Domestic substitution of advanced materials accelerates, industrial chain investment and financing continue to be active, consolidating the foundation of the real economy

Advanced materials are the underlying foundation of high-end manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and new energy industries, as well as the core link in cultivating new quality productivity. Since 2026, domestic fields such as high-purity electronic materials, special polymer materials, and lightweight alloys have continued to see technological breakthroughs, industrial capital has continued to increase, upstream and downstream industrial chains have accelerated, and the independent and controllable capabilities of the real economy have steadily improved.

The continuous expansion of downstream emerging industry demand is driving the steady upward trend of upstream material demand. The construction of AI computing infrastructure drives the growth of demand for semiconductor target materials and packaging materials; Humanoid robots and new energy vehicles are driving the expansion of the market for lightweight composite materials and special sensor materials; The energy storage industry continues to develop, driving the iteration and upgrading of new battery materials. The vast downstream application market provides ample growth opportunities for local material companies.

Industrial investment and financing data shows that the primary market continues to focus on new material enterprises with mass production capabilities. Compared to start-up projects in the laboratory stage, capital prefers enterprises that have completed pilot trials, are able to provide stable bulk supply, and have entered the supply chain of top customers. Many companies have completed Pre IPO financing, expanded production capacity through the capital market, continued to promote process iteration, and narrowed the technological gap with overseas leading enterprises.

According to the feedback from the semi annual reports of listed companies, segmented material enterprises that achieve import substitution have stronger profitability. By relying on technological barriers and stable supply capacity, the enterprise has obtained sustained orders and maintained a good level of gross profit margin. However, there are still shortcomings in most high-end materials fields, with some high-end categories relying on imports for a long time, long research and development cycles, high verification thresholds, and long-term investment required for technological catch-up.

The development of the industrial chain still faces multiple difficulties. The certification cycle for new materials is generally long, and the downstream customer introduction process is strict, making it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their customer base; At the same time, there is homogeneous competition in the industry, and some sub sectors with lower entry barriers have experienced rapid expansion of production capacity, leading to price competition. The development of the industry has entered a watershed, and relying solely on capacity expansion is difficult to sustain profitability. Technological innovation and customer barriers have become core competitiveness.

At the policy level, we will continue to strengthen the reconstruction of industrial foundations, support key material research and development, establish upstream and downstream docking platforms, and promote joint research and development between material enterprises and terminal machine manufacturers. Guiding the flow of financial resources to the real economy through the integration of production and finance, encouraging long-term capital investment in the field of new materials, and alleviating the long-term research and development funding pressure on enterprises.

From a medium to long term perspective, the independent and controllable use of advanced materials is a necessary path for the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry. With the continuous development of downstream industries related to new quality productivity, the growth space of the materials track has been opened up for a long time. But the development of the industry is gradual, and technological breakthroughs, customer verification, and capacity release all require time.

For market participants, attention should be paid to the transmission logic of the industrial chain from top to bottom, and priority should be given to the segmented leaders who have achieved small-scale commercialization and continuous iteration of processes. Be wary of targets that have not yet completed technical validation and rely solely on production capacity stories, and rationally view the long-term growth potential and short-term performance fluctuations of the track.