Art of making brushes at risk

Photo by Mai Tian/For China Daily

Wangyipin is capable of producing 300,000 brush pens a year, with a value of 10 million yuan ($1.6 million).

"Actually, we don't lack orders at all. Our productivity is much lower than the total demand in the market. What we lack are skilled technicians to make the brush pens," he said.

The Huzhou government has issued preferential policies and set aside funds to revitalize the industry, but young people are still not attracted to the work.

As early as 2009, Huzhou issued stimulus plans to encourage young people to learn the art of making brush pens.

For apprentices under the age of 30 in key positions, the government grants subsidies for three consecutive years of up to 36,000 yuan.

"Their value cannot be properly reflected because the added-value is low, and this problem cannot be solved by the companies," Xu said.

He believes brush pen-making should not be viewed as just a type of traditional manufacturing, but should be regarded as a craft that represents Chinese culture.

"People should get to know the meanings and thoughts behind the techniques. If all of society considered our workers respectable technicians rather than just somebody working on an assembly line, maybe the conditions would become better," he said.