Source: Laserfair.com  15th Jan 2026

On January 11, 2026, the Greater Bay Area AI + Laser Welding Industry Summit, co-hosted by the Guangdong Laser Industry Association, the Shenzhen Laser Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Association and Han's Photonics, was grandly held at the Hyatt Regency Shenzhen Airport.

As the first high-standard grand event in the laser field of the Greater Bay Area at the start of 2026, the summit gathered academic authorities, industrial leaders and terminal application experts. With AI Empowerment + Core Breakthroughs as its core theme, it conducted in-depth discussions around four key topics: AI-integrated intelligent welding, breaking industry involution, overseas layout strategies, and core device innovation and scenario fission, laying out a new blueprint for the high-quality development of the laser welding industry.

This summit focused on the key propositions of intelligent upgrading and global expansion in the laser welding industry, drawing the participation of players across the entire industrial chain spanning core device R&D to terminal applications. Top industry guests including Academician Fan Dianyuan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Li Gaoyang (Executive Director of the Guangdong Association for Quality), Zhu Dengchuan (General Manager of Han's Photonics), Zhang Ruihua (Dean of the Yangjiang Hardware Knife and Scissors Industry Technology Research Institute), Liu Zhixin (Deputy General Manager of TCL Air Conditioner (Zhongshan) Manufacturing Center), and Wang Zhenmin (Professor of South China University of Technology and Director of the Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent Welding Equipment and Robots) gathered at the roundtable forum. They jointly explored the core pain points and future development directions of the industry, aiming to build a complete logical closed loop from "light source" to "application" and boost the intelligent upgrading of China's manufacturing industry.

01

AI Empowered in Depth: Unlocking the Core Logic of Laser Welding Intelligence

Academician Fan Dianyuan, Chinese Academy of Engineering

In the discussion on the topic of in-depth AI integration and intelligent welding, Academician Fan opened his speech by pointing out that intelligence is the core path for the laser industry to break free from low-price competition and involution. He emphasized the essential difference between intelligence and automation — intelligence requires the ability to make independent judgments, provide feedback and conduct adjustments in response to dynamic changes during the welding process. Taking the evolution of AlphaGo as an example, he proposed that laser welding equipment should achieve reinforced self-learning through rule-based learning, and the realization of this goal must rely on training with authentic and reliable big data.

From the perspective of academic research, Professor Wang Zhenmin of South China University of Technology pointed out that AI-enabled laser welding needs to lay two solid foundations: first, conduct in-depth research on the process mechanism of weld formation and grasp its inherent laws; second, establish a multi-dimensional information perception system that integrates multi-dimensional data such as visual and spectral data to provide support for subsequent process optimization.

02

Dual Drive of Equipment and Light Sources, Technology Commercialization Forges a Non-Involution Industry Track

Zhu Dengchuan, General Manager of Han's Photonics

As a representative of the laser equipment manufacturing and light source sector, Zhu Dengchuan, General Manager of Han's Photonics, combined his more than 20 years of industry experience to interpret the development logic of AI + laser welding from the dual dimensions of equipment and light sources. He stated that Han's Laser has evolved from the early pioneering stage that laid the foundation for domestic industrial laser welding to the current integration of AI technology to achieve full-process intelligent monitoring before, during and after welding. The core goal of this evolution is to meet customers' high requirements for welding timeliness, accuracy and weld quality. In the future, the company will continue to provide high-brightness, high-efficiency and energy-saving light sources and intelligent equipment to empower the laser welding industry.

Zhang Ruihua, Dean of the Yangjiang Hardware Knife and Scissors Industry Technology Research Institute

Zhang Ruihua, Dean of the Yangjiang Hardware Knife and Scissors Industry Technology Research Institute, shared practical experience in technology commercialization. He mentioned that due to the diverse product categories and rapid iteration of the Yangjiang knife and scissors industry, the sector is actively introducing AI technology to achieve rapid process adaptation. At the same time, the industry aims to expand laser technology to high-end fields such as offshore wind power and aerospace, forge a non-involution industry track through technological innovation, and even rewrite industry standards.

03

From Intelligent Manufacturing to Quality Control, a Demand-Oriented Approach Anchors the Upgrading Direction

Demand and feedback from the terminal application side emerged as a key focus of this forum. Liu Zhixin, Deputy General Manager of TCL Air Conditioner (Zhongshan) Manufacturing Center, drawing on his experience with the large-scale application of AI in air conditioner manufacturing, proposed that AI agents need to establish four core links: comprehensive perception, reliable transmission, efficient analysis and intelligent decision-making, and emphasized the importance of perceptual dimension elevation and decision-making closed loop. Taking the sleep monitoring and intelligent temperature adjustment functions of AI-enabled air conditioners as examples, he illustrated the pivotal role of data accumulation and continuous iteration in the commercialization of AI technology, providing a terminal application perspective for the intelligent upgrading of laser welding.

