Ligezhuang town in Jiaozhou, a county-level city in Qingdao, is widely known as "China's hometown of hat making".

Through nearly 40 years of development, Ligezhuang has gradually formed a complete hat industrial chain, including everything from raw material supply and production to sales and marketing. It has achieved this by encouraging the development of relevant supporting industries.

"The local government has provided guidance and encouraged us to integrate the development of both upstream and downstream players in the hat industry," said Liu Jingzhe, deputy Party secretary of Ligezhuang.

"We have local enterprises doing basically everything we need to form one of the best hat industries in the country. Some enterprises focus on raw materials, accessories, and embroidery, while others take care of the packaging, logistics and sewing equipment," Liu said.

"Making a hat is complicated - it requires 18 processes and nearly ten accessories - and we can do it all in Ligezhuang without importing any products or services," said Li Yong, a local hatter.

Many enterprises in Ligezhuang contribute to the city's hat-making industry. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Li added that the fabric he needed for a new order of 2,000 baseball hats was sent to his factory in less than half an hour after a simple phone call to a textile mill in the town.

Ligezhuang has also encouraged local enterprises to make full use of Internet technology and industrial automation, local authorities said.

Nowadays, many hat-making enterprises can place orders and settle their accounts through mobile phones. Automated equipment can tailor-make parts according to the requirements of customers, which reduces productions cost by 30 percent and increases efficiency by a factor of four when compared to traditional manufacturing methods.

"This not only reduces labor costs, but also standardizes quality," said a local official.

A thread producing plant in Ligezhuang town in Jiaozhou, Qingdao [Photo/dzwww.com]

The local hat industry has been less affected by the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia, which has caused traffic restrictions.

"The insular nature of Ligezhuang's hat industry has been a magic weapon during the epidemic," said Lu Yuzhen, president of Jiaozhou hat industry chamber of commerce, adding that in the short term, local hat makers and orders are only minorly affected.

During the epidemic, officials in Ligezhuang town contacted the transportation department and assisted local enterprises in applying for vehicle passes to ensure a smooth logistics systems for the local hat-making industry.

Employees work at a hat-making plant in Ligezhuang town. [Photo/dzwww.com]

"For a long time, the steady operation of the upstream and downstream hat industrial chain has enhanced the ability of local enterprises to withstand the epidemic," said Yu Yongcai, a local mill-owner.

"Under the guidance of the local government and chamber of commerce, merchants like me in the supply chain help each other weather any difficulties."

Officials said that at present there are more than 400 enterprises and self-employed entrepreneurs involved in the hat industry in Ligezhuang.