The famous Chinese scissors brand Zhang Xiaoquan's initial public offering (IPO) officially entered the stage of being reviewed by the Department of Public Offering Supervision at the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Feb 2.

In July 2020, Zhang Xiaoquan filed to list on the Nasdaq-style ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

If it succeeds in the reviews, it will be China's first-ever A-share listed scissors maker.

The company Zhang Xiaoquan traces its history to 1628 when a skillful scissor maker Zhang Xiaoquan and his son left their hometown in southern Anhui province for Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, and settled there to hand-make high-quality scissors of premium steel native to the Zhejiang county of Longquan.

Zhang created his namesake scissors brand in 1663. The Hangzhou-based brand has been wildly popular across the country and won numerous awards for its quality at expos held at home and abroad in the early 20th century. In 2006, the Ministry of Commerce inscribed it on the list of the first group of "Chinese Time-Honored Brands".

The four-century-old brand has made a series of innovations in its products and achieved tremendous progress in attracting younger-generation consumers in recent years.

Diverse products are seen on the official website of Zhang Xiaoquan. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

In 2019, Zhang Xiaoquan sold 2.7 million pairs of scissors, 5.09 million knives, 1.79 million sets of knives and scissors, as well as 4.27 million other articles of daily use. It posted 484 million yuan ($74.8 million) in operating revenue and 33 million yuan in net profit.

A Zhang Xiaoquan set of knives and scissors. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, nearly half of the 1,128 "Chinese Time-Honored Brands" are currently posting losses and only 5.4 percent of the brands have gone public.