When drone fleets slice through the night sky carrying brilliant fireworks, when holographic projections collide with traditional pyrotechnics to create dreamlike lightscapes, and when AI-generated creative imagery flows across the celestial canvas—the innovative fireworks spectacle of Liuyang praised by Zhong Caiping in the People's Daily stands as a vivid testament to how this "World Capital of Fireworks" is empowering high-quality development through new quality productive forces.

"It is particularly worth mentioning that in his 2026 New Year Address, President Xi Jinping highlighted the 'spectacular drone-powered "fireworks" displays.' The breathtaking visuals referenced were captured during the 'Tree of Life' performance at the 17th Liuyang Fireworks Festival, showcasing how Liuyang’s 'new quality productive forces' are shining brightly across the nation."

"Guided by the Liuyang Municipal Party Committee’s deployment to 'develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions,' the city is deeply advancing its core strategies: strengthening the city through industry, revitalizing it through consumption, enriching towns through growth, prospering through opening-up, and anchoring development in people's livelihoods.By leveraging the dual engines of 'Culture + Technology' and 'Culture + Tourism,' Liuyang is breathing new life into its millennium-old fireworks heritage. This fusion is transforming the vibrant 'spirit of the streets' into a powerful momentum for high-quality development."

Empowered by Technology:

Innovation Wings for Traditional Industries

"Known for the motto 'The world looks to Liuyang for fireworks,' the city boasts 431 manufacturing enterprises and 66 certified display companies, commanding the world's most complete fireworks industrial chain. However, rather than simply resting on its laurels, Liuyang is following the lead of its 'Industrial Powerhouse' strategy, leveraging technology to inject new quality productive forces into this traditional sector."

"At the 17th Liuyang Fireworks Cultural Festival, Liuyang’s fireworks—integrated with stunning drone formations—shattered two Guinness World Records: 'Most drones in a pyrotechnic display' and 'Most drones controlled by a single computer.' Creative spectacles such as the 'Tree of Life,' 'Heaven's Gate,' and 'Interstellar Gate' are masterpieces of the deep fusion between drone technology, AI-generated imagery (AIGI), and traditional fireworks, garnering millions of likes across social media."

"Safety and environmental protection are the lifelines of sustainable industrial development. In collaboration with university research teams, Liuyang has tackled core technologies for low-smoke, sulfur-free fireworks, successfully achieving zero sulfur dioxide emissions. The commercialization of five key scientific achievements has turned green technology into a new growth engine for the industry.Simultaneously, through the strategy of 'replacing humans with machinery and reducing personnel through automation,' Liuyang has established 20 mechanized demonstration lines. The mechanization rate of hazardous processes has reached 80%, with critical chemical-handling stages achieving 'separation of man and machine' as well as 'separation of personnel and explosives.' This approach has not only secured the bottom line of safety but also significantly boosted production efficiency."

Integrating Culture and Tourism:

The 'Fireworks Economy' Enhancing Public Wellbeing

Based on the deployments of the Ninth Plenary Session of the 13th Liuyang Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Economic Work Conference—which called to 'seize the strategic opportunity of expanding internal demand, innovatively advance the "two fusions," and accelerate the construction of a World Fireworks Tourism Destination'—creative pyrotechnics have become a vital medium for stimulating consumption and benefiting public livelihoods. By transitioning from exclusive festive events to a weekend staple, Liuyang has taken fireworks out of the 'display window,' turning them into the 'traffic code' (key to high engagement) for driving cultural tourism consumption.

Since 2023, Liuyang has normalized weekend firework displays at the Sky Theater. To date, the city has hosted 142 creative pyrotechnic events, attracting over 7 million tourists and directly generating more than 20 billion yuan in consumption.'Coming to Liuyang for fireworks' has become a top travel choice, driving the number of hotels and B&Bs to surge from 274 to 639. International brands such as Tongcheng and InterContinental have established a presence, with hotel occupancy reaching full capacity during displays and restaurant sales multiplying. The 'Fireworks Encounter on the Liuyang River' district, centered around the Sky Theater, was selected among the first batch of provincial-level nighttime cultural and tourism consumption hubs. This success has turned the 'nighttime economy' into a vital new growth driver for increasing local household incomes."

Behind this success lies the deep integration of the 'Revitalizing the City through Consumption' and 'Anchoring the City in Livelihoods' strategies. Liuyang has intricately linked its fireworks culture with rural tourism, hospitality, and intangible cultural heritage experiences. This allows visitors to not only marvel at the spectacular pyrotechnics but also personally experience the cultural charm and the heartfelt warmth of daily life in Liuyang.

From its stunning appearance in the New Year Address to the accolades from People’s Daily; from the technological transformation of traditional fireworks to the rise of emerging industrial clusters; and from the consumption boom driven by cultural tourism to the continuous improvement of public wellbeing—Liuyang’s journey is a vivid illustration that 'new quality productive forces' are not castles in the air. Rather, they are a pragmatic endeavor rooted in local characteristics, closely aligned with developmental needs, and dedicated to the benefit of the people.

Today, Liuyang is striving to become a "Global Fireworks Tourism Destination," where creative pyrotechnics continue to ignite the spark of everyday life, crafting an exceptional chapter in high-quality county-level economic development.