To advance the integrated cluster development of national strategic emerging industries and help China's optoelectronic materials reach world-class levels, the Chinese Academy of Engineering Academic Symposium on Engineering Science and Technology and the 2024 China Optoelectronic Materials Conference were held in Shanghai on December 18. Nearly 30 academicians and nearly a thousand professionals in the field gathered in Putuo to focus on the frontiers of optoelectronic materials and jointly discuss paths for innovative development.

As a key foundation of the information revolution and the energy revolution, optoelectronic materials are key materials that countries around the world are racing to develop, and they are also an important development direction for China's strategic emerging industries. With the in-depth development of a new round of global technological revolution and industrial transformation, optoelectronic materials are continuously breaking boundaries and ushering in unprecedented development opportunities.

Since its inception in 2020, the China Optoelectronic Materials Conference has been held four consecutive times and has now developed into the largest and highest-level international academic exchange platform in China for frontier innovation and development in the field of optoelectronic materials. This year, the conference moved to Shanghai for the first time and was incorporated into the academic conference system of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. With the theme of "Innovative Materials Empowering the Future," the conference was hosted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and organized by the Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai New Materials Association, and Anhui New Materials Industry Association, with joint support from the Shanghai Municipal Talent Work Bureau, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and the Putuo District People's Government.

"Join hands to enter the 'era of materials innovation' and fulfill the responsibility and mission of 'engineering benefits mankind.'" The conference brought new expectations. Peng Shou, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, chief scientist of China National Building Material Group, and president of the China National Building Material Glass New Materials Research Institute, believes that "this conference is based in Putuo and oriented toward the world. It will gather extensive strength from domestic and international industry associations, join forces with major research institutes and universities, and work with major enterprises and universities to help optoelectronic materials accelerate the discovery of new physical properties, the exploration of new functions, and the cultivation of new business forms, achieving high-end, green, intelligent, and integrated transformation."

As an important hub connecting Shanghai with the Yangtze River Delta and the inland, and an important node on the Shanghai-Nanjing industrial innovation belt, in recent years Putuo District has focused on the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. Its four major industries—intelligent software, R&D services, technology finance, and life and health—have developed rapidly, and the district's total economic output has achieved rapid growth for four consecutive years, demonstrating vigorous development vitality.

At present, the new materials industry in Putuo District has become a new highlight of development, with a group of representative leading enterprises in the new materials industry, including China National Building Material International Engineering Group Co., Ltd., gathering here. The world's thinnest 0.12mm ultra-thin touch glass, China's first float-process 8.5-generation TFT-LCD glass... a series of breakthrough achievements have been born from the production lines of China National Building Material Engineering. Its complete sets of technical services for ultra-thin photovoltaic glass, information display glass, and thin-film power generation glass are all in a leading position in the industry. As a high-end engineering technology service platform rooted in Shanghai under China National Building Material Group, the company has now become the world's largest comprehensive service provider for glass engineering and a leader and promoter of global glass industry technology.

Relying on leading enterprises in the industry, Putuo District is accelerating the layout of strategic emerging industries such as new materials, providing a strong foundation for the clustered development of the new materials industry. In the segmented field of optoelectronic materials, relying on China National Building Material's scientific research foundation and market influence in the field of optoelectronic materials, Putuo District is attracting upstream and downstream related enterprises to gather, cultivating and building an optoelectronic materials industrial park to high standards, and promoting the clustered development of the optoelectronic materials industry.

Xiao Wengao, deputy secretary of the Putuo District Committee and district mayor, stated that next, Putuo District will continuously stimulate new momentum for scientific and technological innovation, accelerate the construction of new industrial advantages, and continue to create a new development ecosystem. Focusing on the entire chain of government, industry, academia, research, and application, it will make every effort to build a source of innovation and application for optoelectronic materials, build a high-quality optoelectronic materials industrial park, and strive to form an optoelectronic materials industrial ecosystem of "towering trees, thriving shrubs, and lush seedlings."

With the in-depth development of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, fields of optoelectronic technology such as the new generation of information technology and new displays are continuously generating new requirements for new materials and new technologies. Tan Tianwei, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, director of the Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and president of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, introduced that this Chinese Academy of Engineering symposium on engineering science and technology with optoelectronic materials as its theme is intended to focus on the technological revolution and industrial transformation in the optoelectronic field, explore new trends, new technologies, and new concepts in optoelectronic materials, and promote optoelectronic materials toward cross-disciplinary, integrated, and high-quality development.

Future materials are one of Shanghai's five major future industry directions. At present, Shanghai is accelerating the construction of a science and technology innovation center with global influence and accelerating the cultivation of future industries. The China Optoelectronic Materials Conference will also further promote the development of the optoelectronic materials industry and strengthen the strategic support of optoelectronic materials for Shanghai's leading industries such as integrated circuits and artificial intelligence.

On the same day, several academicians delivered keynote speeches on different themes, and the conference also set up eight sub-venue thematic activities, attracting nearly a thousand participants from industry, academia, research, and other fields. In conjunction with the conference, a signing ceremony was held for the Optoelectronic Materials Industrial Park and the Optoelectronic Materials Innovation Research Institute. During the event, a special exhibition of new optoelectronic materials products and technologies was set up, displaying a number of new materials and technologies such as 30-micron ultra-thin flexible foldable glass, 0.12mm ultra-thin touch electronic glass, optoelectronic functional crystal materials, and advanced laser technology.