Factories encouraged to build up, not out

Reimagined returns

Further south in Quanzhou, Fujian province, a former porcelain factory in Dehua county illustrates a different pathway for low-efficiency land redevelopment — one centered on conservation, cultural revitalization and sustainable economic returns.

Founded in 1951, the Red Flag Porcelain Factory was once a pillar of Dehua's renowned translucent white porcelain industry, prized since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) for its purity and widely used in religious sculpture and fine tableware. After ceasing operations in the 1990s, its red-brick workshops, chimneys and wood-fired kilns sat idle as stranded assets in the center of a growing ceramics town.

Under the national low-efficiency land pilot program, the 97,000-sq-m site — now branded Hongqi Fang — was consolidated by a State-owned enterprise in 2021 and renovated into a commercial complex with a light-touch approach.

More than 40 percent of the built fabric has been retained as historical structures dating back over 50 years, including brick terraces, a centuries-old dragon kiln partially opened for public viewing, four signature chimneys and original timber roof trusses. Salvaged sagger bricks and kiln fragments have been reused in landscape design.

Functionally, the site has shifted from single industrial production to a composite model integrating manufacturing, exhibition, sales and tourism. The redevelopment introduced hotels, museums, a shared kiln, a ceramic authentication and auction center, and retail streets showcasing local crafts.

In addition, retired kiln workers and veteran artisans have returned as demonstrators and interpreters. On open days, they demonstrate wheel-throwing and glazing techniques, while also curating exhibitions of old payroll records, kiln logs and archival photographs, reconnecting visitors with the factory's industrial past.

Entering trial operation in 2025, Hongqi Fang spans 173,800 sq m and is projected to generate 300 million yuan in annual tourism revenue and attract 500,000 additional visitors per year.

The four chimneys, once symbols of industrial output, now frame a cultural-commercial precinct drawing large visitor flows. What was once idle industrial space has been revived — not by erasing the past, but by integrating it into a new economic and cultural future.

limenghan@chinadaily.com.cn