Embarking on the industrialization journey of biological lighting, the first biological lighting demonstration zone will debut at GILE

On June 9, 2022, the 27th Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) will grandly open at the China Import and Export Fair Complex. At this exhibition, a new face will appear—the Biological Lighting Demonstration Zone.

In which fields is biological lighting, known by industry insiders as the next trend in the lighting industry, mainly applied? With Chinese biological lighting products already holding up to 80% of the global market share, how will they create a trillion-level blue ocean market in the future? And which industry-leading enterprises will showcase their "black technology" at this exhibition?

Xu Dong, President of Shenzhen Facility Agriculture Industry Association

Recently, Xu Dong, President of the Shenzhen Facility Agriculture Industry Association, one of the organizers of the "Biological Lighting Demonstration Zone" at GILE 2022, revealed that a "Biological Lighting Demonstration Zone" covering nearly 900 square meters will be set up in Hall 3.2. This zone will allow exhibiting companies to showcase their products and technologies. Meanwhile, the second "Biological Lighting Series Forum" will be held, inviting more than ten domestic and international experts and scholars to deliver keynote speeches, thereby further promoting industry standards and advancing industry development concepts.

01 Discussion on the Current Status of Biological Lighting Development

"Currently, more than 80% of biological lighting products worldwide are manufactured in China, and our country's innovative products are leading the entire market."

Many people believe that the biological lighting industry is a branch or niche of the lighting industry. In fact, it is a new field of LED application. Biological lighting and lighting together constitute the visual and non-visual application system of semiconductor light-emitting technology, representing different application categories of illumination. Currently, biological lighting is mainly applied in fields such as plant cultivation, poultry and livestock breeding, aquaculture, healthy lighting, and medical beauty.

According to statistics from the Shenzhen Facility Agriculture Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as "Shenzhen Agricultural Association"), the global market size for biological lighting was around US$20 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of over 20% in recent years. Currently, more than 80% of biological lighting products worldwide are manufactured in China, and the companies applying these products are also mainly concentrated in our country, with China's innovative products leading the entire market.

Xu Dong stated that in plant cultivation, China's grow lights currently rank first globally in both innovation and market scale; in poultry and livestock lighting, China also holds advantages in technology and market share; in aquaculture, despite strong competitors such as Japan and South Korea, China's fish-attracting lights still have the highest market share; and in medical and beauty applications, we also possess market and technological advantages, with 90% of medical aesthetic lighting products on the market currently coming from Chinese enterprises.

Thus, it can be seen that innovation capability and manufacturing capability are the main advantages of China's biolighting Industry. However, Xu Dong also frankly pointed out that compared with foreign enterprises, the current technical investment of Chinese biolighting enterprises is relatively low, resulting in a disproportionate speed and scale of development for both enterprises and the entire Industry, and leading to some technological discourse power being controlled by foreign enterprises. Xu Dong stated, "In recent years, we have more clearly recognized the challenges and suppression from the foreign environment, which is precisely the driving force for our continuous investment and development."

Although China's biolighting technology is internationally leading in many fields, Xu Dong believes that products should not be measured solely by the level of technological advancement, but rather by an important indicator of industrialization—"return on investment." "No matter how advanced the technology or how expensive the product, if it cannot bring benefits to customers, it is not viable. After our products are launched into the market, enabling customers to achieve benefits is the ultimate indicator, called 'return on investment.' I believe this is a relatively objective standard for evaluation at present."

02 Discussion on Policy Dividends for Biolighting

"Investing at least 7 trillion yuan over five years to implement the rural revitalization strategy is a very powerful policy guidance. Vertical planting, intensive farming, and photovoltaic agriculture will become the main tracks."

Agriculture is the foundation of our country and the basis for building a strong nation. Xu Dong observed that China's No. 1 Central Document each year focuses on agriculture. Since 2018, the document has gradually shifted towards technological agriculture and smart agriculture in terms of agricultural development and rural construction. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China stated that achieving the goals of the five-year plan for rural revitalization requires an investment of at least 7 trillion yuan. "This is a very powerful policy guidance. I believe that vertical planting, intensive farming, and photovoltaic agriculture will likely become the main tracks in the process of agricultural industrialization," said Xu Dong.

The vigorous development of biological lighting cannot be separated from market support. Xu Dong analyzed that the plant lighting industry has huge room for development. China's facility agriculture area is 55 million mu, accounting for 80% of the global share. If plant lights accelerate their application in facility agriculture, the market size will reach at least 500 billion yuan in the next few years. If photovoltaic agriculture is also taken into account, the market size will reach 500 billion to 1 trillion yuan.

