Henglin is a magical town with a thousand-year history. It is a water town in the south of the Yangtze River that lacks forest industry resources. It has never been associated with trees. However, it has actually written the legend of "making something out of nothing" in China's forest products industry. In the mid-1990s, laminate flooring entered the Chinese market from abroad. This kind of flooring is a wood-derived material. Its structure is like a "sandwich", which is divided into a wear-resistant layer, a decorative layer, a base material layer and a moisture-proof layer. It is wear-resistant, flame-retardant and beautiful. However, Chinese consumers who like to use solid wood are not optimistic about it. Henglin people who are looking for a way to get rich have taken a unique look at it. They believe that this new, environmentally friendly, wood-saving and very practical floor paving material will have broad prospects. As a result, Henglin people who had no connection with wood began the process of starting a business based on "wood".
From the birth of the first laminate flooring company, Changzhou Huali Decoration Materials Co., Ltd., in October 1999, by 2007, more than 400 laminate flooring production and supporting companies have emerged in the town. Among them, there are 167 terminal manufacturers. In 2007, the production capacity of laminate flooring was 160 million square meters, accounting for 45% of the country's total; the export volume was US$344 million, accounting for more than 40% of the country's total exports of such products. The Henglin laminate flooring industry has grown from scratch, grown from small to large, and from weak to strong. It has quickly surpassed many old domestic production bases and quickly occupied half of the country's laminate flooring, creating an industry development myth. At present, it has 11 national inspection-free enterprises such as Jiangsu Luoji Wood Industry Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Kailai Wood Industry Co., Ltd., 11 Jiangsu Province export inspection and quarantine first and second class enterprises, 28 Jiangsu Province famous brand products, Jiangsu Province famous trademarks and Changzhou City famous brand products. And has won the honorary titles of "China's Famous Laminated Wood Flooring Town", "China's Laminated Wood Flooring Capital", "China's Laminated Wood Flooring Export Base" and other honorary titles.
Just when the people of Henglin were full of confidence and wanted to make Henglin Flooring bigger and stronger, the town encountered one international crisis after another. In January 2007, Henglin Flooring was subject to the "337 investigation" by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The investigation mainly involved the floor lock patent. Henglin Flooring Company joined hands with some well-known domestic companies to respond to the lawsuit. However, due to very complicated reasons, Henglin Flooring Company ultimately failed in this investigation. However, the Henglin Flooring people, who never give up easily, teamed up with their domestic counterparts to appeal the case to the United States Federal Court. Then came the crisis of anti-dumping and countervailing investigations by Canada, Türkiye and other countries. After several trade frictions, Henglin Flooring Enterprises have realized more clearly that only by relying on scientific and technological progress, accelerating independent innovation, and strengthening the protection of independent intellectual property rights can they remain in a winning position. At present, Henglin Flooring Enterprises has "joined forces" with the science and technology departments of Changzhou and Wujin to establish the Jiangsu Provincial Floor Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center in Henglin Town, established a productivity promotion center in cooperation with the municipal and district science and technology bureaus, and created the first laminate flooring industry A Chinese and foreign patent database provides information support and technical support for enterprises' new product research and development. It has also launched scientific research projects in cooperation with some universities, trying to design patented products that can replace "floor locks". At present, the town's flooring industry has obtained a total of 6 national invention patents and more than 50 utility model patents, becoming the leader in innovation in China's flooring industry.