What Took China So Long to Master Ballpoint Pens?

Despite making almost 40 billion ballpoint pens a year, until recently China was struggling to manufacture one component domestically. WSJ explains what made it so difficult. Illustration: Menglin Huang Subscribe to the WSJ channel here: http://bit.ly/14Q81Xy More from the Wall Street Journal: Visit WSJ.com: http://www.wsj.com Follow WSJ on Facebook:   / wsjvideo   Follow WSJ on Google+: https://plus.google.com/+wsj/posts Follow WSJ on Twitter:   / wsjvideo   Follow WSJ on Instagram:   / wsj   Follow WSJ on Pinterest:   / wsj   Don’t miss a WSJ video, subscribe here: http://bit.ly/14Q81Xy More from the Wall Street Journal: Visit WSJ.com: http://www.wsj.com Visit the WSJ Video Center: https://wsj.com/video On Facebook:   / videos   On Twitter:   / wsj   On Snapchat: https://on.wsj.com/2ratjSM