1. Current Industry Development Status
Glass is a non-crystalline inorganic material made from main raw materials such as quartz sand, soda ash, feldspar, and limestone, through melting, forming, and cooling solidification. It possesses transparency that most materials lack, as well as excellent mechanical properties and thermal performance. Glass deep processing refers to secondary glass products, which are functional glass products manufactured by using primary-formed flat glass as the base material and applying different processing technologies according to usage requirements.
The development of the flat glass industry provides a solid foundation and opportunities for deep-processed glass. Primary-formed flat glass (also called raw glass) mainly includes primary glass products such as float glass. In terms of functionality, raw glass can only meet people’s basic need for light transmission. In contrast, deep-processed glass is closely linked to the construction, transportation, electronics, and military industries, and represents the development direction of the entire glass industry. Although China’s glass deep processing industry started late, with the rapid growth of domestic economic and people’s living standards, there is an increasing demand for glass in terms of safety, energy efficiency, comfort, aesthetics, and environmental protection. Driven by policies and regulations, the industry has developed rapidly—especially for safety glass and energy-saving glass, with an average annual growth rate of over 30%. Deep-processed glass products can control light, adjust temperature, reduce noise, and enhance architectural decorative effects. Glass is no longer merely a light-transmitting material, but has become a structural and decorative material in modern architecture.
Compared with international standards, there are significant gaps in industrial concentration, technological progress, market collaboration, and product development. China’s flat glass processing rate is only 40%, with a dependency on imports ranging from 15% to 20%. The supply capacity of high-end products needs to be improved, and product varieties need to be enriched. Additionally, the market is unregulated, and product quality varies greatly. Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen the integration and upgrading of China’s glass deep processing industry.
In terms of applications, there are nearly a thousand segmented varieties of deep-processed glass worldwide, mainly used in home furnishing, modern communications, ecological environment, energy production, national defense research, military, industry, and architectural design. The glass deep processing rate in major industrialized countries has increased from 60% in the 1980s and 70% in the 1990s to over 80% today. China’s glass deep processing rate is only about 40%, which is significantly lower than the global average of 60% and the over 80% rate in developed countries, indicating broad development space for the domestic industry.
2. Industry Development Characteristics
The development of China’s deep-processed glass industry mainly exhibits the following characteristics:
(1) Regional Geographical Distribution
The production capacity of deep-processed glass is mainly distributed in three regions: South China, East China, and North China, which is basically consistent with the industrial layout of flat glass. Due to glass’s fragility and transportation limitations, its sales model is divided into: intensive marketing within 300 kilometers, selective distribution between 300 and 800 kilometers, and exclusive marketing beyond 800 kilometers. In other words, the sales radius of the glass deep processing industry is approximately 500 kilometers, giving the industry strong regional characteristics. When building factories, enterprises mainly rely on demand locations. With the large-scale development and construction of China’s central and eastern regions in recent years, glass enterprises in these areas have formed a considerable scale.
(2) Diversity of Product Structure
Compared with the ordinary flat glass industry, which only produces raw glass, the glass deep processing industry has significantly more diverse product structures. There are thousands of glass varieties to meet the different needs of industry, construction, military, and communications. This product diversity eliminates the single consumption model of the traditional ordinary flat glass market and mitigates the impact of economic cyclical fluctuations. Since 2000, the sales volume of China’s glass deep processing industry has grown year by year, and the industry has maintained profitable development.
(3) Innovation in Glass Deep Processing Technology and Products
Innovation is the soul of enterprises and the source of sustained development for an industry. Compared with ordinary flat glass, deep-processed glass is more susceptible to substitution by alternatives (e.g., glass films can partially replace insulating Low-E glass). Therefore, only by continuously developing deep processing technologies and products toward higher quality, greenization, multi-functionality, high added value, and high technological content can the industry grow stronger. Innovation in glass deep processing includes product innovation, process optimization, and environmental protection and energy conservation.
