Xinzhou authority helps sapphire 
manufacturer shine

A Huajing Hengji employee works at the company’s PSS plant in Xinzhou. SUN RONGXIANG / FOR CHINA DAILY

It is well-known that sapphire is a precious gem used in the jewelry industry. However patterned sapphire substrate－a kind of artificial sapphire－is less known and not used for jewelry.

The material, also known as PSS, is widely used in the semiconductor, LED display and lighting industries for its high degree of transparency.

In China, there are only a few manufacturers that can produce PSS and Huajing Hengji New Materials Corp based in Xinzhou, Shanxi province, is among them.

According to Peng Wenrui, general manager of the company, Huajing Hengji was founded in April 2019 in Xinzhou.

"Construction on our production facility started on April 15, 2019 and a plant of 3,600 square meters was completed on March 30 this year,"Peng said.

The executive said the local government's "beyond expectation" service was the major reason for the unexpected speed of construction.

"A local government-funded company was responsible for building the plant according to our design blueprint, and it also built all the supporting facilities like roads, water and electricity supply," Peng explained.

With a production plant in place, the project, which covers 1.67 hectares and involves a total investment of 1.19 billion yuan ($167 million), will be capable of producing 2.4 million pieces of PSS annually, according to Peng.

The company began installing equipment on April 1, one day after plant construction was completed. The first PSS product rolled off the production line on June 25.

The first product was a 4-inch round chip inscribed with 850 million pyramid-shaped patterns designed for the LED display industry.

"The 4-inch chip will be further divided into small pieces to be used in more than 87,000 LED display devices," Peng said.

The company can currently produce six PSS product varieties. It began to send product samples to the nation's authoritative organization for certification and clients for confirmation on July 7.

"We have received positive feedback from the clients and we are confident we will have similar recognition from the certification organization," Peng said, adding that the reply from the certification organization will come in the near future.

"Mass production will begin in September and we estimate the sales revenue in the following four months can reach 200 million yuan," the executive said.

Huajing Hengji is one of only a few providers of PSS chips with a diameter of less than 6 inches.

"I am even prouder of the local government, which has created an efficient, optimal business environment for investors," the executive said, adding that Xinzhou, as well as the entirety of Shanxi, is a place where entrepreneurs can realize their ambitions.

Li Yali contributed to this story.

By YUAN SHENGGAO