I．Exhibition Overview

From April 7 to 10, 2026, the 35th China International Glass Industrial Technical Exhibition (China Glass 2026) was grandly held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Since its first edition in 1986, China Glass has consistently resonated with the development pulse of both China's and the global glass industry, witnessing the industry's remarkable journey from technology introduction to independent innovation, and from scale expansion to high-quality development. Over the past four decades, the exhibition has become an important bridge connecting China's glass industry with the world, continuously driving technological iteration, industrial upgrading, and international cooperation.

The total exhibition area exceeded 90,000 square meters, utilizing seven halls — N1 to N5 and W4, W5 — at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. A total of 889 exhibitors from 31 countries and regions participated, including 697 domestic exhibitors and 192 international exhibitors. Traditional glass industry powerhouses such as Germany and Italy once again made a strong presence in the form of national pavilions, showcasing the latest achievements across the entire industrial chain — from smart factories and green low-carbon technologies to high-end functional glass.

II. Strong Visitor Turnout

The exhibition attracted a total of 147,575 professional visitors from 138 countries and regions, including 17,885 overseas visitors, covering more than 30 glass application end-user sectors such as photovoltaics, construction, automotive, information display, and home appliances. More than 20 professional visitor delegations from countries including Russia, India, South Korea, Belarus, as well as domestic delegations from Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Guangdong and other provinces were particularly active. Arriving with clear technical needs and procurement intentions, they engaged in precise networking and in-depth discussions across various booths, resulting in numerous efficient and pragmatic cross-border business interactions. Meanwhile, industry experts, corporate decision-makers, and professional visitors from around the world flocked to key booths, engaging in lively discussions about new products and technologies. Scenes of exchanging business cards and expressing cooperation intentions were common throughout the venue, sustaining a high level of business negotiation activity and enthusiasm.

Against the backdrop of a complex and volatile global economy and challenging trade environment, manufacturers from traditional glass powerhouses such as Europe and the United States continued to actively participate as exhibitors and visitors. This fully demonstrates the strong resilience of China's glass industry, the immense appeal of the Chinese market, and the high level of global recognition for China's open and cooperative approach. The advantage of China's ultra-large market scale is becoming a core driver for global glass technology innovation and industrial cooperation.

III. Highlight Sectors

High-End Functional Glass Materials: From Building Material to "Functional Substrate"

At this year's exhibition, the role of glass materials has undergone a fundamental transformation. No longer merely a material for daylighting and enclosure, glass has become a key functional layer in consumer electronics, new energy, aerospace, and other cutting-edge fields.

In the field of ultra-thin flexible glass, Triumph Group showcased 30-micron foldable glass and 0.12mm electronic touch glass, catering to emerging display demands such as foldable screen smartphones and rollable screens. China Building Materials Academy exhibited a range of products including large-size high-performance quartz glass materials, ultra-low expansion glass-ceramics, aviation glass, PPG cover glass, thin insulating glass, aerogel, and glass release paper. These products have been successfully applied in national strategic megaprojects in aerospace, semiconductors, and other critical sectors.

The new energy sector has become a major growth market for functional glass. Jinjing Group's TCO (Transparent Conductive Oxide) coated glass has broken through the domestic bottleneck in the production of transparent electrode substrates for thin-film solar cells (cadmium telluride and perovskite). Kibing Group launched BIPV (Building-Integrated Photovoltaics) power-generating glass, which directly integrates power generation functionality into building facades, achieving both light transmission and electricity generation.

In the field of building energy conservation, Xinyi Glass's near-zero energy coated glass EB89F achieves 77% light transmittance and an ultra-low U-value of 0.7. CSG Holding's "Kirin" series is subdivided into four major sub-series according to season and application scenarios—summer shading, winter insulation, photovoltaic applications, and electronic display—demonstrating the trend toward scenario-based customization of functional glass.

LandGlass showcased its full range of core innovative products and systematic solutions, highlighting the SkyEx (Qingting) series intelligent tempering equipment. Through direct wind ripple quality comparison, it intuitively demonstrated the optical advantages of its zero-ripple technology, greatly improving the optical performance of tempered glass. Meanwhile, LandGlass unveiled a variety of cutting-edge products, including ultra-thin titanium vacuum glass, PVB laminated vacuum glass and photovoltaic vacuum glass, which fully meet the differentiated demands of the global market.

Intelligent Manufacturing: From Standalone Automation to Fully Automated "Lights-Out Factory"

Intelligent manufacturing was the sector with the highest technological density and the most diverse range of exhibits at this year's exhibition. The core trend is the upgrade from "individual equipment automation" to "whole-factory unmanned operation."

LiSEC's super insulating glass line is capable of accommodating three types of spacers—rigid, flexible, and thermoplastic—greatly enhancing flexible production capabilities. Hanjiang's super spacer stacking machine simplifies the traditionally complex multi-step insulating glass production process into a single operation through a highly automated integrated process, significantly improving production efficiency and product consistency.

In the tempering and edging segments, North Glass showcased its fourth-generation high-end tempering furnace and a 78-meter continuous photovoltaic tempering furnace. Its smart factory solution has achieved 24-hour continuous operation across the entire chain of cutting, sorting, tempering, and coating. Luoyang Mountain covered both the tempering and laminated glass categories, exhibiting a five-curve tempering furnace, a double-curved tempering unit, and a fully automated laminated glass production line.

