New Materials Support China’s Manufacturing Sector

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance of China jointly made the Guidelines for Development of New Materials Industry (2016-2020) and issued them on January 23. The document proposes to improve the existing new materials industrial system, make technical breakthroughs in key materials, help new materials enterprises play a bigger role in manufacturing, etc.
New materials are those that have appeared recently with excellent properties or special functions, or the term may refer to upgraded traditional materials possessing better performance or new functions.
The guidelines set nine tasks:
* make breakthroughs in urgently needed materials
* make plans to develop leading-edge materials
* establish an innovation system for new materials
* expand market for key new materials
* make breakthroughs in key techniques and specialized equipment
* improve the standards system for new materials
* integrate information technologies into new materials projects
* establish competitive enterprises and talented teams
* boost cluster development of the new materials industry
A stable supply of advanced basic materials is to be realized by 2020, and integrated supportability of key strategic materials is to exceed 70%, according to the guidelines. Industry players that are engaged in leading-edge materials are urged to get a number of patents for core technologies. The level of new materials applications is to be improved in new information technologies, aerospace equipment, biological medicine, high performance medical devices, etc. Furthermore, players must become more capable of satisfying demands in fields like electronic equipment, advanced rail transportation equipment, ocean engineering equipment, energy-saving and new-energy vehicles, high-end numerically-controlled machine tools and robots, agricultural machinery equipment, etc. Competitiveness of new materials applied in the scientific and technical industries for national defense is to be greatly enhanced.
Innovation is a focus in the guidelines, which accordingly call for expanding investment in technical innovation, so that new breakthroughs can be made in core technologies, and an innovation system can be finally established.
The new materials industry is to move toward further large-scale production and cluster development by 2020. Meanwhile, industry players will make technical breakthroughs in metallic materials, composite materials, advanced semiconductor materials. Application and industrialization of more than 70 varieties of key materials in fields like carbon fiber composites, high-quality special steel and advanced light alloys will be realized.
Rapid development of new materials can generate new engines of growth. Hence, the industry is of great significance for the “Made in China 2025” strategy.
Materials are vital in manufacturing activities. Without high-quality materials, no designs and ideas can be realized. Even today, as manufacturing becomes more intelligent and automated, key new materials, especially those used in upgrading traditional materials, remain important. For instance, new battery materials extend the working hours of new-energy vehicles, and high-quality materials ensure safety of high-speed railways.
The production value of China’s new materials industry rose to nearly RMB2 trillion in 2015 from RMB0.65 trillion in 2010, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. In spite of improvements in innovation and application, domestic production of new materials lags behind today’s most advanced levels. Difficulties still exist, including weak innovation ability, backward technologies, limited consumption, etc. The shortage of key materials and unstable properties of products, in particular, should be solved as quickly as possible.
As for the application of new materials, the guidelines give priorities to upgrading traditional industries and developing emerging industries and key technical equipment.
Breakthroughs in leading-edge materials may open up new markets: R&D on thin down materials may bring business opportunities to manufacturers of light down jackets; graphene battery materials may open a new era of intelligent products. In short, a little progress in material innovation may have unexpected influence.
The guidelines are very concerned about innovation and breakthroughs in leading-edge materials, especially graphene, nanomaterials, superconducting materials, etc. Furthermore, they call for increased financial support via measures such as preferential tax policies for the new materials industry.
China will establish an insurance compensation mechanism for utilizing new materials for the first time and support industry players to plan for R&D and to shorten R&D cycles.