Li Gaoyang, Executive Director of the Guangdong Association for Quality

Li Gaoyang, Executive Director of the Guangdong Association for Quality, approached the topic from the perspective of quality control. He shared the remarkable results of laser technology in reducing workers' labor intensity and improving processing precision, and also revealed that the association is collaborating with universities to develop intelligent weld inspection technology, aiming to enhance the stability of weld quality through real-time monitoring and feedback.

04

Abandon Price Wars & Strengthen Global Expansion Foundations: Jointly Addressing Industry Involution and Overseas Market Challenges

Regarding the industry-wide concerns of involution and global expansion, the guests reached a consensus: to break the deadlock of involution, the industry must abandon price wars and shift toward value competition and technological innovation; for global expansion, it is essential to consolidate quality foundations, seize standard-setting power, and build an industrial ecosystem.

Academician Fan cited data indicating that while China has the world's largest number of laser enterprises, their revenue share remains relatively low. The core gap lies in product quality and long-term stability. He called on the industry to overcome international market prejudices against "Made in China" through quality improvement.

Liu Zhixin, Deputy General Manager of TCL Air Conditioner (Zhongshan) Manufacturing Center

Liu Zhixin supplemented that global expansion requires not only compliance with international standards but also the development of customized products tailored to different market demands. Meanwhile, he emphasized driving supporting enterprises to go global as a cohesive group and establishing a collaborative ecosystem. General Manager Zhu Dengchuan shared Han's Laser's global expansion strategy: by exporting standard components and building a comprehensive after-sales and service system, the company has gradually enhanced the competitiveness of Chinese laser brands in the international market.

05

Core Device Innovation + Scenario Fission: Forging New Tracks for Diversified Applications

In the discussion on core device innovation and scenario fission, the guests looked ahead to the broad prospects of diversified applications for laser welding.

Dean Zhang Ruihua noted that with the advancement of laser performance, laser welding has been able to tackle the welding challenges of hard-to-weld materials including thick copper plates, thin copper foils and aluminum alloys, and is expected to achieve more breakthroughs in fields such as new energy and aerospace in the future.

Wang Zhenmin, Professor of South China University of Technology & Director of the Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent Welding Equipment and Robots

Professor Wang Zhenmin revealed that manufacturing in extreme environments (such as welding in space, underwater and nuclear radiation settings) will become a key focus of the 15th Five-Year Plan, providing clear R&D guidance for equipment manufacturing enterprises.

06

Whole Industrial Chain Synergy: Forging a New Ecosystem for Intelligent Laser Welding

The entire forum built a complete ideological closed loop spanning technological breakthroughs, industrial commercialization and global expansion. Through the ideological collisions and in-depth exchanges of industry leaders, it unlocked new opportunities for laser technology, drove industrial transformation and upgrading, and empowered the future of intelligent manufacturing.

At the summit, General Manager Zhu Dengchuan of Han's Photonics, the co-organizer of the event, systematically elaborated on the new development paradigm for the laser industry toward the 15th Five-Year Plan from a strategic and holistic perspective. He pointed out that the industry needs to adopt a four-in-one strategy of intelligent upgrading, synergetic breakthrough, global layout and cutting-edge exploration to jointly forge core competitiveness for the future: forging the core of data-driven intelligent productive forces through AI integration; breaking industry involution through industrial chain synergy and creating a win-win symphony for green manufacturing; taking technological self-reliance as the foundation to upgrade China’s laser industry from "equipment export" to the global output of "technology, standards and ecosystems"; and ultimately, relying on the dual drive of core device breakthroughs and application scenario fission, continuing to expand industrial boundaries and letting the unlimited potential of laser welding illuminate the broad journey from precision manufacturing to future technologies.

In his concluding remarks, Academician Fan stated that AI-enabled laser welding requires joint efforts across the entire industrial chain to improve the inspection system, strengthen data training, optimize the integration of algorithms and hardware, and build a complete intelligent industrial chain.

This grand event reached a clear industry consensus: core devices are the foundation that determines the height of industrial development; application scenarios are the catalysts that drive the boundaries of innovation. The flywheel effect formed by their synergy is the core driving force for the sustainable development of the industry. In the value chain of intelligent manufacturing, fiber lasers, the power core, are evolving in importance from a "key component" to a strategic cornerstone.

The roundtable forum was moderated by Dr. Yu Zhenhua, Deputy General Manager of Han's Photonics

The successful holding of this Greater Bay Area AI + Laser Welding Industry Summit has built an efficient communication and cooperation platform for the industry and united the development consensus of the entire industrial chain. Going forward, the industry will take innovation as the guide, synergy as the link and a global vision as the perspective to continue advancing the intelligent upgrading of the laser welding industry, unlock more application scenarios and drive the industry toward faster and healthier development.