2020 Urban Lighting Industry Analysis: Significant Growth in Street Light Quantity

Industry / Supply chain structure

Urban lighting refers to the illumination and decoration of the urban environment at night, using lighting equipment composed of light sources, luminaires, etc. Urban lighting includes the illumination of all objects visible in outdoor urban spaces. For example, the illumination and lighting decoration of landscape elements such as urban roads and bridges, squares, buildings (structures), sculptures, commercial districts, parks and green spaces, and scenic spots and historical sites, forming a lighting environment created by the combination of lighting carriers, light sources, and luminaires, along with the application of lighting control methods.

Urban Lighting Industry Supply Chain

Source: Compiled by Zhiyan Consulting

Upstream Industry Analysis

Upstream market participants in the urban lighting industry mainly provide raw materials and components required for the production of urban lighting products, including steel, aluminum alloys, epitaxial wafers, LED chips, controller chips, substrates, etc.; the development of the raw material industry has laid a solid foundation for the advancement of the urban lighting industry. In the first three quarters of 2021, China's steel output was 1.02 billion tons, and in 2020, the output value of China's LED industry was RMB 701.3 billion.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, CSA, Zhiyan Consulting

Midstream Industry Analysis

(1) Market Installation Status

Over the past decade, China's urbanization process has accelerated significantly, with increasing demands for lighting environments across various urban industries year by year, leading to rapid development in China's urban lighting industry. According to data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development: the number of road lighting fixtures in Chinese cities increased from 21.995 million in 2013 to 30.486 million in 2020, and the length of roads equipped with street lights reached 386,000 kilometers in 2020.

Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Zhiyan Consulting

Based on the distribution of road lighting fixtures in China, in 2020, Jiangsu Province and Guangdong had over 3 million road lighting fixtures each, with 3.663 million and 3.575 million respectively; Shandong Province ranked third with 2.119 million fixtures; additionally, six provinces—Zhejiang, Sichuan, Liaoning, Anhui, Hebei, and Henan—each had over 1 million road lighting fixtures.

Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Zhiyan Consulting

In 2020, the total length of roads with street lights installed in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong exceeded 30,000 kilometers. Among them, Guangdong ranked first nationwide with a road length of 49,661.98 kilometers equipped with street lights, a decrease of 103.75 kilometers from the previous year; Jiangsu had a road length of 39,464.4 kilometers with street lights installed, an increase of 19.57 kilometers from the previous year; Shandong ranked third with a road length of 39,443.27 kilometers equipped with street lights, an increase of 2,917.93 kilometers from the previous year.

Length of roads with street lights installed in China (2019–2020) (km)

Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Zhiyan Consulting

(2) Bidding Situation

The main procurement methods adopted by the national urban lighting engineering industry are open tendering, competitive consultation, and request for quotation, with open tendering and competitive consultation being the primary methods. Large-value projects tend to use open tendering. In 2021, the number of urban lighting engineering projects nationwide was approximately twice the number of winning bidders, and projects using single-source procurement were rare, indicating fierce competition in the industry. As a result, few purchasers maintain long-term cooperation with a single supplier.

Key Public Tender Projects in China's Urban Lighting Industry in 2021

Source: Compiled by Zhiyan Consulting

Downstream Industry Analysis

(1) Municipal Engineering

Urban road construction has a direct impact on the demand for urban lighting products, mainly reflected in two indicators: the length and area of urban road construction. According to data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development: China's road length and area continue to grow, with the road area reaching 9.698 billion square meters and the road length reaching 492,700 kilometers in 2020.

Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Zhiyan Consulting

(2) Real Estate

Amid tighter national policies, the growth pace of China's real estate industry has slowed, yet it continues to achieve steady annual growth, indicating significant development potential in the Chinese real estate market. The stable and healthy development of the real estate sector will drive market demand for lighting projects. In the first half of 2021, China's real estate development investment reached RMB 7.22 trillion, and the newly started floor area by real estate development enterprises amounted to 1.013 billion square meters.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, Zhiyan Consulting

● The above data and information can be referenced from the "2022-2028 China Urban Nightscape Lighting Industry Market Panorama Assessment and Development Prospect Outlook Report" published by Zhiyan Consulting (www.chyxx.com).