Intelligence has also been realized in "hidden links" such as batching and conveying. Shanghai Precision's raw material batching system covers the entire process of storage, weighing, mixing, conveying, and dust removal. Grenzebach's turnkey solution for thin glass has been deployed in more than 20 production lines, addressing the industry's pain points of scratch-free thin glass conveying and high-precision cutting.

Yinrui Intelligence presented software and hardware integrated full-chain intelligent solutions, including flexible intelligent glass deep processing connection systems, MES manufacturing execution systems, ERP enterprise resource planning, SCADA data acquisition systems, industrial cloud platforms, and irregular glass optimization software.

Green and Low-Carbon Technology: Systematic Breakthroughs Centered on "Zero-Carbon Furnaces"

Driven by the "dual carbon" goals (carbon peak and carbon neutrality), the green technologies featured at this year's exhibition are no longer limited to end-of-pipe treatment. Instead, they have delved into the core of furnace thermal processes, forming full-chain solutions covering combustion methods, energy structures, and waste heat recovery.

The oxy-fuel melting furnace developed by Qinhuangdao Glass Industry Research and Design Institute achieves significant reductions in overall energy consumption, flue gas emissions, and nitrogen oxide emissions. The institute also introduced the "active energy drive" theory for the first time and developed a complete set of hydrogen energy utilization technologies for glass melting furnaces, overcoming the challenge of adapting hydrogen fuel combustion. Honeywell showcased its Eclipse® PrimeFire oxy-fuel burners and Maxon® OXY THERM® series, paired with the SLATE™ integrated combustion manager, providing industrial-grade solutions for clean combustion.

RHI Magnesita's INNOREG innovative regenerator optimizes heat field distribution and heat exchange efficiency. SEPR's XEBOOST™ electrification combination solution, together with the SEFPRO GUARD® furnace monitoring system, contributes to carbon reduction collaboratively from the perspectives of refractory materials and monitoring.

Smart Home and System Integration: Glass as the "Intelligent Interface of Living Spaces"

This year's exhibition clearly presented, for the first time, the transformation trend of glass from a "passive component" to an "active interactive interface." Yaohua Glass launched the "Yaohua Home Smart Glass Cabin" smart home system, which embeds IoT technology directly into the glass. The system can automatically adjust light transmittance in response to ambient light and temperature, with a response time of less than 0.5 seconds, and can also connect with home appliances. This means that glass is no longer a fixed window or partition, but rather a perceptive, responsive gateway to the smart home.

AI and Digital Technologies: Reshaping the Entire Chain of R&D, Production, and Quality Inspection

AI technology has moved from "concept demonstration" to "engineering implementation," covering three major links: materials R&D, production decision-making, and quality inspection. China Building Materials Academy released an independently developed intelligent agent for inorganic non-metallic materials based on the CBMA large language model, establishing an integrated platform that combines "disciplinary theoretical systems + materials R&D intelligent agents + fully autonomous AI laboratories."

In the production decision-making link, CTIEC's lean production management platform for glass factories and its industrial internet applications have achieved digital control over the entire process. The AI intelligent optimization decision-making platform from Qinhuangdao Glass Industry Research and Design Institute can coordinate annealing furnace process parameters and optimize production curves in real time.

The quality inspection link has become the most mature scenario for AI implementation. Carl Zeiss showcased an AI-driven intelligent detection system for glass surface defects；

Leveraging AI and digital technologies, Huaray Precision’s two laser subsystems deeply integrate picosecond laser technology with intelligent control and multi-axis linkage, reshaping the precision processing workflow of glass deep processing from R&D to production. Through digital collaboration, it achieves process optimization and non-destructive quality inspection, helping glass machinery enterprises develop high-end equipment and drive the intelligent upgrading of the entire industrial chain.

IV. Concurrent Technical Exchange Events

During the 35th China Glass Exhibition, the Chinese Ceramic Society, in collaboration with several leading industry enterprises, hosted a series of high-level technical seminars, which were filled with a lively atmosphere of exchange. Chengdu Guibao Science and Technology Co., Ltd. shared insights on integrated solutions for insulating glass sealing systems, exploring systematic approaches to improving the airtightness and service life of insulating glass. ROSS Controls China presented a comprehensive overview of ROSS glass industry solutions and products, covering a full range of technologies from equipment selection to production line optimization. Luoyang LandGlass Technology Co., Ltd. delivered two engaging seminars, focusing respectively on tempering solutions for the construction and automotive industries and case studies of LandGlass titanium vacuum glass applications, drawing many domestic and international visitors for in-depth discussions. Henan Chiefway Electrofusion Technology Co., Ltd. provided an in-depth explanation of vacuum-cast fused cast brick technology for extending furnace life. Jinan Lijiang Automation Equipment Co., Ltd., under the theme "The Speed and Passion of China's Glass Deep-Processing Industry," presented a panoramic review of the industry's journey from following to leading. Throughout the seminars, professional visitors engaged in frequent and in-depth discussions with speakers, making this series of events an important platform for advancing technical exchange and industrial cooperation.

The successful conclusion of the 35th China Glass Exhibition is not only a vivid microcosm of the remarkable 40-year development journey of China's glass industry, but also a new departure for the global glass industry toward an intelligent, green, and high-end future. With its record-breaking scale, top-tier exhibitors, cutting-edge technologies, and strong visitor turnout, the exhibition has once again reinforced its leading position as the "bellwether of the global glass industry." Looking ahead, China Glass will continue to uphold the principles of openness, cooperation, innovation, and mutual benefit, joining hands with industry peers from around the world to write the next forty-year chapter of the glass industry.