Competition is the norm, breaking the mold is a choice—

In 2025, China’s laser industry adopts a new way of thriving (Part 2)

Positive Signal: Collaborative Innovation and Standard Setting, Directly Targeting the Industry's High Ground

If global expansion and domestic capacity increase are about strengthening the industry's foundation, then the actions of leading companies in 2025 regarding scientific research, innovation, and standard setting truly reflect their ambition to compete for the 'crown' of the industry.

Scientific research cooperation: from "single point alliance" to "ecological co-construction"

In the past, most of the industry-university-research cooperation was entrusted by enterprises to do a project and engage in technical research, and the cooperation was relatively loose. However, in 2025, we will see more "deep bundling" models: co-building platforms, co-cultivating talents, and co-innovating ecology, shifting from a single technical cooperation to a closed-loop of industry-university-research collaboration.

The purpose of the school-enterprise joint construction of R&D platforms has become the norm, and the purpose is to deeply integrate the cutting-edge theoretical research of universities and the engineering and industrialization capabilities of enterprises. For example, Chuangxin Laser and Tsinghua University jointly established a joint research center, Raycus Laser and Shenzhen University of Technology jointly established a "high-end laser technology industry-education integration demonstration base", and Hymson and Shenzhen University cooperated to establish a "joint laboratory of analytical instruments and medical innovation". These cooperation projects are not blindly following the trend, but accurately focus on cutting-edge fields and high-growth tracks such as ultrafast lasers, semiconductor lasers, AI additive manufacturing, laser medical, perovskite photovoltaics, and superhard material processing, which are the core competitiveness of the future industry.

In addition to technical cooperation, the joint construction of education bases has also become a focus, which is the key to solving the shortage of high-end talents in the industry. Changying Tong and Northwestern Polytechnical University have established a school-enterprise collaborative education base, Keying Laser and Changchun University of Science and Technology have built a closed loop of industry-university-research collaboration, and Hongshan Laser has also cooperated with Changchun University of Science and Technology to create a test field for the integration of industry and education around intelligent equipment. To develop the industry, talent is fundamental, and this model can make talent training closer to the needs of the industry and solve the problem of talent gap from the source.

What is more noteworthy is the rise of cross-disciplinary cooperation. Laser technology is no longer limited to traditional industrial processing, but is accelerating its penetration into medical, photovoltaic, superhard materials, new energy and other fields, forming an interdisciplinary innovation network of "laser". For example, Huagong Technology and Kaihao Technology cooperated to break through the bottleneck of laser cutting of polymer materials in the field of oral medicine; JEPT and SINOMACH Diamond jointly built a joint laboratory to promote the upgrading of precision machining of superhard materials; Huari Laser cooperates with optical storage company Yiyao Technology to engage in femtosecond laser multi-dimensional optical storage. This kind of cross-field integration and innovation can open up more new application scenarios and bring a new growth curve to the industry.

In addition, the active introduction of top international scientific research resources has also become a highlight. The MT Research Institute Joint Laboratory, initiated by Mu Lu, the inventor of femtosecond laser, brings together Peking University Third Hospital, Han's Laser, Fujing Technology and other institutions to target high-power laser devices and laser medical equipment. This shows that China's laser industry is no longer behind closed doors, but integrates global intellectual resources with an open attitude, and this pattern can support the development of the industry to a higher level.

In general, the upgrading of the scientific research cooperation model means that industry innovation has moved from "single-point technological breakthrough" to "systematic and large-scale output", which is an important sign of industrial maturity.

Standard Setting: The Ultimate Battle for Industry Positioning

In the intense market competition, the most clever strategy is no longer about making better products, but about who can define the benchmark product. By 2025, the battle over standards is intensifying. Leading companies are establishing or participating in the creation of national, industry, and even international standards, transforming their technological advantages into industry entry barriers and competitive defenses, thereby securing a leading position in a fiercely competitive market.

