Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success - BBC News 2021/03/31 12:23

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It has sent rockets into space, produced millions of the world's smartphones
and built high-speed trains. But until now, one bit of manufacturing had
perhaps unexpectedly eluded China: the ballpoint pen.

A year ago Premier Li Keqiang went on national television and bemoaned the
failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly- Features
simple implement.

Locally-made versions felt "rough" compared to those from Germany,

Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained.

High precision
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Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success - BBC News 2021/03/31 12:23

High precision
The problem was not the body of the pen, but the tip - the tiny ball that
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dispenses ink as you write.
China
It might be something we take for granted, but making them requires high-
precision machinery and very hard, ultra-thin steel plates.

Put simply, China's steel has not been good enough. And it has struggled to
shape its pen tips accurately.

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Without that ability, China's 3,000 penmakers have had to import this crucial
component from abroad, costing the industry a reported 120m yuan ($17.3m;
£14.3m) a year.

But according to People's Daily, the state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co
thinks it has cracked the problem, aaer five years of research.

The first batch of 2.3-millimetre ballpoint pen tips has recently rolled off its
production lines, the paper says. China sets sights on Middle East
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And once lab tests are completed, it's expected China could phase out pen tip
imports completely within two years.

Symbolic
On one level, whether China can make a great pen is not hugely important in
the scheme of things.

High-tech and innovative manufacturing lie at the heart of the central

government's Made in China 2025 programme - designed to help domestic Oscars 2021: The female directors
growth. tackling tough truths

Relatively low-value items, like ballpoint pens, have not been a priority.

But the pen-conundrum is a symbolic one.

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Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success - BBC News 2021/03/31 12:23

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European firms have dominated the ballpoint pen industry at both the top and lower ends
of the market ‘Donʼt my birth children have a
right to know Iʼm dying?'

Despite producing more than half of the world's crude iron and steel, China
has still heavily relied on imports for high-grade steel.

It was a failing that Mr Li said highlighted the need to upgrade China's

manufacturing capabilities.

Different culture
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"Historically, China has never been able to do precision engineering very well
and the ballpoint pen is an example of that," says Professor George Huang,
head of the University of Hong Kong's department of industrial and
mechanical engineering.

"Its parts are so small and very precise, and it's not easy to solve this problem"

Precision engineering is thriving only in certain sectors such as aerospace and

defence where the government has placed a high priority, says Prof Huang.

Even when it comes to smartphones and computers, the high end computer
chips are usually imported from Japan and Taiwan. Japan's cherry blossom is 'earliest
for 1,200 years'
Prof Huang says that China lacks a culture of excellence in precision
engineering.

He uses the Mandarin term "fuzao" which describes something that is not
100% solid or reliable.

"The culture is different from the Japanese and Germans," he says, who are
known for innovation in engineering.

"We Chinese are supposed to be craasmen, but somehow the spirit is not as
good."

Additional reporting by the BBC's Tessa Wong.

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