Introduction
As a crucial support for advanced manufacturing, cleanrooms have seen significant growth in importance over the past decade. With continuous technological advancements and growing market demand, cleanroom engineering construction and supporting services have achieved a qualitative leap in both scale and expertise.
As an increasingly valued branch of engineering construction, cleanroom engineering not only impacts core aspects such as product quality control and improved production efficiency, but also directly impacts corporate competitiveness and the healthy and stable development of the entire industry chain. Consequently, policymakers at the national and local levels, along with various investment institutions and industry participants, have all shown significant attention and support for this market segment.
This article aims to comprehensively present the current status and development trends of domestic cleanroom engineering construction companies through a statistical analysis of companies whose industrial and commercial registration information includes the words "cleanroom engineering" or "purification engineering" (hereinafter collectively referred to as "purification engineering"), providing a comprehensive overview.
As of the end of November 2024, a total of 9,220 such companies were included nationwide, of which 7,016 were in normal operation and 2,417 had been deregistered. Notably, since 2010, the number of newly established cleanroom engineering companies has shown a steady upward trend: initially, approximately 200 new companies were added annually, rising to around 800-900 in recent years, with an average growth rate exceeding 10%.
In 2024, the market growth rate of the cleanroom engineering industry slowed significantly. According to statistics, the number of newly established companies from January to November was 612, a 37% decrease from 973 in the same period of 2023. This decline represents one of the rare significant declines in the past 15 years. However, it is noteworthy that despite the challenges, the proportion of newly established companies in the year remained above 9%, exceeding the average growth rate of the overall manufacturing industry.
From a geographical perspective, the regional concentration of operating cleanroom engineering companies is very high, with significant disparities between leading regions. The five contiguous provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and Zhejiang constitute the industry's primary centers of strength, followed closely by Guangdong Province. This pattern differs from the actual distribution of new projects. For example, provinces like Zhejiang and Hebei boast numerous cleanroom engineering projects, yet their number of local cleanroom engineering companies does not rank high.
To gain a deeper understanding of the strength of each province in the cleanroom and cleanroom engineering industry, this article uses paid-in capital as a metric, categorizing companies with paid-in capital exceeding RMB 5 million as leaders in the sector. From a geographical perspective, this categorization further highlights regional disparities: Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces stand out due to their strong economic strength. In contrast, while Shandong, Henan, and Anhui provinces boast a larger number of companies, they do not significantly outperform other provinces in terms of the number of top companies, maintaining a similar number of top-tier companies.
Examining the growth rates of various provinces and municipalities over the past five years reveals that, despite strong overall performance, Guangdong Province lags behind in the battle for a top-five position. Meanwhile, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces, located in central China, have shown strong growth momentum. Particularly noteworthy is that at the prefecture-level city level, inland provincial capitals such as Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Hefei have shown a more pronounced upward trend. This aligns with the national development strategy shifting toward the central and western regions, where these regions are increasingly becoming key drivers of industry development.
Suzhou and Wujiang, the leading cities in Jiangsu Province. Nationwide, only 16 prefecture-level cities boast over 100 companies operating in the purification engineering sector. Wujiang District in Suzhou leads the way with nearly 600 companies, far surpassing all other cities. Furthermore, the number of companies in prefecture-level cities in the province generally exceeds the provincial average. Notably, the number of newly established companies in the past two years has also been significantly higher than in other regions, with over half having paid-in capital (compared to many cities in other provinces, where the majority of newly established companies have yet to complete such payment).
Guangdong Province, a leader in South China, sees weakening growth momentum. As the leader in South China, Guangdong Province maintains a solid second-place position in the purification engineering sector. However, in recent years, it has faced challenges in adding new companies, leading to a slowdown in growth. However, Guangdong Province exhibits a high degree of geographical concentration in its cleanroom engineering sector. Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai not only house the majority of the province's related enterprise resources, but also consistently rank among the top five cities nationwide.
Shandong Province: Widely Distributed, Large in Scale but Lacking Strength. In stark contrast to Jiangsu and Guangdong, Shandong Province's cleanroom engineering sector exhibits a high degree of dispersion. Even in politically and economically important cities like Jinan and Qingdao, the concentration level is not significantly higher than in major cities in other provinces. Nevertheless, in terms of overall number, Shandong still ranks among the top three nationwide. However, this "large but not strong" phenomenon is also reflected in a lack of leading enterprises. However, encouragingly, the number of newly established enterprises in Shandong Province has surpassed that of Guangdong Province in recent years, demonstrating strong growth potential.
Summary
We foresee several key development trends for domestic cleanroom engineering companies. First, overall growth will slow, and reduced supply may lead to a further decline in the number of new enterprises. Second, industry concentration and the "head effect" will become increasingly pronounced, accelerating the elimination of lagging enterprises while leading enterprises with core competitiveness are expected to capture a larger market share. Finally, companies in some inland cities are expected to emerge, particularly in provincial capitals, where rising stars, powerful enough to compete with leading companies in established "purification hubs" like Jiangsu and Guangzhou, are expected to emerge. These changes not only signal a profound restructuring of the industry but also present new opportunities and challenges for various regions and companies.
Post time: Sep-19-2025