Industry landscapes
The companies, capital and talent shaping chemicals and materials in China. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.
An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.
24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.
Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗
No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.
Explore classified startups in Radar ↗A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.
10 of 3,042 tracked companies have open roles.
153 of 3,042 tracked companies have a recorded round.
Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.
Midpoint of 60 rounds with a disclosed amount.
Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 65.6% of disclosed capital, while 95.0% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.
Explore the segments →Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.
Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD
| Year | Funding (USD) | Founded | Raising |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $47.18M | 79 | 1 |
| 2017 | $6.74M | 85 | 1 |
| 2018 | $3.21B | 81 | 2 |
| 2019 | $58.14M | 82 | 2 |
| 2020 | $865.07M | 95 | 12 |
| 2021 | $405.4M | 90 | 5 |
| 2022 | $1.93B | 90 | 10 |
| 2023 | $262.44M | 83 | 10 |
| 2024 | $153.26M | 18 | 11 |
| 2025 | $0 | 0 | 0 |
Share of all disclosed company funding.
186 recorded rounds since 2016
Recorded participation in chemicals and materials company rounds since 2016.
Backed by Henan Investment Group Huirong Fund.
Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.
Backed by J P Morgan.
Backed by GAC Capital and Walden International and others.
Backed by Anhui Traffic Control Capital Investment Management and Qingchuang Bole and others.
Backed by Whjghs.net and Wuhu Talent Network and others.
Backed by Junhao Capital and Financial Street Capital Operation Center and others.
Backed by Shenzhen Capital Group and HSG.
Backed by Xicheng Jinrui and Raystone Capital and others.
Backed by Temasek and LYZZ Capital and others.
Backed by Henan Investment Group Huirong Fund.
The measured China identity-to-filing probe did not produce a qualifying designated legal or national-ID join: the scoped identities lack an authoritative Chinese registrar mapping; bare ticker overlaps produced no complete annual revenue and net-income statement groups.
Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.
Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.
Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.
The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.
0 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore in RadarCommon revenue models; a company can use more than one.
Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.
MicroCyto, a biocomputing company, has completed a RMB 300 million (USD 43.4 million) Series A+ round. Investors include Huirong Fund, under Henan Investment Group, and individual investor Tan Ruiqing.
The acquisition, once implemented, will establish a major global player in dental materials.
China Hongqiao Group is raising over US$1 billion through a share placement as it seeks to repay its debt and expand its business.
including the mobile assets acquisition of China Telecom, the IPOs of Sinopec, Chalco, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Life Insurance, PICC, Air China, China Shenhua Energy, China Construction Bank, Dongfeng Automobile, China Merchants Bank, ICBC, China Citic Bank, China Coal Energy, COSCO, CPIC, CSCEC, ABC, Everbright Bank, PSBC, CGN, CHAMC, China Re, Legend Holdings, CZ Bank, CEEC, CNR, CR Pharma, HR Bank, CICC, HZ Bank, HEC, Xinhua Net, SFC, as well as a number of restructuring and M&A deals for major industries.
Azelis is reinforcing its presence in the Chinese market with the acquisition of a 100% stake in WWRC (China) Holdings Ltd. and Friendship Chemical Co. Ltd.
H.B. Fuller will acquire 95% of the equity of Tonsan for cash consideration of Rmb 1.4 billion, or about $230 million.
IGM Resins, a global provider of energy-curing raw material solutions, announces that it has acquired Litian, a Chinese manufacturer of energy-curing resins.
Canmax and Jiuling completed their mid-2024 acquisition, bringing financial strength and industry expertise to Nigeria’s emerging lithium sector.
CanSemi launched its Phase III 12-inch analog process line on December 28, 2024. The CNY16.25 billion project focuses on 180nm to 90nm technologies for industrial and automotive applications, adding 40,000 wpm and targeting CNY4 billion annual revenue.
– Ningbo Dinghong Equity Investment Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) agreed to sell a 5.81% stake in thermoplastic elastomer producer Ningbo Changhong Polymer Scientific and Technical Inc. to Qianhai Pengcheng Wanli Capital Management (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., according to Market Intelligence data.
