Since the autumn of 1960, Chenggong Table Tennis Factory spent more than two years on technological innovation, which basically mechanized the main production processes of the factory by the end of 1963, improved product output and quality, and began to export products. In 1963, the output was 3.2 million, more than three times the 780,000 in 1960, of which 58,400 were exported.

Business License of Chenggong Table Tennis Factory

① The content of this article is mainly based on the historical data of Chenggong Table Tennis Factory and the 303-304 pages of Volume 5 (Part 1) of "Guangzhou City Chronicles".

However, just as the production of Chenggong Table Tennis Factory was booming, the shortage of water resources in the Polo Temple area became a new problem that restricted further development. In the end, the superior department decided to move the Chenggong Table Tennis Factory to Paolougang next to Henan Industrial Avenue② to solve the problem of water shortage and further expand the scale of production. This relocation marked the beginning of a new chapter in the development of Chenggong Factory.

Chenggong Table Tennis Factory moved to Yanzigang, Haizhu District

②Paolougang next to Henan Industrial Avenue is now Yanzigang area in Haizhu District. Starting in 1952, the suburb of "Henan" in Guangzhou was built as an important industrial base in Guangzhou. This avenue was once the heart of Guangzhou's industry and gave birth to many domestic firsts. In its heyday, the 5.5-kilometer-long Industrial Avenue produced products that were popular all over the country, such as Wanbao refrigerators, Tiger Head batteries, Wuyang bicycles, etc. The plot where Chenggong Table Tennis Factory moved to was originally a ceramic factory, which already had basic factory facilities, which provided convenience for expanding production. With the strong support of the superior unit, Chenggong Table Tennis Factory was able to purchase land and start construction, thus laying a solid foundation for future development.

In 1965, Chenggong Table Tennis Factory achieved another success by developing my country's first photoelectric ball weighing machine. Then it successively manufactured automatic center of gravity measuring machine, automatic trademark printing machine, automatic edge trimming machine and automatic measuring machine, etc., and took the lead in realizing semi-automatic and automatic table tennis production in the same industry nationwide. In 1966, the output of table tennis balls exceeded 10 million. During the "Cultural Revolution", it merged with some factories and also produced thyristors.

In 1965, Chenggong Table Tennis Factory pioneered my country's first photoelectric ball weighing instrument.

Automatic label printing machine developed by Chenggong Table Tennis Factory

In 1968, with the support and coordination of the local government, Chenggong Table Tennis Factory merged with Huada Badminton Factory③ and Zhendong Sports Goods Factory④ , significantly improving the productivity of the enterprise. Subsequently in 1969, the factory was renamed Guangzhou Sporting Goods Factory, marking the expansion of its product categories and business scope.

③According to the "Chronicles of Guangzhou City", the production of badminton in Guangzhou began in the early 1950s. With the rise of badminton, the production households continued to develop and gradually organized themselves. In 1956, the Yongjian Badminton Production Cooperative and the Yufeng Production Cooperative were formed. In 1960, the Yongjian Society was renamed the Huada Badminton Factory, with 100 employees. In 1964, the World Games brand badminton of the Yufeng Society was rated as a famous brand product in Guangzhou. During the "Cultural Revolution", all badminton production cooperatives were merged into the Chenggong Table Tennis Factory.

④Zhendong Sports Goods Factory mainly produced wooden-handled skipping ropes, table tennis nets, and volleyball nets. Before the merger, the two factories were located on the streets in the urban area, with scattered and narrow factory buildings (all old residential buildings), making material transportation and management extremely inconvenient. The merger improved the production conditions of such products. This article is compiled based on the oral narration of the retired leaders of Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory.

In 1972, the company was renamed Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory. In the same year, Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory introduced the innovative wax expansion method, replacing the old steaming process for producing close-seam balls, which doubled the work efficiency. The introduction of this technology not only improved production efficiency, but also made Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory the first company in China to achieve full mechanization of close-seam ball production.

Table tennis ball expander from the mid-1970s

Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory Business License

In 1974, after five months of unremitting efforts and more than 130 precision tests, the Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory successfully developed China's first hard table tennis ball. This achievement marked a major breakthrough in China's table tennis manufacturing technology. The product was subsequently named "Shuangyu Brand". In 1979, this table tennis ball was officially approved by the International Table Tennis Federation and became the designated ball for international official competitions.

In 1980, "Double Fish" brand table tennis balls were officially rated as a national famous trademark and won the National Gold Award in the same year.

Doublefish table tennis won the national gold medal certificate

In 1981, with the booming domestic and foreign markets for badminton, the Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory restarted the production of badminton with the formal approval of the competent authorities. It focused on creating special balls for high- and mid-end competitions, strictly selected high-quality white goose feathers, and used imported cork and artificial leather as ball head materials to produce badminton with excellent whiteness, strong flight stability, and precise landing points. All products were sold to the Japanese market.

From 1986 to 1990, the annual output of badminton achieved an average high growth rate of 31%. In 1989, advanced Japanese production equipment was introduced, which greatly improved the production capacity and reached an annual production capacity of 24 million. In 1987, the Jinque brand badminton in the domestic market was rated as a high-quality product by the Ministry of Light Industry, and in 1990 it won the official certification of the national competition ball, marking the full recognition of product quality and technical level.

In 1986, as sales continued to expand, Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory set up branch factories in Zengcheng and Huaxian (now Huadu District, Guangzhou), focusing on producing mass-market table tennis balls to meet domestic market demand, while the main factory was committed to producing mid- and high-end table tennis balls for export. In 1987, total production soared to 63.02 million, of which 54.82 million were sold to overseas markets, generating US$2.18 million in foreign exchange revenue.

In 1988, the outstanding performance of Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory won the honorary titles of Provincial Advanced Enterprise and National Second-Class Enterprise. In 1990, Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory invested 2.5 million yuan in factory construction and technical transformation to further improve production capacity. In November of the same year, a new celluloid sheet plant was established in Zengcheng with an investment of nearly 2.57 million yuan. Through this series of transformation and expansion, the annual production capacity of table tennis balls doubled from 60 million to 120 million, making Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory one of the important bases for table tennis ball production in the world.

Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory in the 1990s

In 1994, the company relocated and expanded again⑤, requisitioned 50 mu of production land in Dabu Management District, Mayong Town, Dongguan City, relocated and renovated it, expanded its production scale, and achieved rapid improvement in production quality, laying a solid foundation for the company's sustainable development.

⑤ Since the main component of celluloid, the raw material for table tennis production, is nitrocellulose, this material is extremely flammable and has caused many serious fire accidents in China, including the fire accidents at the Double Happiness Table Tennis Factory in Shanghai and the Tianjin Table Tennis Factory. On October 14, 1993, the Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory also suffered a fire, resulting in the burning of 4,000 square meters of buildings. In addition, the rapid growth of residential areas near Yanzigang in the 1990s made the safety hazards in the area increasingly prominent. In view of this, the Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory decided to completely relocate its production line and move it to Dongguan to ensure higher safety standards and production efficiency.

Dongguan factory in the 1990s

In 1995, based on the significant influence of the "Doublefish" brand, Guangzhou Table Tennis Factory officially changed its name to Guangzhou Doublefish Sports Goods Factory.

On February 26, 1998, Guangzhou Shuangyu Sporting Goods Factory was merged into Guangzhou Shuangyu Sporting Goods Group Co., Ltd.