaid.

ToMa'smind,theirsuccessisduetonationalpoliciesofreformandopening-up,aswellastolaterpoliciesrolledouttosupportthedevelopmentofprivatebusiness.

"ThenailindustryinWeijiazhuangusheredingoodopportunitiesforrapiddevelopment.Withourgeographicadvantagesandearlyadoptionofnail-making,wehavegraduallyopenedupandtakencontrolofmostoftheChinesemarket,"Masaid.

HeaddedthatLongyao'sfactoriesarenowbusydevelopinghigh-tech,highvalue-addedproducts.