3. Development Trends
The invention of glass dates back 3,500 years. As a basic raw material, it has been widely used for 130 years. In today’s society, glass products are indispensable—from stationary buildings and moving cars to small items like eyeglass lenses and home decorations, and large structures like building curtain walls. To date, no material has been able to fully replace glass, while glass is gradually replacing certain materials. In the future, market demand for functional glass will grow rapidly, and new uses for glass will continue to be developed. Glass raw materials will shift from being mainly end consumer goods to intermediate products. Glass deep processing will no longer rely on a single technology or method for production; instead, it will focus on the integration of multiple technologies and research on glass modification materials, driving glass products toward composite functional, eco-intelligent, energy-saving, and environmental protection directions.
In 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the Ministry of Finance issued the Implementation Plan for the Upgrading and Replacement Project of Key Materials, covering four areas: next-generation information technology, marine engineering equipment, energy conservation and environmental protection for industrial kilns, and advanced rail transit equipment. Among them, 20 materials that need urgent development are prioritized during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, and four of these are related to glass—providing a clear direction for the glass industry’s development and defining goals for industrial structure adjustment. According to the plan, efforts should be made to enhance the optimization and upgrading of traditional glass, improve the precision of conventional deep-processed glass products, focus on resolving issues such as tempering of ultra-thin tempered glass and coated glass, actively develop new intermediate materials for laminated glass, and strengthen process management and new product R&D for vacuum glass, insulating glass, silk-screen glass, embossed glass, and frosted glass.
(1) Development of Coating Materials for Coated Glass
Affected by different coating materials, thicknesses, and layers, a variety of products can be obtained, such as solar control glass, low-emissivity (Low-E) coated glass, mirrors, and conductive coated glass. Except for mirror manufacturing, China started producing other types of coated glass relatively late, and there is a significant gap in technology compared with foreign countries—especially in the R&D of coating materials, where no large-scale professional product research has been formed. As demand for the multi-functional properties of coated glass grows, manufacturers of coated glass must collaborate with the metallurgical and chemical industries to invent or discover a range of coating materials with more distinctive functions.
For example, glass coated with a TiO₂ thin film can undergo photocatalysis under sunlight to decompose organic pollutants (such as formaldehyde from industrial waste gas, automobile exhaust, and indoor decorative materials) and liquid organics (such as edible oil and tar) accumulated on the glass surface. It also inhibits and kills microorganisms in the environment, and exhibits superhydrophilicity (fully wettable by water), which isolates the glass surface from adsorbed dust and organics. With the help of external forces (e.g., wind, rain, and water washing) and the self-weight of adsorbed substances, dust and oil stains automatically peel off the glass surface, achieving decontamination and self-cleaning effects.
This self-cleaning (anti-pollution) glass coated with a TiO₂ thin film can be used for doors, windows, and exterior walls of buildings; interior walls, doors, windows, and sanitary ware in kitchens and bathrooms; and is particularly suitable for doors, windows, and interior walls of hospitals and public facilities. In short, the R&D of new coating materials is undoubtedly the key to developing new types of coated glass.
(2) Development of New Varieties Through Rational Combination of Various Glass Types
Products are no longer limited to a single function; instead, multiple functions are integrated through the rational combination of multi-functional glass, resulting in new products that utilize resources efficiently and meet diverse needs. For example, coated (Low-E) insulating glass combines sunshade, thermal insulation, and decorative functions, saving 18% more energy than ordinary insulating glass. Another example is insulating glass made from raw glass coated with a photocatalytic decomposition film—it not only has the thermal insulation, sound insulation, and anti-condensation functions of ordinary insulating glass but also the “self-cleaning” function of decomposing pollutants. Additionally, silk-screen printing combined with tempering produces silk-screen printed tempered glass; anti-fog mirrors are made by coating mirror surfaces with electric heating films or water-repellent films. Breakthroughs in combination require reverse thinking and the ability to utilize glass’s inherent “defects.” Given that China’s deep-processed glass production processes are relatively mature, greater efforts should be made to develop modification materials that combine (or composite) with glass, driving deep-processed glass products toward multi-functional composite, eco-friendly, and intelligent directions.
