China's laser industry began in the 1980s, when the first private laser enterprise, Chutian Industrial Laser, was founded in 1985 by Sun Wen, an alumnus of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. In the 1990s, some young people with dreams began to make their mark in the laser industry. In 1995, Gao Yunfeng, 29, rented an apartment in Huaqiangbei with a deposit of 400,000 Hong Kong dollars given by a German client. It took him three months to build a laser marking machine and then he registered Han's Industrial Co., LTD. It was not until 2001 that Shenzhen Han's Laser Technology Co., Ltd. was officially established.
After 4 decades’ development, how many laser enterprises are in China now? This is a question that many laser practitioners, investors and government want to figure out. Based on years of research in the laser industry, the author and the team has made a relatively detailed statistics here.
1.The Definition of Laser Enterprise
What is a laser enterprise? Generally speaking, it refers to an enterprise that takes laser technology as its core and is engaged in the research and development, production, sales of laser-related products or provides professional services. According to the industry categories in national standards, we define “laser manufacturing enterprises as those belonging to "Manufacturing", "Scientific Research and technical services", and "Information Transmission, software and information technology Services", and "laser-related enterprises" as those in other categories such as "Wholesale and Retail Trade" and "Leasing and business services".
In the abridged edition of 2025 China Laser Industry Development Report compiled by the Chinese Optical Society and other organizations, the laser industry chain is drawn, as shown in the following figure.
Through this diagram, a deeper understanding of the laser industry can be achieved: the upstream mainly includes optical materials and components, the midstream mainly consists of various lasers and their supporting devices and equipment, and the downstream mainly includes laser application products, laser manufacturing equipment, consumer products, and instruments and equipment. So far, products, technologies and services related to lasers have spread throughout major regions of China and permeated all walks of life, forming a rich and vast industrial ecosystem.
2.Statistical Methods for Data of Chinese Laser Enterprises
When conducting statistical research on Chinese laser enterprises, the main reference data comes from the National Business Registration Database. It should be noted that the coverage of this database does not include enterprise data from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions. Therefore, these information needs to be obtained through other means.
To ensure that the statistical samples are enterprises in a normal operating state, the following conditions have been set when filtering the database:
1.The enterprise registration status is "Normal", "Active" or "In Operation".
2.The business risk status is "No Operational Abnormalities”.
3.To minimize the inclusion of shell companies, enterprises must have at least one employee enrolled in social insurance.
Given that the term "laser" is of highly uniqueness and recognition within the industry, it is usually explicitly used by relevant enterprises in their "company name", "business scope" or "company profile". Therefore, the initial search keyword is only set as "laser".
First, select "Manufacturing", "Scientific Research and Technical Services", and "Information Transmission, Software and Information Technology Services" from the industry categories (not major or minor categories). The data screened out through this step is classified as "Active laser-related manufacturing enterprises".
Then, re-select the industry categories such as "Wholesale and Retail Trade", "Leasing and Business Services", etc., and then filter again. The data screened out in this step is classified as "Active laser-related enterprises".
In addition, the research team realized that some laser enterprises met the definition might not have explicitly marked the word "laser" in their business registration information. To make the data more complete, the team conducted auxiliary verification and supplementation based on the applications of the enterprise's independent intellectual property rights (especially related patents). For instance, some enterprises may have rather broad business scope (such as involving industrial control, instruments and meters, electronic products, etc.), but have accumulated a large number of laser technology-related patents with a long history, which is sufficient to indicate their substantive business activities in the laser field. Such enterprises should also be included in the statistical scope. The team will utilize their professional knowledge to identify and supplement such situations.
It should be emphasized that even if an enterprise clearly marks the word "laser" in its business registration information, it may not be an enterprise engaged in the research and development and manufacturing of core laser technologies and equipment, but rather a downstream application enterprise that uses laser as a tool. Therefore, for such enterprises, it is necessary to conduct secondary screening and identification through manual verification of their actual business scope to ensure the accuracy of the statistical objects.
For the data acquisition of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, as the main business databases do not cover these regions, these data need to be obtained by querying the local official enterprise registration platform. Considering that "Laser" is the commonly translation of the term "镭射(léi shè)" in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, the keywords were specially set as "laser" during the search. In order to improve the comprehensiveness of the search and reduce omissions, the keywords are further expanded to "laser" or "photoelectric"(closely related to laser technology). After obtaining the initial results, the research team will, based on their professional knowledge, manually screen the data and make necessary supplements to identify the qualified laser-related enterprises.
3.Statistical Results of Data on Chinese Laser Enterprises
After data search, comparison and cleaning with rules mentioned above, the following conclusions are drawn.
By May 31, 2025, the total number of laser enterprises in operation in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions) exceeded 21,000. The combined number of laser enterprises in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions was no more than 200, among which there were approximately 150 in Taiwan Province, 40 in Hong Kong and no more than 10 in Macao.
"Active laser manufacturing enterprises" are more notable. After a second round of manual screening by the team, it was found that there are approximately 11,600 active laser manufacturing enterprises in China. Guangdong Province is the province with the largest number of active laser manufacturing enterprises in China, approximately 2,450. The number of active laser manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province, Jiangsu Province (2,387), Shandong Province (832), Zhejiang Province (757), and Hubei Province (718) ranks the top five. Yunnan Province, Hainan Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province ranked the bottom five, which most of these provinces are located in the western region.
Regional Distribution of Active Laser Manufacturing Enterprises in China (by May 31, 2025)
A study of the top five provinces found the following conclusions.
In Guangdong Province, some foreign-funded enterprises have successively entered the laser field to conduct business since the mid-1990s, involving the research and development and production of laser printing equipment and industrial laser equipment.
In Jiangsu Province, foreign capital also entered the laser industry relatively early, covering areas such as laser printing equipment manufacturing and industrial laser equipment (such as laser optical component processing).
In Shandong Province, the entry of foreign capital into the laser manufacturing field can be traced back to the mid-1990s, and its business involves industrial manufacturing links including laser technology.
In Zhejiang Province, foreign capital has been involved in the laser industry for a relatively large time span. Since the early 1990s, its business scope has covered the manufacturing of laser components in electronic components and industrial laser processing equipment.
In Hubei Province, foreign capital entered the laser manufacturing field relatively intensively in the mid-to-late 2000s, mainly engaged in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of industrial laser equipment.
Source: Photonics Yip Man