Top 10 categories among 76 recorded events in the 24-month window.
1 companies with recorded IPO activity
IPO1 reports
9 recorded customer wins
Customer: Arab Finance: The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE)Chemicals
Customer: fenixMining
Customer: Lithium ArgentinaLithium extraction
Customer: Pluspetrol ResourcesMinerals
Customer: fenix resourcesMining / Export
Customer: CGN New EnergySolar Energy
2 recorded events
Regained compliance with Nasdaq listing requirementsThe Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
approved for environmental impact reportArgentina provincial government of Salta
1 tracked suits
winding-up petitionCivil · Ongoing
Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.
| Acquirer → target | Status | Date | Value / context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinocera→SDI Limited | Announced | 2026-03-28 | Not stated in snapshot |
| h.b. fuller→Tonsan Adhesive ↗ | Announced | 2025-02-14 | Not stated in snapshot |
| nouryon→Zhejiang Friend Chemical ↗ | Announced | 2025-02-14 | Not stated in snapshot |
| azelis→Friendship Chemical ↗ | Pending | 2025-02-14 | Not stated in snapshot |
| igm resins→Litian ↗ | Completed | 2025-02-14 | Not stated in snapshot |
| canmax→Ganfeng Lithium ↗ | Completed | 2025-02-14 | Not stated in snapshot |
A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.
0 postings in the preceding 12 months. The full 3-posting snapshot covers 2 employers.
0 tracked postings mention remote work.
1 postings specify a level.
Top skills across 3 tracked postings in the available jobs snapshot.
| Company | Employees |
|---|---|
| Baowu Steel Group ↗ | 262,300 |
| CHALCO ↗ | 64,794 |
| Baoshan Iron & Steel ↗ | 57,154 |
| CNCEC ↗ | 41,588 |
| Angang Steel ↗ | 36,104 |
| Baotou Steel Group ↗ | 29,239 |
| Hoshine Silicon Industry ↗ | 16,742 |
| Xiamen Tungsten ↗ | 15,912 |
223 founders and chief executives across 215 companies.
RWTH Aachen University 1984
Ex- Zhuhai Shengtong Energy Saving Technology, China Automobile Maintenance Industry Association
Co-Founder Yunshu Biotechnology, ex-BGI Group, DRT Intelligence. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2022, The University of Queensland
Ex- Panzhihua City Public Security Bureau and Panzhihua Customs, Sanlian Investment Holdings. Southwest University 1997, Sichuan University MBA 2008
Ex-MD Bostik China, H.B. Fuller. Hefei University of Technology 1974, University of Rochester - Simon Business School MBA 1992
Ex-Fudan Grand Horizon Network. Shanghai Jiao Tong University B.Eng 1998, National University of Singapore M.Eng 2001…
Hong Kong Design Centre, Economic Development Commission. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Ex-Yantai synthetic leather, MDI, Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes, Ningbo Wanhua Polyurethanes.
Focuslight Technologies, ex-Nlight, ex-Coherent, Virginia Tech MBA, 2001
Guangdong University of Technology, Shanghai Jiaotong University CMBA
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University BA 1992, V EMBA 2012, DBA 2019
Ex-Bank of America, JP Morgan · University of Michigan BBA 1997
4 profiles with education records.
0 profiles with prior-work records.
Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.
40,109 articles in the measured 12-month window.
Chemicals and Materials coverage across China · articles per complete quarter
| Quarter | Articles |
|---|---|
| 2021Q2 | 5,445 |
| 2021Q3 | 7,213 |
| 2021Q4 | 4,962 |
| 2022Q1 | 6,713 |
| 2022Q2 | 6,211 |
| 2022Q3 | 5,925 |
| 2022Q4 | 9,261 |
| 2023Q1 | 9,374 |
| 2023Q2 | 8,834 |
| 2023Q3 | 12,493 |
| 2023Q4 | 12,483 |
| 2024Q1 | 12,609 |
| 2024Q2 | 12,422 |
| 2024Q3 | 11,780 |
| 2024Q4 | 11,173 |
| 2025Q1 | 19,492 |
| 2025Q2 | 9,677 |
| 2025Q3 | 8,721 |
| 2025Q4 | 9,971 |
| 2026Q1 | 11,399 |
Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.
