BEIJING—After a five-year effort, one Chinese company recently achieved a mission of national interest: helping develop the first fully Chinese ballpoint pen. What’s not clear is whether it made economic sense.

Chinese manufacturers produce 38 billion ballpoint pens a year—80% of the global market. But they didn’t make the nib, the part that holds the ball at the tip, long preferring the quality of Japanese and European made versions. Then, Beijing prodded them to look onshore.

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