On the afternoon of August 28, in the production workshop of Hubei Tongxin Musical Instruments Co., Ltd., 32-year-old Yang Jianmin, wearing an apron, concentrated on attaching braces to a pre-cut guitar top panel one by one, then carefully cleaned off excess glue. "On average, I complete fifty to sixty sets per day," Yang Jianmin said.
Yang Jianmin, a Hubei native, previously worked at a guitar factory in Guangzhou. Two years ago, upon learning that this guitar factory had opened in Songzi, located over 200 kilometers from her hometown of Xiangyang, she came to work here. "My monthly salary is over 7,000 yuan. Previously, I could only visit home once a year during Spring Festival, but now it's much more convenient to visit my elderly parents."
On August 28, the "Vibrant China Research" themed interview activity visited Songzi. Tongxin Musical Instruments primarily produces high-end guitars including classical guitars, folk guitars, and ukuleles. In recent years, Songzi has attracted 11 companies including Tongxin Musical Instruments, Eastman Guitars, Jinhong Musical Instruments, Juxin Musical Instruments, and Yundu Culture to cluster together, forming a guitar cultural and creative industry park. According to estimates by local human resources departments, the park is expected to create employment for nearly 10,000 people within three years.
The transformation of a small county into a manufacturing hub, with small guitars driving a major industry, stems from Songzi's determination to promote industrial transformation and upgrading. Located in the heart of Jingchu, Songzi was once one of Hubei Province's 20 old industrial bases and is also among the third batch of nationally recognized resource-depleted cities. For traditional industry transformation and upgrading, Songzi focused its attention on the cultural industry represented by "Tongxin Guitar," founded by Wang Fenghua, a veteran from Songzi.
In 2002, 28-year-old Wang Fenghua left his hometown to work at a guitar factory in Guangzhou. Eight years later, he established his own factory. With technological advancement, Tongxin Guitar began manufacturing for over 10 international brands from Japan, Germany, the United States, and other countries. Over ten years, Wang Fenghua's Guangzhou Tongxin Musical Instruments gradually became a "National High-Tech Enterprise" and "Technology Innovation Enterprise." Taiwanese musician Jonathan Lee also entrusted his "Lee Guitar" production to Tongxin Musical Instruments.
In recent years, under the "cage-and-bird-swapping" policy, some manufacturing industries gradually moved out of Guangzhou's urban areas. Songzi's cultural industry investment promotion team immediately contacted Wang Fenghua. After understanding the relevant policies, Wang Fenghua relocated his company headquarters and production workshop back to Songzi in September 2023.
Upon entering the Tongxin Musical Instruments workshop, rectangular "large boxes" hanging from the ceiling catch attention. "These are constant temperature and humidity air conditioners to ensure that guitar design and production parameters are not affected by environmental factors. Songzi Tongxin Musical Instruments is also the only company in China with a constant temperature and humidity guitar production environment," Wang Fenghua explained. "The company's over 100 technical backbone staff all have more than 20 years of experience, and almost all frontline luthiers have exchange and learning experience in the United States, Germany, Spain, and other countries."
Wang Fenghua provided statistics: In 2024, Tongxin Musical Instruments exported 12,000 high-end guitars, with the top model having a factory price of 59,800 yuan per unit, generating an annual output value of 150 million yuan. Since 2024, Tongxin Musical Instruments has received over 80 groups of foreign clients from more than ten countries including Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
How to use Tongxin Musical Instruments as a leading enterprise to make the cultural and creative industry a new growth point for economic development, and promote the guitar industry's extension from production and sales to display, experience, and entertainment, has become a mandatory question for Songzi's municipal party committee and government.
Songzi invested 500 million yuan to build the Songzi Cultural Innovation Industry Park, covering 195 acres and 215,000 square meters, including standardized production areas, research and development innovation areas, and living support areas. Focusing on Tongxin Musical Instruments' guitar manufacturing and supporting industries, chain-based investment promotion has been conducted. Currently, seven enterprises in the park have started production, and four are under renovation.
A municipal-level leadership team has been established, along with a Guitar Industry Development Center dedicated to serving project construction and industrial development. According to relevant officials from Songzi's municipal party committee, Songzi is now creating the "Songzi Guitar" brand, enriching guitar elements throughout the region, and building a guitar-themed town, aiming to make "Songzi Guitar" renowned both domestically and internationally.