How can the lighting industry break through under the new situation? Industry leaders share their insights

On March 20, 2026, the "Path to Breakthrough for the Lighting Industry under the New Situation" Lighting Enterprise Private Board Meeting, jointly hosted by China Light Net, Jianzhong Zhiye, and the Ningbo International Lighting Exhibition Organizing Committee, and guided by the Zhongshan Semiconductor Lighting Industry Association, was successfully held at Guangdong Juhao Lighting Electric Co., Ltd. Industry experts and corporate representatives gathered in Zhongshan to conduct in-depth discussions on core topics such as the current state of the industry, market trends, corporate survival, digital empowerment, and cross-border expansion, jointly exploring the survival rules and future development paths for lighting enterprises in a complex and volatile market environment.

At the beginning of the event, Ms. Tu Qiaoling, Secretary-General of the Zhongshan Semiconductor Lighting Industry Association, delivered the opening remarks. She stated that Zhongshan, as an important cluster area for China's lighting industry, is currently undergoing a profound structural adjustment and a critical stage of transformation and upgrading along with the national industry. Facing multiple challenges such as changes in market demand, accelerated technological iteration, low-price involution, channel transformation, and intensified international competition, enterprises generally feel the pressure of growth and the pains of transformation. However, opportunities are also hidden within challenges, and the lighting industry is ushering in a new round of value reshaping. She emphasized that in this context, enterprises should develop together and innovate collaboratively. This Private Board Meeting came at just the right time, providing a high-end platform for intellectual exchange and resource docking for local enterprises. She hoped that the participating enterprise representatives would cherish the opportunity, engage in in-depth exchanges, think actively, and translate forward-looking industry insights and practical strategic tactics into concrete actions for their own corporate development.

In the theme sharing session, Hong Bing, Editor-in-Chief of China Light Net and Executive Dean of Ming Classroom, first presented an in-depth analysis of "The Survival Strategy for Lighting Enterprises in a Sluggish Market". Based on detailed data, he analyzed the current pressure on sales and export volumes in the lighting industry, and pointed out the industry characteristics of obvious structural changes and the urgent need to release new growth points. Facing challenges, Hong Bing believes that enterprises must accurately grasp the two major directions of "policy drive" and "changes in the consumer market". He focused on interpreting the "Two New" policies (large-scale equipment updates and consumer goods trade-ins) and the stock activation and incremental markets brought by "urban renewal", emphasizing the need to increase investment in healthy lighting (such as circadian lighting based on non-visual effects, light therapy), application of digital tools (such as light environment detection, professional design platforms), and green zero-carbon technologies (such as photovoltaic complementary systems, intelligent control), building core competitiveness through continuous learning and standard improvement.

Subsequently, Hou Dingwen, a strategic effectiveness operations expert and founder of Jianzhong Zhiye & DRD Design Research Institute, delivered a keynote speech titled "AI + Traffic Strategy". Ms. Hou pointed out that the lighting industry has entered the 4.0 era of "selling AI and providing AI-seamless smart lighting solutions", where competition in the stock market era is essentially about user value and efficiency. Enterprises need to proactively transform by leveraging AI tools to reconstruct the entire chain of R&D, marketing, and (Sales) channels. They should adopt IP-oriented, scenario-based, and omni-channel strategies to solve customer acquisition challenges, emphasizing that in the AI era, traffic is the foundation of customer acquisition. By achieving precise traffic operations, product suite standardization, and organizational digitalization, companies can leap from selling single products to selling Solutions, replacing price wars with value wars to navigate industry cycles.

Huo Jianming, Supervisor of the Foshan Association for Promotion of Foreign Digital Trade Industry, shared practical insights on "The Light of Digital Intelligence, Illuminating Premium Products Going Global". He defined going global as a "top-leader project" targeting the overseas market of 6.6 billion people. Enterprises should adopt differentiated strategies for developed and developing countries, advancing through five stages: simple Export — premium Export — brand operation — multi-country localization — multinational enterprise. By carefully selecting supply chains, deepening localization, leveraging digital intelligence tools and designer (Sales) channels, companies can achieve transformation from OEM to independent brands, and from low-price volume sales to premium pricing for quality products, steadily expanding into the global market. He emphasized that the key to successful globalization lies in recalibrating mindset, and using digital intelligence tools for localized image building, content dissemination, and mechanism construction.

This private board meeting focused on keywords such as survival, innovation, growth, AI, digital, and going global, providing lighting enterprises with actionable strategic ideas and practical methods. In the future, China Lighting Network and Jianzhong Zhiye will continue to build industry exchange platforms to help enterprises seize policy and technological dividends. Meanwhile, as one of the co-organizers of this event, the Ningbo International Lighting Exhibition will serve as an important Industry docking window, gathering high-quality resources, showcasing cutting-edge technologies, and providing strong support for lighting enterprises to expand markets, connect with (Sales) channels, and upgrade brands, jointly promoting the high-quality development of China's lighting Industry and moving towards the mid-to-high end of the global value chain.