Glass reflects China's changes
2024-08-10
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On July 27, staff of Hunan Kibing Electronic Glass Co., Ltd. inspected product quality on the production line. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
Xinhua News Agency Changsha, August 9 Title: Glass, reflecting China's changes
Xinhua News Agency reporters Su Xiaozhou, Zhang Xu and Liu Fangzhou
After graduating from university in the 1990s, Mu Meiqiang worked in the TV display industry. At that time, CRT technology was used, but it soon became obsolete. He then turned to LCD screens, but LCD was replaced by LED...
During the real estate boom in China, China became the country with the highest density of skyscrapers in the world, and glass was in short supply. Mu Meiqiang, who had rich experience in glass production, came to Qibin Group and served as the general manager of Hunan Qibin Electronic Glass Co., Ltd.
Located at the foot of the Luoxiao Mountains on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi, Liling City in Hunan Province has created "underglaze colorful porcelain" and "Millennium Porcelain Capital" through the "music of mud and fire". In recent years, glass manufacturing has developed into an important industry in Liling by using the "combination of sand and fire". Kibing Group, which has invested in Liling, is one of China's large glass manufacturers. Today, it still produces glass for the construction industry, but it is no longer the traditional variety.
Energy saving, environmental protection, pest control, and aesthetics are the new demands of customers for glass products in recent years. Kibing Group has developed a series of new glass products with high technological content. The latest door and window glass can block up to 98% of solar heat from entering the room, and greatly isolate ultraviolet and infrared rays. This echoes the country's new development strategy - innovation and green development, promoting high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, and releasing new quality productivity.
This is a new type of energy-saving glass displayed in the exhibition hall of Hunan Qibin Electronic Glass Co., Ltd. (photo taken on July 27). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
Kibing Group's new products include energy-saving glass, electronic glass and pharmaceutical glass. Mu Meiqiang said: "We started to manufacture mobile phone glass for well-known domestic brands, and cooperated with domestic automotive glass manufacturers to provide window glass for well-known car brands. Due to the special nature of drugs, special high-quality glass containers are needed to ensure safety, which is also an area we are actively exploring."
In order to gain an advantage in the fierce market competition, the new glass must be as thin and strong as possible. Mu Meiqiang demonstrated the glass drop resistance experiment for everyone. A machine lifted the mobile phone cover glass to a height of two meters, and then under the action of gravity, it fell onto the marble without a single crack. The experiment was repeated, and the glass remained intact.
This is not a magic show. China's GDP has doubled in the past decade. Comprehensive and in-depth reform has promoted the diversified development of the economy. Technological changes, industrial upgrades and consumers' expectations for high-quality new products have provided opportunities for entrepreneurs.
"At the beginning, some people were skeptical about our investment, thinking that glass was an old and outdated product. Who would have thought that China would soon become the world's largest market for smartphones and new energy vehicles? New business models require new glass," said Mu Meiqiang.
In the past decade, Hunan Kibing Electronic Glass Co., Ltd. has been on a fast track of development, and Kibing Glass has become the largest tax contributor in Liling City, Hunan Province. Kibing Group has provided 17,000 jobs and has established subsidiaries in many cities in China and even overseas. "This is also due to the support and encouragement of the Zhuzhou and Liling governments for private enterprises," said Mu Meiqiang.
This is a product produced by Hunan Qibin Electronic Glass Co., Ltd. (photo taken on July 27). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
The Chinese began to make glass as early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,000 years ago. The precious glass artifacts from the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties collected by the Hunan Museum are a strong proof. But for a long period of history, glass was regarded as a luxury and was mostly used in the palace, wealthy families and religious occasions. After the European Industrial Revolution, Westerners dominated this industry. In the late 1950s, the British Sir Alastair Pilkington began to advocate a revolutionary float glass production process, which changed the overall pattern of the world's glass industry.
Some farmers living in remote mountainous areas of China had difficulty using glass before the targeted poverty alleviation program began in 2013. Some people used paper to cover their windows. Today, aluminum alloy doors and windows inlaid with ordinary glass or even double-layer insulating glass are very common in Chinese cities and rural areas. In pursuit of a higher quality of life, many people have begun to pursue high-end glass with new functions such as heat insulation, thermal insulation, and UV protection.
With the development of the industry and the upgrading of consumption, Chinese companies have produced more types of glass in response to market demand: windshield glass for large passenger aircraft, glass that is thinner than paper and can be folded, glass that can be used as walls and generate electricity, glass that is harder than diamond, and fireproof glass that does not break even at hundreds of degrees...
Qibin Group has delivered new glass for solar panels to users. Mu Meiqiang said that some people have consulted him about producing special glass for satellites and even space stations.
Source: Xinhuanet
