The implementation of national standards empowers standardized development, and domestic glass slides and coverslips accelerate the capture of the mid to high end market

Since 2026, the microscope slide and cover glass industry has ushered in a new opportunity for standardized development. With the continuous implementation of the national standard GB/T 44276.2-2024 "Microscope Cover Glass Part 2: Material Quality, Finished Product Standards and Packaging Methods", the industry's quality threshold has been further raised. Domestic enterprises have accelerated their breakthrough in the mid to high end market with technological upgrades and compliance advantages, promoting the industry's transformation from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement".

It is reported that the national standard was released in August 2024 and officially implemented in March 2025, which is equivalent to adopting ISO international standards. It provides clear specifications for the material quality, finished product accuracy, and packaging methods of cover glass, filling the gap in the refinement standards in the domestic cover glass field and promoting the industry's production, testing, and circulation processes to be in line with international standards. After the implementation of the standard, the procurement proportion of products that meet the YY/T 1789.1-2021 "Medical Slides" standard by secondary and above hospitals has increased to 83.6%, an increase of 12.4 percentage points from 2024, effectively eliminating a group of small and medium-sized manufacturers with outdated technology and substandard quality.

Under the empowerment of standards, the core competitiveness of domestic enterprises continues to be highlighted. Data shows that by 2025, the proportion of domestically produced glass slides and coverslips in the domestic market has reached 71.7%, a decrease of 10.8 percentage points from 2021, and the dependence on imports continues to decrease; Among them, the winning rate of domestic products in the centralized procurement of tertiary hospitals reached 78.3%, an increase of 12.1 percentage points from 2024. Leading enterprises such as Zhejiang Kangdelai, Shandong Weigao, and Jiangsu Yuyue performed outstandingly, accounting for a total of 41.6% of the domestic medical glass slide market. These enterprises have achieved full coverage through GMP cleanroom upgrades and ISO13485 certification, benchmarking key parameters such as thickness tolerance ± 0.02mm and surface particle count ≤ 3/100mm ² against international brands such as Schott AG in Germany, breaking the long-standing monopoly of imported products in the high-end market.

The industry concentration has also accelerated, with the market share of CR5 (the top five companies) rising from 34.2% in 2023 to 49.8% in 2025. Among them, Zhejiang Kangdelai's glass slide business revenue reached 321 million yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%. After its Changzhou intelligent factory was put into operation, the unit labor cost decreased by 37%, and the yield rate increased to 99.2%, highlighting the dual advantages of cost and quality. Industry insiders say that the implementation of national standards will further screen high-quality enterprises and promote the industry to form a development pattern of "compliance first, quality is king". Domestic glass slides and cover slides are expected to achieve a comprehensive breakthrough in the mid to high end market in the next 3-5 years.