Is China's Printed Circuit Industry Strong?

Is China's Printed Circuit Industry Strong Globally? What is the world status of China's printed circuit industry? It is generally regarded as "big but not strong", which is the keynote of the evaluation of China's printed circuit industry for many years.
Why is it "big but not strong"?
Compared with the global total output of printed circuit boards (PCB), China's PCB production scale and production volume are the first in the world, and the "big" of China's PCB industry is obvious. Since the 1990s, a large number of foreign-funded and Hong Kong-Taiwan-funded PCB manufacturers have entered the mainland to set up factories. At the same time, many PCB factories have been built and expanded in the mainland. At that stage, the annual growth rate of PCB production in China has exceeded 20%. By 2006, the output of PCB in mainland China surpassed that in Japan and became the first in the world.
Since then, China's PCB output has remained the world's first every year, and its share of the world's total PCB output has also increased year by year, less than 30% in 2006 and 45% in 2014. From the perspective of development trend, it is estimated that China's PCB output will account for 50% of the world total by 2020, and the world's first position can not be shaken! The "big" content of China's PCB industry is not only the production volume, but also the number of manufacturing enterprises and employees. These aspects are more than 50% of the world's total, and need to be carefully estimated.
"Big" can be measured by physical scale, and huge things can be clearly seen. "Strong" is more reflected in the internal quality, from strong bones and muscles, strong to strong spirit, is not easy to recognize. China's PCB industry is "not strong", so where is "not strong"? How is "strong"? For many years, there has been no real and systematic elaboration.

Generally speaking, China's PCB products are in the middle and low end, with low production technology and low production efficiency. The main raw materials and production equipment depend on imports from abroad, causing serious pollution and environmental damage. This was said more than a decade ago, and still holds this view ten years later, then the development of China's PCB industry in more than a decade is not just the appearance of fat. In fact, China's PCB industry is growing bigger and stronger at the same time. Now we need to analyze and summarize the degree of "strong" or "weak".
The "strong" or "not strong" of PCB industry should be embodied in specific aspects.

The type of PCB products first manufactured by "strong" or "weak" and the level of specifications reached can be reflected. As far as the production of single-sided and double-sided PCB products is concerned, the product complexity is low, but there are also strong and weak points. If it also has fine lines or conductive paste printing through holes and lines, it is not simply considered "not strong". Currently popular HDI boards are complex PCB products, but the structure of HDI boards is very different. It is necessary to subdivide their hierarchical structure and the fineness of lines and holes. For example, the factories that produce only 1+4+1 HDI boards and 10 interconnected HDI boards with arbitrary layers should not be considered as the same level because they are all HDI boards factories.
Secondly, "strong" or "weak" from PCB manufacturing technology, including production processes and equipment can be embodied. Although the type of PCB products manufactured and the level of specifications reached can reflect certain conditions of production technology and equipment, they are not absolute. Similar products can be manufactured with different processes and equipment. For example, fine line graphics can be produced by thin copper etching (subtraction) or semi-addition method; dry film photoimaging process can be made by semi-automatic coating machine and semi-automatic exposure machine, or by automatic coating machine and full-automatic exposure machine. The production efficiency, product qualification rate, production cost and cleaner production level will be affected by different production processes and equipment conditions.

The "strong" or "weak" of the industry is also reflected in the integrity of the industrial chain. One of the key points of the industrial chain is the supply of raw materials. The source of raw materials is domestic self-sufficiency or depends on foreign imports. The distribution of different types and grades of raw materials should be distinguished. There are many kinds of raw materials for PCB, including main materials such as base plate, copper foil, solder resist ink, and auxiliary materials such as dry film, chemical potions, and various materials have different specifications. The second key point of the industrial chain is the supply of special equipment and equipment, whether it can be matched at home or depend on foreign imports. There are many kinds of special equipment for PCB production, including mechanical, electronic, optical and chemical equipment. There are also differences in functions and automation.
The "strong" or "weak" of the industry is also reflected in the ability of sustainable development. For sustainable development, China's PCB industry must adapt to market changes, develop new technologies and products to meet the needs of the new generation of electronic equipment. It depends on how much investment in R&D and innovation, and how much intellectual property rights it possesses. For the sustainable development of China's PCB industry, it is necessary to strengthen the modern management of enterprises. The management level reflects the benefits of enterprises and is an important aspect of enterprise competition. For the sustainable development of China's PCB industry, the advantage of human resources must be maintained. Under the trend of population dividend reduction, it is extremely important to train a new generation of PCB industry talents. For the sustainable development of China's PCB industry, we must do a good job in cleaner production and implement energy saving, consumption reduction and environmental protection. Nowadays, traditional industrial manufacturing is transforming into new intelligent manufacturing and industrial 4.0. PCB manufacturing is no exception. How is China's PCB industry transforming and upgrading?

"Strong" or "not strong" are comparatively speaking, and incomparable comparison is not conclusive. The "strong" or "not strong" of China's PCB industry is, of course, compared with the international level. Therefore, before arriving at the conclusion of "strong" or "weak", we should understand the international level and the situation of foreign counterparts.