When a deadly explosion rocked a fireworks factory in central China this week, hundreds of such factories in the area were in peak production season for overseas orders, including for the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, industry insiders said.
By noon on Friday, the death toll from the blast at Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Company had reached 37, with one person still missing. Fifty-one people were still in hospital, with five of them in critical condition, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Fireworks producers in Liuyang – a Hunan province city often called the “fireworks capital of the world” – were rushing to fill orders before a mandatory production ban from June to August due to heat-related safety risks, insiders said.
“For our American clients, we usually deliver products before June, for their Fourth of July [fireworks shows],” Joy Kong, the overseas sales director of a large fireworks company in Liuyang, told the South China Morning Post on Thursday.
Her company has multiple factories and employs 1,600 people. Every year, they sell about 300 shipping containers of fireworks to Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia, with annual foreign trade volume exceeding 100 million yuan (US$14.7 million).
Kong said the company’s overseas business had become somewhat of a routine, with US clients placing orders about a year ahead of time and the company starting production in November for delivery by June.
She added that after the summer, they worked on Christmas orders for European clients, with the aim of delivering by October.
However, Kong said her company did not rush production, and that it was going as planned.
Another fireworks manufacturer told the SCMP it was “impossible to entirely eliminate safety risks” in the industry, and the peak production season might have made things worse at the stricken factory.
“Maybe they had to rush production before the government’s production ban and didn’t follow protocol,” he said, adding that failure to meet order deadlines would damage economic prospects.
Yuan Ji, an operator at another local fireworks company, said: “Fireworks manufacturing itself carries risks, involving many hazardous chemicals. If orders need to be rushed or delayed, the storage of some gunpowder or hazardous chemicals becomes risky.”
“If we have to discard or store these materials again every time, the costs could increase significantly.”
It is as yet unknown whether the Huasheng Fireworks workshop had been working on US Independence Day orders at the time of the explosion. But publicly available information shows the factory focused exclusively on international sales, with business in over 30 countries.
The explosion occurred at around 4.40pm on Monday. As the casualty count climbed, President Xi Jinping issued immediate instructions for all-out rescue efforts, while demanding prompt investigation and accountability. A high-level central government team was also sent to the scene to guide rescue and emergency response efforts.
On Tuesday, authorities ordered all fireworks companies in the province to immediately suspend production for a full safety overhaul, and on Thursday, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced it would supervise an investigation into the matter.
The production halt has fuelled anxiety, given the sector’s role as the primary driver of the local economy.
A Hunan Daily report in February said producers in Liuyang exported nearly 13,800 containers of fireworks last year, with more than 70 per cent of those bound for Europe and the US.
A People’s Daily report last year said that Liuyang was home to 431 fireworks manufacturers, accounting for 60 per cent of market share in China and providing jobs to over 300,000 people.
The local government has long been aware of safety risks in the industry.
In 2019, illegal production led to an explosion killing 13 and injuring another 13. After the incident, local authorities pooled hundreds of millions of yuan to close or upgrade unqualified small plants, eliminating more than 200 companies, according to a China Newsweek report.
Kong said existing plants faced constant checks, and her company was evaluated every three years to ensure its facilities were qualified and safety protocols were carried out. She added that authorities had also been urging them to switch to machinery instead of manual labour to handle ingredients.
Last week, the central government launched new fireworks standards to reduce explosion risks.
Fireworks have become Liuyang’s claim to fame and a pillar of economic growth. An article in the official Hunan Daily last year boasted that crowds in Germany lined up at 4am for Liuyang fireworks ahead of New Year’s Eve, and Disney theme parks across the globe used the city’s products.
In the first five months of 2025, the export value of Hunan’s fireworks reached 1.81 billion yuan, accounting for 57.3 per cent of the national total for the sector. Liuyang, as the core production hub, recorded fireworks exports worth 1.66 billion yuan, representing 91.4 per cent of the province’s total, according to the report.
“We live off fireworks. Fireworks are Liuyang’s lifeline,” a local worker told the SCMP. “Now that we’ve stopped producing, my income has stopped. I have a whole family to support.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
