First, let’s understand what new materials are.

The core characteristics of new materials can be summarized into three categories:

1. Function-oriented: Developed for specific purposes, such as electrical conductivity and luminescence.

2. Exceptional performance: Their functional properties far surpass those of traditional materials. For instance, graphene exhibits ultra-high thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties.

3. Cutting-edge applications: Developed for fields including aerospace, biomedicine, and information technology, while also serving as the core driver for the development of these sectors.

What Are the Favorable Policies for New Materials?

China has released the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Raw Materials Industry, which identifies key materials such as graphene and polyurethane materials as priorities for research and development. The plan aims to drive technological innovation and industrial upgrading in the new materials sector, while optimizing industrial layout and promoting regionally differentiated development.

Local governments have further refined implementation plans based on their respective regional resource advantages and economic conditions. Shanghai offers a maximum support of 200 million yuan, backing the "base + fund" linkage model to facilitate industrial incubation and transformation. Shenzhen has built testing and verification platform projects for new materials enterprises, providing services such as material R&D, verification, and improvement. For these projects, the city grants enterprises a subsidy of up to 500 million yuan, equivalent to 30% of the project’s verified total investment.

Why Promote the Development of New Materials?

Demand for new materials from downstream industries has been rising year by year.

• In the automotive industry, new energy vehicles (NEVs) are the main direction of industrial upgrading. At the national level, preferential policies for NEV purchasing tax have been introduced; the surge in NEV adoption has increased demand for battery materials and thermally conductive materials.

• The development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the AI computing power revolution have driven the iteration of high thermal conductivity interface materials and semiconductor packaging materials. The AI industry covers multiple key links, each with distinct heat dissipation requirements for chips.

• With technological advancements, consumer electronics such as mobile phones, computers, and smartwatches have become indispensable in daily life. Lithium batteries and insulating thermal conductive materials are also essential components in consumer electronics.