Even though the city of Zibo has long been famous for its ceramics for more than 1,000 years in fact and many of its products are used by Chinese leaders or as gifts for foreign guests, what has really given the city a boost was China's joining the World Trade Organization, in 2001.

And, while Zibo is known as the "capital of ceramics" and has a lot of time-honored techniques, what has really improved it a great deal has been the local government's efforts to develop high-tech industries and new materials.

As a result of this, it has been recognized as a state-level innovative export-oriented base and has had an annual growth rate in exports of 30 percent over the last 10 years,