Small City, Big Business—Liuyang fireworks industry

Posted on March 4, 2025

There are such cities in China that are not as famous as metropolitan cities, but they occupy amazing positions in specific industries. We’ll be sending out a regular weekly article over the next few days to share the stories of these cities with you.

The city to be introduced today is Liuyang . Liuyang occupies an important position in the fireworks industry. Liuyang is the hometown of Chinese fireworks, and fireworks account for 70% of China’s export market. In 2024, the export value of Liuyang’s fireworks industry amounted to 6.58 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.9%, showing its great growth potential. As the hometown of Chinese fireworks, Liuyang has always played a pivotal role in the history of fireworks. There is a saying that vividly reflects Liuyang’s position in the fireworks world: “For every three fireworks set off in the world, one comes from Liuyang; for every two firecrackers lit by Chinese people, one comes from Liuyang.”

Liuyang fireworks production history can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty, as early as the Qianlong period, Liuyang has become the firecracker production center in Hunan Province. By the Guangxu period, Liuyang fireworks began to be exported, successfully penetrating the Indonesian and Malaysian markets. In the eighties and nineties of the last century, almost all the people in Liuyang are committed to the production of fireworks, but also let Liuyang had “ten households nine explosions” of the glorious history of the year 1995, Liuyang was awarded the “hometown of fireworks in China” title. Today, Liuyang has become an important production base of fireworks in the world, with the production volume accounting for more than 50% of the national total output and the global market share of more than 60%.

It is worth mentioning that Liuyang’s fireworks manufacturing technology has become more environmentally friendly after innovation and improvement. Liuyang’s environmentally friendly fireworks are characterized by low smoke, non-toxic☠️ and non-irritating odors, and do not leave residue after burning. Specifically, Liuyang uses fewer or even no substances containing heavy metals and sulphur elements, reduces the generation of sulphur dioxide and other sulphides, and controls the oxygen balance and temperature of the combustion reaction by adjusting the ratio of oxidizers and combustibles.