Fireworks originated in China since 2000 years ago. The most prevalent legend has it that fireworks were discovered or invented by accident by a Chinese cook working in a field kitchen who happened to mix charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter (all commonly found in the kitchen in those days). The mixture burned and when compressed in a enclosure (a bamboo tube), the mixture exploded.

Statistics show that China is now the largest fireworks producer and exporter in the world. Boasting more than 600,000 employees, thousands of firecracker factories in the country turn out 45 million cases a year, with annual output worth 10 billion yuan (US$ 1.2 billion). The labor-intensive industry garners 400 million US dollars I export earnings every year, or about 90 percent of the world's total trade in fireworks.

At the start of the year three were a total of 7,064 fireworks companies in 26 chinese provinces, 74 percent of which are located in Hunan , Jiangxi and Guangxi. The sales of fireworks in these places accounted for 83 percent of the national total.

To this day the Liu Yang Region of Hunan Province remains the main production area in the world for fireworks. It is important to remember the geographic origin of fireworks, because often detractors of the fireworks industry say that fireworks are produced in china to take advantage of cheap labor. But the reality is that the fireworks industry existed in china long before the advent of the modern era and long before the disparity in east-west wage rates, and hopefully the fireworks industry will exist long after the existence of communism has an effect over the Chinese economy.

The world leader in fireworks production, Liuyang since 1998 has spent 500 million yuan (US$ 60.24 million) in technical upgrades for the sector and closed 10,000 small workshops that failed to comply with safety criteria.

The city has also drawn up a set of strict standards for access fireworks production. It may cost nearly one million yuan (US$ 120, 480) to launch a firecracker factory in the city, more than 50 percent higher than in neighboring areas. Almost all the money targets improved production safety.