4. Unfavorable Factors for Industry Development
(1) Relatively Chaotic Competition Order
With the rapid development of the glass deep processing industry, some enterprises with advantages in technology, brand, and cost have grown rapidly and become the leading forces in China’s glass deep processing industry. International well-known manufacturers have also recognized the promising development prospects of China’s deep-processed glass industry, increasing their investment in the sector and starting to integrate their Chinese-invested enterprises based on division of labor and layout. However, at the same time, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with weak R&D capabilities and single product lines lack capital to provide large-scale advance payments, so they can only take small orders with irregular sizes. Moreover, the smaller the enterprise, the more intense the price competition—leading to greater market chaos. Phenomena such as cutting product quality to achieve low-price sales often occur, resulting in vicious competition and adverse impacts on industry development.
(2) Technological Barriers
The global development trend of deep-processed glass is toward technological innovation, product innovation, multi-functionality, and high technology. In recent years, China’s flat glass deep processing rate has been about 40%, which is significantly lower than the global average of 55% and the 80% rate in developed countries. Taking the construction and automotive industries as examples, foreign countries have generally adopted lightweight, energy-saving, and high-safety products, such as heat-reflective glass, Low-E glass, dimmable glass, hydrophobic glass, thin tempered glass, deep-curved laminated glass, and electric heating glass. Many high-end and special-purpose deep-processed products are still blank in China and have to rely on imports.
(3) Capital Shortage
To grow and expand, the glass deep processing industry must increase R&D investment and introduce complete sets of advanced foreign production lines. Only with a certain level of capital investment can enterprises develop various high-end glass products, which further accelerates the industry’s transformation from labor-intensive to capital-and-technology-intensive. However, currently, over 95% of enterprises in the glass deep processing industry are SMEs, which lack industrial cluster advantages and face difficulties in financing. They are unable to make large-scale capital investments, hindering the rapid upgrading of products and processes.
5. Industry Entry Barriers
(1) Barriers in Product Quality and Management Capabilities
Due to the special requirements for product performance and application effects in the glass deep processing industry, since 2003, the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) has included architectural safety glass products in the scope of mandatory CCC certification. At the same time, national standards have been formulated to strictly regulate indicators such as impact resistance and fragment state, making product quality requirements more stringent. High-standard product quality requires enterprises to have supporting efficient management capabilities, making it difficult for enterprises with poor management and product quality control capabilities to enter and develop in the industry.
(2) Barriers in Technology and R&D Resources
The glass deep processing industry has high requirements for technology and processes. The continuous application of new technologies, processes, and materials is the key for enterprises to maintain their core competitiveness. New entrants to the industry are generally small in scale, unable to achieve economies of scale, and have limited R&D investment. Their new product R&D is restricted by capital and technology, making it difficult to form mass production capabilities.
(3) Barriers in Raw Material Procurement and Product Sales Channels
Glass deep processing enterprises have specialized raw material procurement and product sales channels, which ensure product quality reliability and cost reduction. Cooperative relationships between channels are generally stable, based on confidence in product quality and demand. New entrants often struggle to quickly establish stable channels, resulting in obvious disadvantages in quality control and production capacity—posing an entry barrier for new enterprises.
6. Industry Competition Situation
The global glass market is mainly dominated by five well-known multinational companies: Pilkington (UK), PPG (US), Saint-Gobain (France), AGC (Japan), and Guardian (US). Each company has its own R&D center for processed glass technology, focusing on the two major markets of architectural glass and automotive glass, and developing new varieties, materials, equipment, processes, and high-end products. These multinational glass giants have obvious advantages in technology, scale, and brand, and occupy a high share in the international energy-saving glass market. With the acceleration of global market integration, the competitive pressure they bring is gradually increasing.
In China’s glass deep processing industry, major large enterprises include listed companies such as CSG, Fuyao Glass, Yaopi Glass, and Yaohua Glass. These enterprises have complete industrial chains, high product diversification, high professionalism in segmented products, strong innovation capabilities, and significant advantages in capital and technology.
SMEs account for over 95% of the total number of enterprises in the industry. They have weak product development capabilities, outdated equipment, single product lines, and rely heavily on imitation—with few original and independent products, and even fewer branded products. Although these enterprises are at a disadvantage in scale and technology, they sell products through price-cutting, which has a significant impact on the underregulated market.