Source: Laser Manufacture News  17^th Jun 2026

Laser technology is the industrial cornerstone of high-end precision manufacturing, while additive manufacturing represents the future direction of intelligent manufacturing upgrades. The two technologies share common origins and complement each other, together forming the core foundation for the localization of China’s high-end equipment. As domestic manufacturing accelerates its shift toward high-end, intelligent and green development, Shenzhen Collaborative Innovation High-Tech Co., Ltd. (XTRI-tech) has built on its deep roots in the laser industry and expanded into multi-material industrial-grade additive manufacturing, achieving mutual empowerment and coordinated breakthroughs across two hardcore technology tracks.

Yao Caihong has spent decades in laser precision manufacturing. Embarking on a second venture rooted in the industry, she has focused on lasers and additive manufacturing, developing a rare multi-material, full-chain, scalable proprietary technology platform across the three mainstream industrial-grade AM systems: continuous fiber composites, metals, and ceramics. This platform has steadily broken foreign technological monopolies—strengthening the manufacturing foundation with laser expertise and reshaping the industry landscape with additive innovation, helping China’s intelligent manufacturing move from “following” to “running alongside and leading.”

Yao Caihong knows well that for additive manufacturing to truly replace traditional manufacturing beyond laboratories and research institutions, the key is to bridge the “last mile” of engineering application. Driven by the original goal of breaking overseas technology monopolies and reinforcing China’s high-end manufacturing base, she has led XTRI-tech to build core competitive advantages through hardcore industrial technology, guided by market demand for mass production, and steadily establish Chinese enterprises’ core strengths in global AM competition.

Yao Caihong

Founder, Guangdong Additive Manufacturing Equipment Innovation Center

Founder and Chairwoman, Shenzhen Collaborative Innovation High-Tech Co., Ltd. (XTRI-tech)

Co-founder, Shenzhen Sunshine Laser & Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. (300227)

Laser Manufacture News: You have been deeply involved in intelligent manufacturing for many years, starting with the founding of Sunshine Laser and later launching XTRI-tech to focus on additive manufacturing. Laser and additive manufacturing technologies share the same roots — what was the turning point that convinced you to commit to this dual-track innovation path?

Yao Caihong: Back in the 1990s, while working at a Singapore-invested foreign enterprise, I personally witnessed how China's laser industry was constrained by overseas technology. At the time, core equipment and key processes for laser stencil production were entirely dependent on imports. Equipment deliveries were often delayed and delivery schedules were uncontrollable — it was common for the whole company to work through the night waiting for production to start after equipment finally arrived. The initiative in industry development was firmly in the hands of foreign companies. It was this firsthand experience that drove us, from the very beginning of Sunshine Laser, to set independent R&D and technological self-reliance as our core goal, and to strive to become a leader in the localization of laser precision manufacturing processing and services.

After more than a decade in the laser industry, we continued to track the iteration of cutting-edge technologies and keenly observed that the industrial additive manufacturing sector closely resembled the early days of the laser industry — high-end equipment, core materials, and forming processes were long monopolized by overseas giants. Since laser and additive manufacturing technologies share the same roots and similar processes, and drawing on years of industry experience, our team conducted in-depth research on the technological landscape at home and abroad, and visited benchmark companies in multiple countries. We became increasingly clear that laser and additive manufacturing represent the core engine of future manufacturing upgrades and a key track for China's high-end manufacturing to achieve a leapfrog breakthrough.

To prevent the domestic industry from falling back into the old path of technological dependence while seizing the strategic window for domestic substitution, I resolutely chose to start a second venture and founded XTRI-tech, anchoring in the industrial-grade additive manufacturing track, adhering to full-chain independent R&D, and using concrete technological breakthroughs to consolidate the foundation of China's additive manufacturing industry.

Laser Manufacture News: Building on its accumulated laser industry expertise, what core competitive advantages has XTRI-tech developed in multi-material additive manufacturing? Which key sectors does it primarily serve?

Yao Caihong: XTRI-tech's core competitiveness is concentrated in three dimensions: a multi-material system portfolio, full-chain self-reliance, and deep alignment with industrial mass production. The company is one of the few in China to have achieved industrial-scale commercialization of the three mainstream industrial additive manufacturing technologies — continuous fiber composites, metals, and ceramics — simultaneously.

1. Continuous fiber composite 3D printing: a domestic first, leading lightweight applications

The company is the first in China to achieve engineering-scale additive manufacturing of continuous fiber composites, and has completed the first space-based 3D printing verification experiments both domestically and internationally, filling a gap in industrialization in this field. It has established a comprehensive patent portfolio and the capability to set industry standards, and its related technologies have been selected for the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the China Association for Science and Technology's lists of "Top Ten Frontier Technologies" and "Pioneering Technologies." Leveraging the advantages of high strength and light weight, its products are widely used in aerospace, the low-altitude economy, embodied intelligence, and other fields, providing localized solutions for high-end structural components.