From a corporate practice perspective, participating in or even leading standard setting has become an important endorsement of technological strength and market influence. Leading companies such as Han's Laser, HG Laser, and Raycus Laser not only actively initiate or participate in drafting national and industry standards but also extend their reach to the international standards stage. Last year, Han's Laser launched two major industry standard projects: the 'Technical Specifications for Laser Turning Machines' and the 'Technical Specifications for Laser Milling Machines.' Its standard layout now covers key areas including laser safety, tube cutting machine precision, and composite processing equipment, leading the drafting or participation in over 20 national and industry standards and also spearheading the creation of 1 international standard. This strategic layout directly converts technological superiority into market advantage. HG Laser's involvement in the 'Technical Specifications for Laser Cleaning Machines,' 'Technical Specifications for Laser Quenching Machines,' and 'Technical Specifications for Laser Marking Machines' successfully passed review, advancing the national standard system for high-power laser applications. Raycus Laser led the development of standards such as 'Technical Requirements for Continuous Pumped Semiconductor Lasers' and 'General Technical Requirements for Laser Intelligent Welding Equipment,' covering core products like semiconductor lasers and welding equipment, filling many gaps in technical specifications and setting industry-wide technical benchmarks.

On a deeper level, leading standard setting essentially means controlling the 'right to define' and 'rule-making power' of industry development. When companies write their mature technological solutions, process parameters, and safety protocols into standards, they effectively set the technological roadmap and performance thresholds for the entire industry. For example, Hesai Technology led the formulation of China’s first national standard for vehicle-mounted LiDAR, specifying core indicators such as ranging accuracy and anti-interference performance. This not only establishes mandatory technical thresholds for manufacturers but also directly influences the selection decisions of downstream autonomous vehicle companies, securing market advantage from the source. Similarly, Kaplin’s participation in drafting the group standard for ultra-high-power fiber lasers addresses long-standing issues in the industry such as inconsistent technical parameters and unstable quality. By unifying the standards, the market is guided toward technologies in which the company excels—this is the power of standards.

In addition, standard-setting is also an effective means to build a healthy industry ecosystem and consolidate the position of the industrial chain. For instance, Huanri Laser, a subsidiary of Chuangxin Laser, leads the 'Occupational Standard for Handheld Laser Welders'; Chuangying Optoelectronics, a subsidiary of Lianying Laser, has developed standards for perovskite photovoltaic laser equipment; and Tianhong Laser has taken the lead in drafting the national standard 'Performance Specification for Metal Cutting in Laser Processing Machinery'. The implementation of these standards accelerates the normalization and scaling of new technology applications. By leading the development of standards, enterprises naturally become the technology conveners and ecosystem hubs in their respective niche areas, attracting upstream and downstream partners to form cooperation networks dominated by them, thereby controlling key links in the value chain.

The industry has now shifted from high-speed growth to high-quality development. Competition has long moved beyond low-dimensional comparisons of products and prices, and has upgraded to a higher-dimensional contest over technology rules and discourse power, represented by standards. Enterprises that turn their innovations into 'patents, standards, and industrialization' are essentially making forward-looking strategic layouts—paving market tracks for their technology paths, setting barriers to catch-up for competitors, and ultimately securing favorable positions in future market distribution. Therefore, the competition over standards is fundamentally a struggle for the future dominance of the industry.

Conclusion: Building Systematic Competitiveness through Multidimensional Layouts

Looking back at the development of China’s laser industry in 2025, the breakthrough paths of leading enterprises are already very clear: they are systematically building a four-in-one competitiveness model of 'global market ecosystem, domestic clustered production capacity, deep industry-academia-research networks, and discourse power in industry standards.'

In today’s industry competition, price wars are just surface ripples that cannot stir real waves. The real contest lies in: who can take deeper root with global clients, who can advance faster in uncharted technical territories, and who can embed their name in industry standards.

The journey from 'Made in China' to 'China Leads' is bound to be full of challenges and cannot be accomplished overnight. Yet, the various strategic moves of industry leaders in 2025 already indicate that China’s laser industry pioneers have set their sights on farther goals and have begun drawing their own development blueprints. This battle for industry upgrading—wielding technology as the spear, ecology as the shield, and standards as the territory—has just entered its most exciting chapter, and the future is something every industry practitioner can look forward to.