Liancheng Real Small Baseball Team conducts base running and ball catching training.
Hongguo workers are producing baseball gloves.
Workers of Peony Pavilion Company are testing baseball bats.
Reporter Zhang Jie Correspondent Huang Shuilin Wen/Picture
A few days ago, Liancheng Baseball Town was approved as a provincial exchange base for Taiwan. The exchange base is not only an important local cultural asset, but also a platform for the integration and development of compatriots across the Straits.
In recent years, Liancheng, relying on the Miaoqian Taiwan Merchants Industrial Concentration Zone, has vigorously developed the baseball series sporting goods industry through attracting Taiwan and industrial investment, making the "baseball town" grow from scratch and from small to large. At present, Miaoqian Taiwan Merchants Industrial Zone has become the most concentrated production base of baseball series sporting goods in mainland China and an important purchasing point for global baseball sporting goods buyers.
At the same time, with the support of Taiwanese businessmen, Liancheng County vigorously promoted baseball, included baseball in the physical education textbooks of primary and secondary schools in the county, established 23 youth baseball teams, realized the organic combination and common development of baseball industry and baseball, and became the most widely developed county in mainland youth baseball, and used baseball as a medium, Promote economic and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.
Skin cutting, sewing, packaging... On March 16, when the reporter walked into Miaoqian Taiwanese industrial cluster in Liancheng County, the production workshop of Hongguo Sports Goods Co., Ltd. was busy, and workers were rushing to manufacture baseball gloves for export to the United States. In the company's product showroom, baseball, baseball gloves, baseball bats and other series of products are dazzling.
Xiao Ziyan, the deputy general manager of the company, said, "This is the industrial agglomeration effect brought about by Taiwan businessman Liao Fangzhou's investment in Miaoqian. These products are very famous in overseas markets and highly recognized by consumers. Orders have been fully booked in the first half of this year."
In 2006, Liao Fangzhou invested more than 11 million yuan in Miaoqian Town, Liancheng County to establish Hongguo Sporting Goods Co., Ltd., which mainly produces baseball gloves, and became the first Taiwanese businessman to settle in Miaoqian Town.
In the following years, Liao Fangzhou's baseball glove business flourished. Led by him, two business partners Lin Jinsheng and Luo Daojian also came to Miaoqian Town. Lin Jinsheng Lijuhe (Longyan) Sports Equipment Co., Ltd., engaged in baseball production; Luo Daojian set up Longyan Peony Pavilion Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. to produce baseball bats. Since then, the most important three items of baseball equipment have taken root here, and the agglomeration effect brought by baseball gloves has become increasingly prominent.
As a leading enterprise in the professional baseball industry, Jiuhe (Longyan) Sports Equipment Co., Ltd. has more than 140 employees. In addition, its sewing technology has driven about 600 people from more than 10 surrounding towns to work at home. "Last year, the company produced and sold more than 4 million kinds of baseball, and this year's orders have been filled," said Chen Xiaohua, deputy general manager of the company.
Today, Miaoqian Taiwan Merchants Industrial Cluster has formed a complete baseball product industry chain, and the products are exported to all parts of the world. At present, 18 of the 37 enterprises settled in the park are Taiwan funded enterprises.
In recent years, despite the impact of the epidemic, the output value of baseball enterprises in the park is still increasing year by year. In 2022, the output value will exceed 400 million yuan, and the tax revenue will exceed 10 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%. At present, the total number of employees employed by the enterprise is 1060, effectively solving the employment problem of local people.
In July 2022, the baseball team of Liancheng County Experimental Primary School won the championship of the 2022 Fujian Taiwan Youth Baseball Invitational with excellent results. Lv Jinlin, the coach of the team, said excitedly: "For this game, the children come out to train early every morning in such hot weather. I am very happy to get such good results."
Lv Jinlin, from Taipei, Taiwan, has been in Liancheng for seven years. He has provided professional technical guidance for baseball teams in Linfang Primary School, Miaoqian Primary School, Liancheng No. 2 Middle School and other schools. His fate with Liancheng is directly related to Liao Fangzhou's accidental "idea".
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Taiwan. Taiwanese businessmen from Hongguo, Jiuhe, Peony Pavilion and other companies settled in front of the temple often play baseball together. "If we can promote baseball in Liancheng, it will greatly benefit the development of the baseball industry and the cultural and sports exchanges in Taiwan and Lotus." Liao Fangzhou suddenly came up with this idea during a break from playing baseball and received warm responses from everyone.
Soon, Liao Fangzhou and other Taiwanese businessmen presented the first batch of baseball equipment worth 50000 yuan to primary and secondary schools in Liancheng County. In 2011, Taiwanese businessmen also hired Zhang Tianjun, the head coach of the Xiamen University baseball team from Taiwan, to give a summer baseball "literacy" class to physical education teachers in Liancheng County. Since March 2012, more free training activities have been launched and a group of baseball fans have been trained. Baseball has quietly taken root in Liancheng.
In order to make baseball popular, since 2012, Liancheng County has begun to allocate financial funds to support the training of coaches, set up male and female teachers' baseball teams, primary and secondary school students' baseball teams and baseball associations, set up baseball courses, and hired a full-time coach from Taiwan, Lv Jinlin, to put the school's baseball teaching on the right track. Today, in Liancheng, not only the "baseball style" is blowing in the campus, but also baseball has become a new local mass sports activity, with more than 1200 people participating in baseball.
"Baseball can not only strengthen the body, but also let children develop the spirit of teamwork, learn baseball etiquette and baseball culture from childhood," said Lin Yanchun, a member of the Party Leadership Group of Liancheng County Education Bureau, "At present, there are more than 300 young baseball players and 43 qualified baseball coaches in the county, and 16 primary and secondary school baseball characteristic schools have been established, of which 8 primary and secondary schools have been named as' National Soft Baseball and Softball Experimental Base 'and' National Baseball and Softball Experimental School 'respectively."
Throwing, hitting, catching... At the Baseball Cultural Exchange Base across the Straits of Liancheng County, the young players of the experimental primary school baseball team, under the guidance of the coach, trained hard in the newly built standardized baseball stadium.
"With the completion of the construction of the exchange base, the infrastructure conditions for us to host major events such as cross-strait baseball leagues are increasingly improved. This year, we will host national women's softball events here," said Liu Jin, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Liancheng County.
In recent years, baseball has developed into a business card for cultural exchanges and cooperation between Liancheng County and Taiwan. Since 2015, Liancheng has regularly held or hosted cross-strait exchange events every year. It has successfully held cross-strait (Liancheng) baseball culture festival, cross-strait (Liancheng) baseball invitational tournament and other activities. A total of more than 500 people from 15 Taiwan youth baseball teams have come to Liancheng for exchanges. In addition, more than 150 person times of 6 youth baseball teams were sent to Taiwan to participate in the game, making it the county with the most extensive youth baseball activities in the mainland and youth baseball exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.
Last year, Liancheng County built a baseball game training ground and related supporting projects covering an area of 8285 square meters. At the same time, another baseball field is under planning and design. At present, the local government is accelerating the construction of a baseball cultural exchange center across the Taiwan Straits and a national baseball reserve talent base to promote all-round cooperation and in-depth exchanges in baseball between the two regions.