2. metal 3D printing: stable mass production for a full spectrum of industrial needs

Since 2019, the company has pioneered core technologies in metal additive manufacturing. By optimizing the gas flow field structure and creating a unique vortex-free forming design, it is compatible with a full range of industrial metal materials, ensuring consistency and stability in batch printing. It has built a complete equipment matrix covering formats from conventional sizes to meter-scale large dimensions, balancing site adaptability, forming efficiency, and product reliability. Its overall mass production capability ranks among the industry's best, fully meeting the batch manufacturing needs of aerospace, high-end equipment, and other sectors.

3. Ceramic 3D printing: overcoming pain points and breaking overseas technology monopolies

Targeting common industry challenges such as cracking during forming and insufficient precision in ceramic additive manufacturing, the company has completed core process breakthroughs and can mass-produce complex precision ceramic components. This effectively addresses material pain points in high-temperature working conditions, precision sensing, and other scenarios, with wide applications in electronic information, high-temperature industries, and petrochemicals, helping downstream enterprises reduce dependence on imported components.

At present, the company's core customers are concentrated in aerospace, automotive electronics, petrochemicals, low-altitude flight, embodied intelligence, and other industries of national strategic importance. XTRI-tech provides customers with one-stop additive manufacturing solutions integrating materials, equipment, processes, and software.

Laser Manufacture News: In serving national strategic industrial scenarios, how does XTRI-tech leverage its integrated strengths in laser and additive manufacturing to build a differentiated market expansion strategy?

Yao Caihong: Our market expansion has always followed the core logic of strategic anchoring, technology-driven development, ecosystem synergy, and long-term cultivation. We do not chase short-term traffic; we focus on building an industrial-grade market presence with sustainable competitiveness.

First, we focus on strategic tracks and create benchmark demonstration effects. We prioritize positioning in key sectors such as aerospace, the low-altitude economy, petrochemicals, and embodied intelligence, deeply engaging with leading enterprises and research institutions. By combining our proprietary technologies with the demand for domestic substitution, we land benchmark projects that validate our technical strength and build industry trust. These benchmark cases then radiate across the entire industry, creating a large-scale demonstration effect.

Second, we move away from a single equipment sales model and promote integrated solutions. We insist on working with customers on joint process iteration and application development. Drawing on our accumulated laser process expertise, we customize solutions targeting the mass production pain points of different industries. In areas such as automotive lightweighting, aerospace structural components, and intelligent equipment, we build long-term and stable strategic partnerships through deep technical binding, upgrading ourselves from equipment suppliers to technology co-creation partners.

Third, we deepen industry-academia-research collaboration and jointly build an industrial innovation ecosystem. Leveraging the platforms of the Guangdong Provincial and Shenzhen Municipal Additive Manufacturing Innovation Centers, we work with top universities such as Xi'an Jiaotong University and with upstream and downstream enterprises across the industrial chain. This connects the entire chain of technology R&D, pilot-scale conversion, and batch application. We also actively participate in key national projects and the formulation of industry standards, strengthening market competitiveness through ecosystem synergy and achieving steady expansion.

Laser Manufacture News: Could you share typical examples of how multi-material additive manufacturing solves the industrialization pain points of high-end manufacturing?

Yao Caihong: The core pain points in the industry today are concentrated in three areas: complex structures that cannot be made, high-strength parts that cannot be made well, and delivery cycles that cannot be made fast enough. Relying on the synergistic advantages of our three major material systems and our laser process experience, we are addressing the industrialization bottlenecks in various fields in a targeted manner.

In aerospace, multi-material composite applications deliver dual upgrades in performance and efficiency. Continuous fiber composites are used for satellite brackets and rocket structural components, achieving weight reduction of more than 30% while simultaneously improving structural strength, effectively lowering launch costs. metal 3D printing is used for core thermal components in engines, capable of withstanding extreme working conditions and ensuring the operational reliability of deep-space exploration equipment. Ceramic components solve the challenges of high-temperature insulation and precision sensing. Overall R&D and delivery cycles can be shortened by more than 50%.

In embodied intelligence, we have overcome the bottleneck of lightweight integrated forming. Traditional robot frames and joints rely on assembling multiple parts, which limits precision and load capacity. By adopting an integrated forming process using continuous fiber composites, the finished product weight is reduced by 50% compared with metal parts, while strength approaches that of metal. This significantly enhances robot load capacity and motion flexibility, providing critical support for the industrialization of intelligent equipment.

Overall, we rely on full-chain independent development and innovation spanning materials, equipment, processes, and software to directly address mass production pain points and continuously advance the localization of high-end equipment.

Laser Manufacture News: Under the dual-track layout of laser and additive manufacturing, what achievements has XTRI-tech made in building an industry-academia-research-capital ecosystem?

Yao Caihong: XTRI-tech has always regarded the deep integration of "industry, academia, research, application, and capital" as its core development path. As the core operating entity of the Guangdong Provincial and Shenzhen Municipal Additive Manufacturing Innovation Centers, and leveraging the provincial academician workstation platform, the company has continuously undertaken key provincial and municipal research tasks under the guidance of expert teams including Academician Wang Liheng.

At the level of technical collaboration, we have worked with universities and research institutes to jointly build industrial research institutes and joint laboratories, carrying out targeted research on frontier topics such as multi-material forming and space manufacturing. At the industrial chain level, we have joined forces with upstream and downstream enterprises to accelerate technology implementation. Together with Ningbo Zhongyuan Advanced Materials, we have built a copper-based additive manufacturing materials and equipment system. With Haijiang Group, we have jointly developed rescue, unmanned equipment, and deep-sea detection and repair systems for petrochemical and other sectors, opening up the transformation channel from technology to application.

The completion of the A+ round of financing is a recognition by the capital market of the company's technology roadmap, intellectual property reserves, and industrialization capabilities. It also provides solid capital support for subsequent technology iteration, capacity expansion, and ecosystem development, helping us continue to tackle hardcore technologies and accelerate the large-scale promotion of localized technologies.

Laser Manufacture News: Looking ahead, how will XTRI-tech carry forward its laser genes to achieve higher-quality development in the additive manufacturing track?

Yao Caihong: In the future, the company will focus on three core directions: deepening technological breakthroughs, expanding application scenarios, and aggregating industrial ecosystems, with the goal of becoming a global benchmark enterprise in industrial-grade multi-material additive manufacturing.

First, we will deepen our presence in high-end manufacturing for aerospace, deep space, deep sea, and other strategic domains, tackling technologies for integrated lightweight structures and functional-structural integration to support the performance upgrade of national high-end equipment.

Second, we will deploy AI-enabled additive manufacturing, promoting the intelligent integration of materials, structures, and processes, and achieving automated and intelligent upgrading of equipment.

Third, we will make forward-looking arrangements for in-orbit manufacturing in space, overcoming core technologies such as in-situ forming of composite materials and resource utilization, and seizing the strategic high ground in frontier tracks.

Throughout this development process, the company will continue to strengthen the recruitment and cultivation of high-end talent, full-process quality control, and industry brand building. We will adhere to using technology to define application scenarios and reshaping the industrial landscape through ecosystems, anchoring national strategies, deepening hardcore technologies, and participating confidently in global industrial competition.

Laser Manufacture News: How do you see the synergistic development trend between laser technology iteration and the additive manufacturing industry over the next three to five years? What opportunities and challenges will the industry face?

Yao Caihong: Over the next three to five years, with the continued empowerment of laser technology, China's additive manufacturing will enter a critical stage of accelerating technology iteration, full application penetration, and industry consolidation. Overall, three major development trends will emerge:

First, at the technical level, the industry will shift from single lightweighting to multi-material collaborative system optimization. The industry will no longer be limited to weight reduction of individual components. Instead, through the combined application of continuous fiber, metal, and ceramic materials, it will achieve complementary performance, structural integration, and functional integration, supporting high-end equipment in making the leap from "weight reduction" to "quality enhancement."

Second, the application space will expand from ground-based manufacturing to a full-space manufacturing system. Currently, the technology of "manufacturing on Earth for use in space" has matured and is being implemented. In the future, "manufacturing in space for use in space" — including in-orbit manufacturing and in-situ repair — will become a core track. In the long term, "manufacturing in space for use on Earth" will unlock the value of space manufacturing technology and empower the upgrading of high-end manufacturing on the ground.

Third, market applications will shift from prototyping to full-scale batch production across industries. The technology will gradually penetrate from aerospace and high-end equipment into energy, transportation, consumer goods, and other sectors, becoming a core general-purpose technology for manufacturing transformation and upgrading.

In terms of opportunities, with national strategic support, improving technological maturity, and surging demand for domestic substitution, enterprises with full-chain independent capabilities will enjoy broad market space. In terms of challenges, industry competition will shift from single-point technology contests to comprehensive strength competition spanning full-chain R&D, large-scale delivery, quality stability, and ecosystem building.

only by adhering to independent innovation, deeply cultivating industrial scenarios, and building solid core barriers can enterprises take the initiative in the new round of industrial transformation, promote new quality productive forces according to local conditions, and lead the industry toward high-quality development.