68 recorded company events across 27 companies; percentages use that event total.
Chemicals and Materials coverage across China · ranked by full-period article count.
Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.
Chemicals and Materials coverage across China
| Keyword | Recent | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| rare earth elements extraction | 1,021 | 407 | 151% |
| electrowinning rare earths | 602 | 260 | 132% |
| mineral tenure | 230 | 161 | 43% |
| oil price volatility | 201 | 104 | 93% |
| petrochemical r&d | 141 | 96 | 47% |
| polymer import tariffs | 135 | 81 | 67% |
| commodity trading | 135 | 88 | 53% |
| npk fertilizers | 134 | 77 | 74% |
| fertilizer application | 131 | 83 | 58% |
| lme price trends | 129 | 66 | 95% |
| chemical safety assessments | 10 | 708 | -99% |
| stock performance | 277 | 578 | -52% |
| tariff negotiations | 288 | 559 | -48% |
| osha chemical standards | 8 | 511 | -98% |
| stock indices | 132 | 371 | -64% |
Chemicals and Materials coverage across China
stock performance, plastic recycling, plastic bans
44.6% critical · 32.7% positivetrapped miners, coal dust explosion, rare earth elements extraction
42.4% critical · 43.0% positivechemical pricing, industrial sector performance, copper demand
23.9% critical · 47.5% positiveChemicals and Materials coverage across China. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.
10,510 papers in the recorded worldwide scope.
Tone counts: 9,963 positive · 502 neutral · 45 negative.
Landmark: Covalent adaptable networks: smart, reconfigurable and responsive network systems
Landmark: Amorphous polyphosphate, a smart bioinspired nano-/bio-material for bone and cartilage regeneration: towards a new paradigm in tissue engine
Landmark: A review of stimuli-responsive shape memory polymer composites
Common problems researchers identify · 0125.5% of this theme group
Smart environment (18) · Smart material (69) · Building automation (11) · Architectural engineering (14)
Smart structures and material technologies in architecture applications
Smart Materials and Structures: State of the Art and Applications
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.7 |
| 2023 | 26.4 |
| 2024 | 20.4 |
| 2025 | 30.1 |
Common problems researchers identify · 0219.3% of this theme group
Piezoelectricity (18) · Carbon nanotube (8) · Nonlinear system (5) · Structural health monitoring (7)
An investigation into size‐dependent dynamic thermo‐electromechanical response of piezoelectric‐laminated sandwich smart nanocomposites
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 565.9 |
| 2023 | 545.0 |
| 2024 | 434.0 |
| 2025 | 499.2 |
Common problems researchers identify · 0315.1% of this theme group
Magnetorheological fluid (10) · Actuator (21) · Self-healing hydrogels (13) · Artificial muscle (7)
Multifunctional soft machines based on stimuli-responsive hydrogels: from freestanding hydrogels to smart integrated systems
Hydrogels in Soft Robotics: Past, Present, and Future
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 515.8 |
| 2023 | 516.5 |
| 2024 | 470.7 |
| 2025 | 586.1 |
Common problems researchers identify · 0413.8% of this theme group
Smart polymer (17) · Polymer (19) · Smart material (42) · Nanotechnology (19)
Polymer-based smart materials by printing technologies: Improving application and integration
Smart polymer brushes and their emerging applications
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 868.6 |
| 2023 | 846.3 |
| 2024 | 729.9 |
| 2025 | 617.0 |
Common problems researchers identify · 0513.3% of this theme group
Nanotechnology (47) · Smart material (48) · Nanometre (4) · Nanomaterials (5)
Smart Materials for Microrobots
Responsive principles and applications of smart materials in biosensing
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 6028.6 |
| 2023 | 6050.4 |
| 2024 | 6429.0 |
| 2025 | 5098.6 |
Common problems researchers identify · 067.3% of this theme group
3D printing (18) · Morphing (8) · Biofabrication (5) · Polymer (6)
Developments in 4D-printing: a review on current smart materials, technologies, and applications
