I. The Hidden Thread: Regional Specialization in Non-Metallic Minerals

Within Jiangsu's industrial landscape, the non-metallic mineral products sector has long operated in the shadow of more visible industries — cement, steel, and chemicals. Yet three geographically distinct clusters give the province a recognizable competitive identity in this sector: Yixing's ceramics and refractory materials, Suqian's functional glass materials, and Donghai's quartz-silicon materials in Lianyungang. The three clusters occupy almost non-overlapping product spaces, together underpinning the sector's scale in the province.

Jiangsu is also one of the nation's top cement-producing provinces, but that sub-sector is largely operated by major national groups and large regional enterprises rather than local independent brands. This dual structure — specialized clusters plus large-enterprise-led cement — is the essential framework for understanding non-metallic mineral products in Jiangsu.

II. Yixing: The Industrial Reinvention of a Thousand-Year Ceramic Capital

Yixing is world-famous for its purple-clay teapots, but the economic backbone of the city has shifted decisively toward industrial ceramics and refractory materials rather than artistic ceramics.

According to municipal government data, Yixing's above-scale ceramics and refractory enterprises achieved output value of RMB 11.76 billion, sales revenue of RMB 11.18 billion, and net tax revenue of RMB 530 million in 2022, accounting for approximately 2.3%, 2.5%, and 6.4% respectively of the city's total above-scale industrial output. By 2023, the number of above-scale enterprises had grown to 110, with combined output value reaching RMB 13.1 billion. The cluster's product range centers on industrial ceramics (honeycomb ceramics, packaging ceramics, structural ceramics) and fired and unfired refractory products.

The Three-Year Action Plan for Ceramics and Refractory Materials Cluster Development (2023–2025), released by Yixing municipal government, sets a 2025 revenue target of RMB 20 billion, with the aim of nurturing eight enterprises with revenues exceeding RMB 500 million, adding more than 20 provincial-level "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" SMEs, and achieving two new listings.

Notably, official policy documents candidly identify key structural weaknesses: an absence of leading enterprises and listed companies, a relatively small number of above-scale firms, micro-enterprises accounting for over 95% of the total, and low levels of intelligent and digital development. This frank self-assessment places the cluster at an inflection point between scale expansion and quality upgrading.

In early 2026, the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress enacted dedicated legislation — the Jiangsu Regulations on Safeguarding and Promoting High-Quality Development of Yixing Ceramics — providing legal backing for brand protection and industrial upgrading, an institutional measure relatively rare in the Chinese industrial ceramics field.

III. Suqian: From Glass Export Base to Functional Glass Billion-Yuan Cluster

Suqian has a long history in glass manufacturing. The Suyuan District was recognized as Jiangsu's first glass products export base. In recent years, expanding downstream demand for home appliance cover glass, photovoltaic module glass, and automotive glass has led Suqian to position functional glass materials as a priority industrial chain.

In 2021, Suqian's functional glass materials industry had 31 above-scale enterprises, achieving total industrial output of RMB 4.672 billion, up 25.12% year-on-year. In the first five months of 2022, above-scale enterprises generated RMB 2.528 billion in output, up 15.66%. The city's phased target was to reach RMB 50 billion by 2023, with a long-term goal of RMB 200 billion by 2025 — ambitious targets that signal strong policy commitment to chain expansion and investment attraction, while also reflecting a significant gap still to be bridged.

Xiuqiang Glass (Jiangsu Xiuqiang Glass Craft Co., Ltd.) is the cluster's most prominent locally grown enterprise, specializing in deep-processed home appliance cover glass using printing and coating technologies, with products sold to over 30 countries and regions. As a listed A-share company, Xiuqiang serves as a key reference point for attracting further investment into Suqian's glass chain.

In terms of supply chain structure, Suqian's glass industry sources upstream raw materials (soda ash, quartz sand) partly from within Jiangsu — including Donghai — processes glass substrates and deep-processed products in the mid-stream, and sells to home appliance, photovoltaic, and automotive industries downstream, forming a vertically integrated chain that is still being consolidated.

