Shaodong keeping world's lighter prices affordable

CHANGSHA — The city of Shaodong in Central China's Hunan province is famous for one industrial marvel: keeping the world's lighter prices low for over two decades.

Shaodong produces over 100 billion lighters annually, supplying nearly 70 percent of the world's disposable lighters. Despite rising production costs, the city's basic lighter remains priced at 1 yuan (14 cents).

Behind the unchanged cost is the local resolution to embrace changes that have characterized many industrial towns and cities in China: a supply-side structural reform that leads to cost-cutting automation and greater focus on value addition.