On April 22, 2026, People's Daily published a special report reflecting on the development journey of China's glass industry, from small beginnings to becoming a global powerhouse. Today, China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of glass, accounting for over 60% of global production, with high-end glass products covering in multiple sectors. In this century-long relay, NorthGlass has made significant contributions with its independent innovation.

In 1994, NorthGlass successfully developed China's first horizontal roller-type tempering furnace, breaking the foreign technology monopoly and pioneering the localization of glass deep-processing equipment in China. From overcoming technical challenges in stress spots and deformation for the National Grand Theater's curtain wall glass to contributing to landmark buildings worldwide, NorthGlass has proven China's manufacturing strength with many "firsts" in the industry.

The report focuses on NorthGlass's self-developed high-precision tempering furnace capable of processing glass up to 24 meters long. This equipment operates "unmanned," equipped with global adaptive heating functions, real-time temperature monitoring, and features that reduce energy consumption and operational difficulty. NorthGlass's self-developed ultra-large, fully automated cutting table controls diagonal precision within 0.25mm, and its intelligent production line boosts efficiency by approximately 30%. A 3m x 6m 3D curved glass is formed and tempered within 10 minutes, with product tolerance under 2mm. Meanwhile, NorthGlass is actively pursuing green manufacturing, using 6.5 million kWh of photovoltaic green electricity annually, fully replacing motors with permanent magnet synchronous motors, and switching to LED lighting, helping shift a high-energy-consumption industry towards sustainability.

From breaking monopolies to leading intelligent manufacturing, NorthGlass is making steadfast contributions to the rise of China's glass industry with its differentiated, intelligent, and green approaches.

In the production workshop of Tianjin NorthGlass Industrial Technology Co., Ltd. in Baodi, Tianjin, a high-precision tempering furnace processing glass up to 24 meters long is operating with no one in sight.

"This equipment features a global adaptive heating function, allowing real-time monitoring of glass temperature to ensure the glass is tempered at the optimal temperature. This improves product quality stability while reducing operational difficulty and energy consumption," said Yang Yuanxi, Executive Vice General Manager of the company.

In one corner of the workshop, a pane of glass is precisely placed on a fully automated cutting table by a robotic arm. The cutting wheel moves at nearly 100 meters per minute along a preset path, producing smooth edges, and the diagonal precision is controlled within 0.25mm. "Each process, including cutting, edge grinding, tempering, lamination, and insulation, is seamlessly connected by an automated production line," Yang Yuanxi explained. Compared to traditional methods, the intelligent production line increases efficiency by about 30%.

Does intelligent manufacturing help improve product processes? In the workshop, a 3m x 6m 3D multi-curved glass shaping from flat to multicurved and is tempered within 10 minutes. After full-field scanning, the finished glass' tolerance is less than 2mm when compared to the design model.

Yang explained that such multi‑curved special‑shaped glass involves large, thick, and complex curves that are difficult to achieve with traditional processes. After years of research, the company has developed ultra-wide, high-performance tempering furnaces, single-curve bending and tempering units, intelligent multi-curve tempering units, and an intelligent glass deep-processing automated system.

"Glass manufacturing is an energy-intensive industry, and we are also accelerating the exploration of energy-saving and green manufacturing methods," Yang Yuanxi said. Since 2020, NorthGlass has installed photovoltaic systems on its factory roofs and now uses approximately 6.5 million kWh of photovoltaic green electricity annually. It has also replaced all motors with permanent magnet synchronous motors, reducing excitation loss and internal heat generation, thus improving energy efficiency. The lighting system has been fully converted to LED (light-emitting diode) sources, effectively lowering electricity consumption.

The level of digital intelligence in the glass industry is steadily increasing, with production techniques like "one furnace, multiple lines" maturing and being applied, driving the transformation of glass companies towards flexible manufacturing to meet diversified order demands. Simultaneously, energy-saving and carbon-reduction reforms are accelerating, with increased use of clean energy such as natural gas, development of distributed photovoltaic power generation, and enhanced waste heat recovery. By 2025, carbon emissions per unit weight of flat glass will have decreased by over 4% compared to 2020.

The same People's Daily report also reviewed the significant contributions made by China National Building Material (CNBM) to the rise of China's glass industry.

Founded in 1922, Yaohua Glass, a subsidiary of CNBM, is known as the "cradle of China's glass industry." It produced China’s first brown heat-absorbing glass, ending the long reliance on imports. Today, it continues to lead the industry in automobile glass, energy-saving glass, special glass, etc., driving the industry towards diversification and high-end transformation. In the field of precision optics, CNBM Guangxin Technology has developed high-signal-to-noise ratio ultra-lightproof glass, increasing the light absorption rate to over 99.9%, significantly enhancing the monitoring accuracy and extending the battery life of smart wearable devices, thus opening a new market for consumer electronics glass. In space exploration, the China National Building Material Science Research Institute developed high-stability quartz glass, which was successfully used in the Tianwen-2 spacecraft's inertial navigation system, ensuring China's space missions through attitude sensing and trajectory control.

It is these outstanding companies, together with NorthGlass, that have jointly written the grand chapter of China’s glass industry, from following to leading the world.