IV. Donghai: Quartz Resources and the Silicon Industry's Dual Engine

Donghai County in Lianyungang is renowned as the "World Crystal Capital." The county holds quartz reserves of 3 billion tons, ranking first nationally in both volume and quality. This resource endowment provides an irreproducible foundation for developing quartz sand, silicon micropowder, quartz glass, and high-purity quartz products.

By the end of 2023, Donghai's annual production of high-purity quartz sand exceeded 500,000 tons, firmly holding over 80% of the domestic market share. In 2024, the county had 164 above-scale silicon industry enterprises, producing over 1,000 product varieties across 9 major categories including quartz sand, silicon micropowder, quartz glass, and photovoltaic components. In 2022, Donghai's silicon product processing industry achieved output of RMB 16 billion, up 34.3% year-on-year, representing 40.6% of the county's total above-scale industrial output.

Donghai's upgrading path runs from "resource-intensive" to "industry-clustering": the early phase centered on raw mineral and primary micropowder exports, while surging downstream demand from integrated circuits, photovoltaics, and optical fiber communications has sharply raised the premium on high-purity quartz sand and semiconductor-grade quartz glass. The county is actively promoting higher deep-processing ratios and cultivating anchor enterprises for the chain.

V. Cement: Large in Scale, Highly Consolidated

National industry data rank Jiangsu among the top cement-producing provinces in China, with the province leading provincial-level rankings in cumulative output for the first eight months of 2025. However, ownership of Jiangsu's cement capacity is highly concentrated among national groups — China National Building Material Group and Anhui Conch Cement are major holders — while independent local brands play a secondary role. Against a backdrop of tightening carbon regulations and demand pressure from the property sector downturn, the industry's focus has shifted from capacity expansion to energy efficiency and structural optimization.

VI. Upstream Supply Opportunities

Non-metallic mineral products manufacturers have stable, recurring demand for specific industrial inputs: raw minerals and binders for refractories, coating materials and auxiliaries for glass deep-processing, kiln consumables and measurement and control equipment for ceramic firing, and precision cutting and testing tools for quartz processing. These procurement needs are distributed across a large number of small and mid-sized manufacturers, with relatively short decision chains — well-suited to targeted sales outreach.

Sales teams supplying upstream materials to these manufacturers can use Tianxia Gongchang to filter the factory directory of Jiangsu non-metallic mineral products manufacturers by region and sector, and access decision-maker contact details to identify potential customers efficiently.

VII. Structural Assessment of Cluster Evolution

The three clusters follow markedly different trajectories. Yixing's path is rooted in historical accumulation: deep brand equity and craft heritage, but genuine upgrading requires shedding the weight of fragmented small-enterprise inertia. Suqian's path is policy-driven: aggressive targets, notable growth rates, but actual industrial density still needs time to solidify. Donghai's path is resource-anchored: the scarcity of its upstream resource base forms a hard-to-replicate moat, and the opportunities and difficulties of downstream extension coexist.

The shared challenge across all three clusters is converting existing scale into high-value-added capability — riding the demand surge from new energy (photovoltaics, energy storage, hydrogen) and advanced electronics (semiconductors, displays). The pace and quality of that conversion will determine Jiangsu's position in non-metallic mineral products over the next decade.

Data Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang (Jiangsu non-metallic mineral products factory directory and industry data)
  • Yixing Municipal People's Government: Three-Year Action Plan for Ceramics and Refractory Materials Cluster Development (2023–2025), policy interpretation and official notice
  • China Jiangsu Net: Suqian's Functional Glass Materials Industry Achieves High-Quality Development from a Higher Starting Point (February 2022)
  • Suqian Mobile Media: Functional Glass Materials Industry Output Growth Exceeds 20% (January–April reporting)
  • China Jiangsu Net: New Quality Productive Forces Lead Donghai Silicon Industry's Path to County-Level Strength (May 2024)
  • Tencent News: Jiangsu Donghai's Quartz Sand Yields a Hundred-Billion-Yuan Silicon Materials Industry (2025)
  • China Glass Net (中玻网): Suqian Functional Glass Materials Industry Coverage
  • Cement Net (水泥网): National Provincial Cement Output Rankings, 2025
  • Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress: Jiangsu Regulations on Safeguarding and Promoting High-Quality Development of Yixing Ceramics (January 2026)