JINAN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Li Qingsheng, a farmer from east China's Shandong Province, has been juggling two vastly different jobs for the last 16 years.

During the busy farming season, Li manages his over 0.13 hectares of land before 7 a.m., primarily growing wheat, corn and vegetables. After completing his farm tasks, he heads to a musical instrument factory in Tangwu Town of Changle County in the city of Weifang, and he gets to work tuning electric guitars.

"I have worked in several musical instrument plants for 16 years, doing various jobs like assembly," said 46-year-old Li, who is now an instrument tuner at Changle Changyunda Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., the town's largest electric guitar manufacturer.

"Tuning requires strong eyesight and hearing to focus on intonation. Now, I can earn up to 9,000 yuan (about 1,255 U.S. dollars) a month," he said.

According to Li, it takes an average of one week to craft an electric guitar, beginning with raw wood and completing half of all production processes entirely by hand.

And Li is not the only Tangwu resident to have witnessed and benefited from the development of the local musical instrument industry. Many of the workers at the town's instrument factories are local farmers like Li who have no prior education in music. Through continuous practice, they have become skilled electric guitar makers, handcrafting instruments that are gaining popularity not only in China, but also overseas.

The predominant industry in Tangwu was once farming, but the town is now home to 108 companies engaged in the production of musical instruments and accessories, and is known today as China's "guitar town." These companies together produce 2 million electric guitars and 5 million accessory sets each year, generating an annual revenue of over 1 billion yuan.

Of Tangwu's 80,000 population, more than 5,000 people are engaged in the musical instrument industry, meaning it has become an important source of local income, according to statistics provided by the local government.

Tangwu's musical instrument industry originated in the early 1970s. To embrace a more diversified economy, Changle County opened a plant in 1972 to produce various musical instruments, according to Xuan Haiyun, who works with the county musical instrument industry association.

After 1978, further development opportunities arose for the local industry. And in 1993, Shandong Muse Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., a joint venture between China and the Republic of Korea (ROK), was established in Tangwu.

At the time, workers in the town had no specific experience with guitars, and several groups were sent to the ROK for training.

"The trainees returned and became the technical backbone of the industry. After 2000, some started their own businesses, boosting the development of the sector," Xuan said.

Zhang Jianjun, 54, now chairman of Changle Changyunda Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., gained his experience from these trainees, working in transportation for several local guitar companies for over 10 years before founding his own in 2012.

"At the beginning, there were fewer than 10 people in my company. But now we have over 130 workers, with an annual production output of nearly 200,000 electric guitars and an annual sales revenue of nearly 100 million yuan," he said.

Over the years, Tangwu has improved its infrastructure to cater to the needs of companies and develop its musical instrument industry. The Changle zone of the China (Weifang) cross-border electronic commerce experimental zone has been established, offering a one-stop location for services covering customs, tax and logistics.

"We export 20,000 electric guitars a year and benefit from hundreds of thousands of yuan in export tax rebates. The government also assists us with recruitment and funding," said Liu Guangqing, general manager of Changle Xinyun Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., another local electric guitar manufacturer.

Beyond infrastructure upgrades, the town has also stepped up its innovation and brand-building efforts, and is currently home to more than 40 local brands and holds 35 patents.

Thanks to these joint efforts, the electric guitars made in Tangwu are gaining popularity around the world, with products sold to more than 130 countries and regions.

Sang Haiqiang, county head of Changle, said that after more than 50 years of development, Tangwu now boasts advanced production technologies and a high number of skilled workers, and it has established a complete musical instrument industrial chain. Enditem

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