4D printing: Fundamentals, materials, applications and challenges
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 331.6 |
| 2023 | 356.6 |
| 2024 | 404.3 |
| 2025 | 482.9 |
Common problems researchers identify · 075.7% of this theme group
Shape-memory alloy (24) · SMA* (11) · Shape-memory polymer (9) · Nickel titanium (4)
Application and Development of Shape Memory Micro/Nano Patterns
Micromechanics and Modelling of Adaptive Shape Memory Composites
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 189.8 |
| 2023 | 194.5 |
| 2024 | 213.8 |
| 2025 | 197.7 |
Cautions · 0149.4% of this theme group
Smart material (27) · Nanotechnology (9) · Nanomaterials (6) · Tissue engineering (3)
Green Nanomaterials for Smart Textiles Dedicated to Environmental and Biomedical Applications
Dental Smart Materials
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 6034.3 |
| 2023 | 6055.5 |
| 2024 | 6436.1 |
| 2025 | 5119.2 |
Cautions · 0222.4% of this theme group
Piezoelectricity (8) · Actuator (9) · Composite material (6) · Hysteresis (4)
An experimental investigation on the health monitoring of concrete structures using piezoelectric transducers at various environmental tempe
Electrical and electromechanical characteristics of LTCC embedded piezoelectric bulk actuators
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 3690.0 |
| 2023 | 3616.3 |
| 2024 | 3287.5 |
| 2025 | 2457.5 |
Cautions · 0314.1% of this theme group
Shape-memory polymer (4) · Viscoelasticity (2) · Morphing (2) · Magnetorheological fluid (2)
Advances in additive manufacturing of shape memory polymer composites
Thermomechanical and shape memory properties of thermosetting shape memory polymer under compressive loadings
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 97.3 |
| 2023 | 88.0 |
| 2024 | 79.2 |
| 2025 | 102.5 |
Cautions · 0414.1% of this theme group
Shape-memory alloy (11) · SMA* (6) · Nickel titanium (3) · Damper (3)
Sensitivity of Seismic Applications to Different Shape Memory Alloy Models
Investigation on The Seismic Behavior of Steel MRF with Shape Memory Alloy Equipped Connections
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 187.2 |
| 2023 | 191.3 |
| 2024 | 209.8 |
| 2025 | 194.7 |
Opportunities · 0124.8% of this theme group
Smart material (955) · Nanotechnology (295) · Architectural engineering (48) · Internet of Things (41)
Magnetically responsive intelligent fibers: nano-engineered materials and multifunctional integration for advanced applications
Advanced Smart and Multifunctional Polymer Materials
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 6034.1 |
| 2023 | 6058.2 |
| 2024 | 6440.4 |
| 2025 | 5104.7 |
Opportunities · 0224.5% of this theme group
Polymer (182) · Composite number (132) · Photochromism (48) · Fabrication (113)
Photoplastic\nTransformation Based on Dynamic Covalent\nChemistry
Graphene/Phase\nChange Material Nanocomposites: Light-Driven,\nReversible Electrical Resistivity Regulation via Form-Stable Phase\nTransitio
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 1848.2 |
| 2023 | 1843.0 |
| 2024 | 1766.0 |
| 2025 | 1838.5 |
Opportunities · 0315.4% of this theme group
Shape-memory alloy (766) · Shape-memory polymer (338) · SMA* (232) · Nickel titanium (55)
Shape Memory Polymer Composite Actuator: Modeling Approach for Preliminary Design and Validation
Shaping shape‐memory
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 189.8 |
| 2023 | 194.5 |
| 2024 | 213.8 |
| 2025 | 197.7 |
Opportunities · 0411.5% of this theme group
Actuator (565) · Soft robotics (127) · Artificial muscle (78) · Elastomer (136)
Scalable functionalized liquid crystal elastomer fiber soft actuators with multi-stimulus responses and photoelectric conversion
Smart Bioinspired Actuators: Crawling, Linear, and Bending Motions through a Multilayer Design
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 308.6 |
| 2023 | 295.8 |
| 2024 | 242.9 |
| 2025 | 304.9 |
Opportunities · 0510.1% of this theme group
Piezoelectricity (446) · Piezoelectric sensor (59) · Piezoresistive effect (52) · Energy conversion (67)
