Beijing, June 1–3, 2026 — The 2026 Scientific Instrument Developers Conference (SIDC) was held at the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone Exhibition and Trade Center in Beijing. Themed "United in Purpose, Building a New Industry Ecosystem," the conference brought together leading academics, industry experts, and stakeholders across research, application, and production sectors. It served as a premier platform for technology exchange, application validation, and industrial collaboration in China's scientific instrument sector.
High-Level Dialogue: Charting Opportunities and Challenges for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030)
On the afternoon of June 2, the conference's high-level dialogue session was moderated by Fang Xiang, Vice President of the China Instrument and Control Society and Chief Scientist of the National Institute of Metrology. Senior executives from leading enterprises engaged in in-depth discussion on topics including industry opportunities and challenges under “China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030)”, and the convergence of AI with scientific instrumentation.
Mr. Han Shuanglai, Chairman of EXPEC Technology and General Manager of Focused Photonics (Hangzhou), Inc. (FPI), noted that after years of steady development, China's scientific instrument industry has established a broad product portfolio and solid industrial foundation. Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), he emphasized that the industry must evolve from presence to leadership, with continued focus on mid-to-high-end instruments, breakthroughs in key technologies, domestic self-reliance, product reliability, and application depth.
He identified several converging growth drivers for the sector: a clearer national policy direction supporting high-end instrument development and core technology R&D; a rich domestic application landscape providing real-world validation opportunities; and a growing talent pipeline that underpins the industry's long-term competitiveness.
On the topic of AI integration, Han outlined a strategic vision for scientific instrumentation: beyond enhancing standalone automation, the industry must drive instruments toward system-level automation. As AI becomes embedded in scientific workflows, research is moving toward a fully automated "Design–Build–Test–Learn" cycle — and the concept of the "lights-out laboratory" is evolving into a new era of intelligent, autonomous scientific environments.
To realize this vision, He called for deeper collaboration among instrument manufacturers, AI companies, scientists, and industry organizations — particularly around hardware interface standards, software interoperability, and shared data analytics capabilities — to collectively shape the future of scientific instrumentation.
Strategic Partnership: Strengthening the Instrument Validation and Evaluation Framework
Zhang Liangku, Deputy General Manager of EXPEC Technology, attended the signing ceremony for a scientific instrument verification and evaluation cooperation agreement. The partnership aims to leverage domain-expert end-users to drive quality improvement across China's domestic instrument ecosystem. Through real-world application testing and structured data feedback, the collaboration will systematically evaluate domestic instruments across key performance dimensions — including stability, reliability, and application adaptability — providing a rigorous evidence base for quality benchmarking and broader market adoption. This agreement opens new avenues for EXPEC to deepen its involvement in domestic instrument validation, application development, and ecosystem collaboration.
Alongside these strategic activities, EXPEC Technology presented its comprehensive scientific instrument portfolio at the conference, featuring flagship products including the SUPEC 7000 ICP-MS and the EXPEC 5700 LC-MS/MS. Technical experts engaged with conference attendees on the latest advances in measurement technology and innovative application scenarios.
SIDC 2026 provided an exceptional platform for high-level exchange and partnership across the scientific instrument community. As China embarks on its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), EXPEC Technology remains committed to advancing core technologies, expanding application capabilities, and contributing to the high-quality development of China's scientific instrument industry through indigenous innovation and open collaboration.
