Economy

The Chinese industrial development experience hidden in an OLED screen

2026-02-06   

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is known as the "pearl of the display industry" and is widely used in fields such as smartphones, tablets, televisions, VR devices, and car displays. At the beginning of the 21st century, China's OLED panel industry was still in a state of poverty and backwardness; By 2024, the output value of OLED display panels and modules has exceeded 100 billion yuan, with an international market share of over 50%. It took about 20 years to achieve a leap from scratch and from existing to excellent. Looking back at the development process of the industry, this leap is not accidental, nor is it a natural result of the market. It is the result of adhering to the combination of an efficient market and a proactive government, and the joint efforts of market mechanisms and policy guidance to effectively stimulate innovation and creativity. In the early stage of industrial cultivation, the focus is on providing support for technology research and development applications. Before 2008, due to factors such as technological blockades and trade barriers, the foundation of China's OLED industry was almost blank, with 100% dependence on imported core equipment and materials, and almost zero large-scale production capacity. At this stage, the role of the government is to plan ahead and guide policies, establish a basic institutional framework for technological germination and industrial development, and provide soil for seed germination. For example, since 1997, the central government has continuously supported universities and institutions such as Tsinghua University to carry out basic research on OLED. For example, in 2009, the "Electronic Information Industry Adjustment and Revitalization Plan" included "new display devices" for the first time in the scope of national policy support, guiding resources to focus on OLED and other industrial tracks. Domestic OLED industry chain upstream and downstream enterprises have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. For example, establishing a national innovation center for new display technology, integrating the strengths of industry, academia, and research, and building a full process collaboration mechanism of "basic research, pilot testing, and mass production technology" to achieve breakthroughs in the research and development of multiple key core technologies. The stage of catching up in scale focuses on empowering and accelerating the development and growth of industries. In 2013, domestic enterprises built a 5.5-generation OLED production line, marking the entry of China's OLED industry into a stage of large-scale development. However, it still faces unfavorable situations such as core equipment being controlled by others, outdated manufacturing processes, and unstable production lines. In addition, the OLED industry's heavy assets, high risks, and long cycles make it difficult to open up the situation solely relying on social capital. At this stage, the role of the government is to strengthen the guarantee of factors, carry out precise support, and achieve the goal of "supporting the horse and sending a journey", helping the industry break through the initial development bottleneck and successfully enter a virtuous development cycle that can rely on market regulation and have self generating ability. For example, building a diversified funding system consisting of national funds, local special funds, and risk compensation has solved the risks faced by enterprises in the early stages of development, such as fund chain breakage. For example, high generation OLED production lines have extremely high requirements for land, energy, and logistics efficiency. Local governments have promoted cluster development to effectively reduce infrastructure costs and help a number of flexible OLED production lines land. In the stage of high-quality development, the key is to build the pillars and beams for a good industrial ecology. After entering the stage of high-quality development, the role of the government has shifted from "scale support" to "quality leadership" and "innovation leadership". Starting from industrial policies, industry standards, and scene openness, we aim to create an industrial ecology that deeply integrates industry, academia, research, and application, synergizes the industrial chain, and efficiently allocates factor resources, promoting China's OLED industry to achieve a leap from following to leading. For example, grasping the key link of the application of this technology in the scene, supporting high-end OLED screens in medical, automotive AR/VR、 Pilot demonstrations will be carried out in wearable devices and other fields to provide a favorable environment for enterprises to accumulate experience and iterate upgrades. For example, in response to the weak links in China's OLED industry chain, support industry enterprises to accelerate breakthroughs in technological bottlenecks and build a full industry chain ecosystem from materials, equipment to panels and terminals. Looking back at the rise of China's OLED industry, it is not only a curve overtaking of the industry, but also a microcosm of the combination of an efficient market and a capable government. To develop new quality productive forces, both the "invisible hand" and the "visible hand" should be used well and not neglected. On the one hand, it is necessary to fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and through mechanisms such as high quality and high price, survival of the fittest, etc., encourage enterprises to increase research and development investment, promote technological iteration, accelerate product promotion, and guide factors such as capital and talent to cluster towards more efficient and high-quality technological routes and industrial forms. On the other hand, we must adhere to the government's proactive approach, make up for market failures and areas where it is unable to participate, clarify the long-term goals of industrial development, support key core technology research and development, and provide necessary infrastructure and public service support for industrial development; By strengthening market supervision and improving the legal system, we aim to create a fair and competitive market environment. What needs to be emphasized more is that the government's proactive approach is not to "intervene in the market", but to follow the laws of the market, not to be absent or exceed its position, adhere to the principles of "activating the market", "improving the market", and "empowering the market", and create a favorable environment for innovation. (New Society)

Edit:He Chuanning Responsible editor:Su Suiyue

Source:People's Daily

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