In terms of the animal lighting market, with 700 million pigs, 15 billion poultry, and 97 million cattle per year, this is basically the upper limit of China's livestock production capacity. However, through animal lighting technology, traditional breeding can be transformed into modern breeding, improving the quality of entire animal husbandry, shortening the breeding cycle, improving the feed conversion ratio, and thereby increasing economic benefits.

In addition, there is a niche field in biological lighting, which is Healthy lighting. Currently, it has also received strong market support in industries such as medical treatment, beauty and body care.

"Biological lighting is a blue ocean market. It is a new field for LED technology application. In the future, its total market volume will exceed that of the lighting industry," said Xu Dong.

However, a current bottleneck restricting the development of bio-lighting is energy efficiency, which directly impacts application costs and carbon emission metrics, requiring innovative technologies to address. "Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality are drivers of technological development; by mastering these two aspects, bio-lighting will have great potential."

03 Discussing the Development Prospects of Bio-Lighting

"The ultimate goal of the Industry benchmarks against the big health industry; we must develop the industry with a mindset of carbon neutrality. The future market will be a market at the billion-level scale. "

So, which areas of bio-lighting will create new blue oceans in the future? "In terms of product market volume, the major blue ocean remains plant lights. In terms of technical expression capability and high ground, it is poultry and livestock breeding lights. From the perspective of future health considerations, I believe that antibacterial disinfection and lighting conducive to human health are also main directions."

Xu Dong stated that plant lights have rich practical experience in China and are technologically leading globally, so there is still significant room for improvement in cost-performance ratio. We need to establish a theory called light quantum theory to explain the technical mechanism of poultry and livestock breeding lights, so there is a relatively high level in both standards and technology. Xu Dong calls on industry insiders to pay more attention to the application of photovoltaic agriculture in the future, because photovoltaic agriculture will be a powerful tool to solve energy consumption problems.

"The ultimate goal of this industry aligns with the general health industry; we must develop the industry with a carbon neutrality mindset. The future market will be worth billions. Everyone must clearly position themselves with a five-year horizon in mind."

04 Discussing the Original Intention and Goals of Organizing the Exhibition

"By exhibiting in our Biological Lighting Demonstration Zone, they will become the 'protagonists'! This exhibition will kick off the journey of industrializing biological lighting, holding historical milestone significance."

After years of development, China's biological lighting sector leads globally in both market scale and technological innovation, thanks to the efforts of various enterprises in the field. However, to date, there has been no large-scale professional exhibition for technologies and products, leaving advanced technologies and products from these enterprises without a platform for display. On the other hand, many client companies with order demands struggle to find suitable manufacturing partners.

Xu Dong recalls that in 2021, the Shenzhen Agriculture Association created the first China Biological Lighting Technology Forum at GILE, inviting more than ten experts from across the country in the biological lighting field to deliver keynote reports. It attracted over 200 industry professionals attending in person and more than 800 viewers via live stream. The forum was highly successful and significantly promoted the entire industry. Therefore, this year, the Shenzhen Agriculture Association will not only host the second China Biological Lighting Technology Forum but also pioneer the establishment of a Biological Lighting Demonstration Zone, allowing exhibiting enterprises to showcase their advanced technologies and excellent products.

"Many companies can participate in agricultural exhibitions, but they only play a 'supporting role' in these events. However, by exhibiting at our Bio-Lighting Demonstration Zone, they become the 'protagonists'! This exhibition will kick off the journey of industrializing bio-lighting, marking a historical milestone."

Xu Dong stated that as the industry gradually enters the blue ocean market, many unprofessional or poorly manufactured companies have also joined in, disrupting market order with practices such as false parameter labeling and malicious price undercutting. Therefore, he hopes that this exhibition will highlight the leading enterprises' role in driving industry demonstration effects, eliminate interference from counterfeit products, build a credible market operating environment, and establish a healthy industry ecosystem.

It is understood that in the past two years, the Shenzhen Agricultural Association has focused on building the association into an industry technology platform, issuing seven relevant standards successively, each of which has been rated as an excellent standard by relevant Shenzhen departments every year. Moreover, by establishing technical nodes with research institutes, the Shenzhen Agricultural Association provides multi-level technical radiation to enterprises, using technology to drive industrial development.

Regarding this exhibition, Xu Dong has high hopes. He stated, "We hope to serve public food safety and health efficiently and precisely by showcasing the application of bio-lighting technology in agriculture. This is our ultimate goal."

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Shenzhen Agricultural Association sincerely invites bioluminescence lighting companies

Attend the 2022 GILE (Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition)