San’an Opto was granted RMB 230 million (US $37.11 million) subsidy by Torch Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone Committee for 50 MOCVDs the company recently purchased, according to a news report from China Securities Journal.

Refond Optoelectronics announced that the company had received RMB 4 million (US $647,708) subsidy from China’s Ministry of Finance on December 16.

Two Chinese men sentenced for swindled RMB 220,000 (US$ 35, 506) worth of state energy subsidy by faking LED lamps clients purchase records and forging public seals in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province of China, according to a news report from Straits Herald.

China’s Nanyang City Center will be installing another 3,000 LED streetlights in 2015, by then the city’s energy saving streetlights will reach 20,000 in total, according to a Nanyang Evening News report. Nanyang will become the first city in China with 20,000 streetlights.

After a temporary trade suspension last week, Kingsun Optoelectronic released an announcement yesterday reporting the company had acquired 51% shares on three lighting companies and will resume trading today, according to a report of cnstock.com.

Recently, 16 luminaire manufacturers in Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province were sued over patent infringements.Patent trolls have been rampant in the modern LED luminaire industry, affecting many manufacturers, and highlighting the Chinese LED industry’s lack of intellectual property rights awareness and other shortcomings. Patent trolls strange conduct has confused many manufacturers, and made them victims.

A couple was caught for selling inferior luminaries labeled with international brands via Taobao in Jiangsu Province, China.

Although, China’s luminaire industry reached a certain scale, most luminaire manufacturers are still SMEs. Under intense market competition, the industry is becoming increasingly polarized. For SMEs to succeed under immense pressure, manufacturers have to transit business models and raise product quality, production and profitability.

LED is a fast changing industry. Asian manufacturers have taken their own paths to confront the tide of change. Japanese manufacturers are actively seeking collaboration opportunities with Taiwanese manufacturers, while Korean LED manufacturer Samsung has gradually exited the global LED market. Chinese manufacturers on the other hand are expanding production capacity on the back of government support.

Panasonic exhibited at the 16th China Chain Store Industry Conference and Exhibition (CHINA SHOP 2014), which was held from November 6-8 in Fuzhou City, the capital of Fujian Province. In a booth designed to resemble supermarkets and convenience stores, Panasonic introduced one-stop solutions for retail under the theme of "A smart, beautiful lifestyle with intelligent retail," aimed at the rapidly growing demand in China for safe and comfortable shopping environments.

Aluwave established a production site for its customized LED modules in China through a new company, Qingdao Aluwave Lighting Technology. The decision is based on the fact that several existing multinational customers with global operations have sought local deliveries to their assembly sites in China.

Increasing workforce wages and commercial real estate rental fees in main cities of China has led to the emergence of e-commerce, which has the upside of saving about 60% of operating cost. The importance o the E-commerce trend in China can no longer be ignored. In 2013, online shopping accounted to approximately US $300 billion of e-commerce market in China, and is estimated to reach US $445 billion this year. China’s lighting e-commerce business models are gradually shifting from Customer-to-Customer (C2C) to Business-to-Customer (B2C), according to Analyst Figo Wang of EnergyTrend, a division of global market intelligence firm Trendforce, while attending LEDforum 2014 held in Taipei, Taiwan, on Oct. 24 2014.

Chinese LED manufacturers IPO applications remain a lengthy tedious procedure.

China’s Standardization Administration has issued three new LED luminaire standards.

Integrated System Technologies (IST) Limited, a leading British manufacturer of smart lighting solutions, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Chinese Patent Office have granted patents covering high efficiency LED luminaires for downlight applications.

Supported by favorable government policies China’s LED industry initiated a new round of financing during the first half of 2014, according to a Chinese-language report by Consumption Daily. Innovative technology and new products released by the LED lighting industry led to rising developments. Spurred on by strong demands throughout the supply chain, listed LED manufacturers reported high revenues. 

The Cross-Strait LED industry cooperation seminar took place at Dayeh University in Changhua County, Taiwan on Sept. 4, 2014. Industry experts and academia from China and Taiwan attended the seminar.

The LED industry in Guangdong Province, China showed the most growth out of eight emerging industries in 2013, according to a Securities Times report.

Intensified market competition in the Chinese market caused local manufacturers to turn their attention to emerging oversea markets. Russia has become a dark horse in China’s LED industry, quickly ascending to second largest export market status in less than one year. In 2013, the country could not even be found among China’s top five LED export markets.

The State Key Laboratory of Solid State Lighting (SKLSSL) under China’s Ministry of Science and Technology has recently set up a meeting to discuss publication of LED standards in Beijing, China. The organization has mainly been responsible for drafting semiconductor lighting specs.

Taiwan and China’s LED markets have been affected by market rumors this morning of rising LED tariffs in China, with Chinese manufacturers in general reaping in profits, while neighboriing Taiwan manufacturers saw stock prices drop.The disruptive market rumor has proven to be false by a source from  China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC), according to a report from Chinese financial media NetEase.

Earlier this morning, LED stocks on Taiwan’s bourse riveted from market rumors surrounding China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) plans of raising LED tariffs, but LED manufacturers have refuted receiving any related government notices.

Recently, China’s National Technical Committee of Auto Standardization has announced plans of amending GB4785-2007 “Automotive and exterior signal lighting devices and safety standards.” This is the second draft, and once amendments are completed it will enter the phase of accepting public opinion.

This China-LED. Org report gives a comprehensive overview of policy developments in China and the impact these subsidies are having on the industry as a whole. The subsidies drive industry developments, but oversupply is still a big problem. Similar to earlier Chinese reports LEDinside have translated, this one also highlights lack of industry standards hinders industry development.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches in China on June 1, 2014, the market has entered a new luminaire discount season, according to a report by Chinese-language media Kyushu Building Network. Top luminaire brands have all increased prices because of rising raw material and logistic costs. However, since lighting products are not daily commodities most consumers have been less sensitive towards incremental price increases. Some industry experts project prices will be up as much as 10 percent next year.

Osram’s latest 2013 financial report revealed LED sales had a 29 percent revenue share, however, the German company projected the figure will “exceed 50 percent” by 2017.

China’s LED application market scale reached RMB 200 billion (Us $32.1 billion) in 2013, with residential lighting making up around 30 percent, according to statistics by the Guangya Academy of Lighting Research in Guangzhou. LED lighting prices have dropped a staggering 70 percent over the past two years, with LED 3W bulbs priced at around RMB 14. The market has already accepted LED bulb price/performance ratio. Indoor lighting has become the largest driver for LED application market growth in China. 

Two Chinese companies were booted out of the bi-annual Light+Building trade fair this year for patent infringement. China’s intellectual property rights are facing an increasingly harsher environment as the LED industry enters the golden age. Coping with international intellectual rights has become a source of contention for many LED manufacturers, and a difficult issue to deal with for the Chinese LED industry. 

Gloria Chen, Administrator Manager, Fairchild Semiconductor speaks about the company’s decision of using the trademark Xian Tong (Fairy Child) in China in this blog entry.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently announced it will be strongly promoting energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction policies in 2014, according to a Chinese-language Huagu.com report. The implementation of the country’s “2014-2015 Carbon Reduction Plan” is expected to spur LED market development in China.