Piezoelectric composite cements: Towards the development of self-powered and self-diagnostic materials
Effective mechanical properties of piezoelectric–piezomagnetic hybrid smart composites
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 169.4 |
| 2023 | 172.9 |
| 2024 | 161.3 |
| 2025 | 195.4 |
Opportunities · 068.9% of this theme group
Self-healing hydrogels (370) · Self-healing (71) · Nanotechnology (142) · Smart material (148)
Smart/stimuli-responsive hydrogels: Cutting-edge platforms for tissue engineering and other biomedical applications
Eco-Friendly, Self-Healing Hydrogels for Adhesive and Elastic Strain Sensors, Circuit Repairing, and Flexible Electronic Devices
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 6153.7 |
| 2023 | 6183.2 |
| 2024 | 6574.9 |
| 2025 | 5315.8 |
Opportunities · 074.8% of this theme group
Magnetorheological fluid (234) · Magnetorheological elastomer (93) · Damper (60) · Elastomer (96)
Research and Applications of MR Elastomers
Combined magnetic and mechanical sensing of magnetorheological elastomers
| Year | Share index |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 53.1 |
| 2023 | 46.8 |
| 2024 | 35.0 |
| 2025 | 44.0 |
Orientation shares compared with 25,000 papers in the reference sample.
| Research orientation | This field | Reference sample |
|---|---|---|
| Breakthrough | 41.4% | 26.6% |
| Promising | 34.9% | 36.9% |
| Descriptive | 16.3% | 17.7% |
| Problem-identifying | 4.2% | 9.5% |
| Comparative | 2.1% | 4.0% |
| Cautionary | 0.9% | 4.4% |
| Critical | 0.2% | 0.9% |
Counts and shares refer to the stated research pool. A low count describes how much of that research is recorded here, not the absence of a real-world concern.
| Concern / example paper | Papers | Share | Raised as a problem | Worldwide share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy & surveillanceMaking Smart Regions Smarter: Smart Specialization and the Role of Universities in Regional Innovation Ecosystems | 7 | 0.08% | 2 (28.6%) | 0.08% |
| Bias & fairnessA simple smart composite using fiber Bragg grating sensors for strain and temperature discrimination | 2 | 0.02% | 0 (0.0%) | 0.02% |
| Energy & datacenter footprintEnergy-Saving Smart Windows with HPC/PAA Hybrid Hydrogels\nas Thermochromic Materials | 1 | 0.01% | 0 (0.0%) | 0.01% |
| Water use | 0 | 0.0% | 0 (%) | 0.0% |
| Carbon & emissions of compute | 0 | 0.0% | 0 (%) | 0.0% |
| Hardware, e-waste & supply chain | 0 | 0.0% | 0 (%) | 0.0% |
| Labour & data work | 0 | 0.0% | 0 (%) | 0.0% |
| Safety & misuse | 0 | 0.0% | 0 (%) | 0.0% |
| Concentration of compute power | 0 | 0.0% | 0 (%) | 0.0% |
Institution and researcher rankings use citations to their covered work. Research scope: worldwide. This may be broader than the company geography.
Company counts, hiring and disclosed funding across the recorded hubs.
24.0% across the displayed hubs
2 companies hiring · $139.3M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Shanghai ↗
14.9% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $28.8M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Shenzhen ↗
11.2% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $962.8M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Guangzhou ↗
10.9% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $23.9M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Hangzhou ↗
10.8% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $7.0M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Suzhou ↗
10.5% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $28.4M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Beijing ↗9.9% across the displayed hubs
1 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore companies in Hong Kong ↗
7.7% across the displayed hubs
1 companies hiring · $25.9M disclosed funding
Explore companies in Nanjing ↗Clear definitions for making better comparisons.
It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.
No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.
A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.
Company ecosystem snapshot: 6 August 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.
Canonical landscape ↗