Billiard table industry booms in Shandong county

[Video by Meng Juan for chinadaily.com.cn]

In Ningjin county in Dezhou city, located in East China's Shandong province, the billiard table industry has grown from scratch to a 1-billion-yuan ($139.72 million) business in just three years – thanks to the county's strong manufacturing base in sports and furniture.

Ningjin has a long history of producing solid wood furniture and commercial fitness equipment, with an annual output value of over 10 billion yuan and nearly 70 percent of the national market share respectively.

The two industries – dubbed as "one metal, one wood" – have provided the necessary materials, equipment and skilled workers for making billiard tables.

The first billiard table maker in Ningjin was Ouguan Sports Goods Factory, which also produces fitness equipment and commercial furniture.

In 2020, Li Xiaolong, the head of the factory, decided to use his expertise in solid wood furniture production and his existing resources to make a billiard table with some minor modifications. To his surprise, the product received positive feedback from customers and he soon began to look for distributors and cooperate with well-known domestic billiard table brands.

Seeing the potential of the billiard table industry – which has a simple production process, low transformation costs and increasing market demand – the Ningjin county economic development zone encouraged more local furniture and fitness equipment enterprises to produce them.

The Ningjin billiard table industry also leveraged e-commerce platforms – like Douyin, Kuaishou, Tmall and others – to expand sales channels.

As a result, the products have won plaudits from plenty of customers for their great quality, low price and good service. (Edited by Fan Yuanyuan)