The Industrial History Of Match
Oct 25, 2022
The match industry was founded in Europe. In 1833, the world's first match factory was established in the city of Berea, Karma Province, Sweden.
In 1865, matches began to be imported into China, which was called "foreign fire" or "spontaneous fire" at that time.
The first match factory in China was Qiaoming Match Factory established by Wei Shengxuan in Foshan County, Guangdong Province in 1879. By 1900, China had opened 19 match factories. In 1921, Liu Hongsheng established Hongsheng Match Factory in Suzhou, improved the match formula, improved production management, and produced "Meili" brand matches with high quality and low price. Liu Hongsheng founded Shanghai Greater China Match Company in 1930. After 1949, China's match production gradually realized mechanization and semi automation. In 1967, the first match automatic continuous machine was successfully trial manufactured. In 1982, the first continuous production line in China was built in Jinan Match Factory.
On September 6, 2012, Hebei Botou Match Co., Ltd. will hold an asset disposal auction, and the last batch of equipment will be auctioned, which marks that the largest match manufacturer in Asia has entered history completely. Hebei Botou Match Co., Ltd., formerly known as Bozhen Yonghua Match Co., Ltd., was founded in 1912. Feng Guozhang, then acting president of the Republic of China, invested 40,000 yuan in the company, rewriting the history of Chinese people relying on "foreign fire". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it once became the largest match manufacturer in China and even Asia. The local cultural relics department has protected the main match production equipment of "Botou Match" and will set up a special exhibition hall for display.
