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At present, China’s coating industry is facing multiple challenges, including external geopolitical impacts, prominent internal structural contradictions, and changes in domestic and international market demands. Standing at the new starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan, what are the prospects for the development of the coating industry? At the recently held 2026 Coatings Conference, industry experts believe that the coating sector is shifting from past expansion-driven growth to a model focused on efficiency improvements. Factors such as remanufacturing, the protection and renovation of existing infrastructure, and the development of emerging industries will collectively drive the industrial coatings market to become a new engine for growth within the coating industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The era of scale expansion is coming to an end. With changes in the economic landscape and downstream market demands, the period of \"scale expansion\" in the coatings industry is gradually coming to an end. Statistics from the China Coatings Industry Association also support this view. According to statistics, in 2025, China’s total paint production will be 34.602 million tons, a decrease of 7.1% compared to the previous year ； Main business revenue was 388.15 billion yuan, a 3.9% decrease year-on-year ； The total industry profit amounted to 29.25 billion yuan, an increase of 11.5% on a year-on-year basis, indicating stable overall operations. The construction sector is the largest downstream market for the coating industry. Liu Jie, secretary-general of the Coatings Association, said that in 2025 the real estate sector underwent significant structural adjustments: the area of new residential construction decreased by 19.8%, while the area of completed residential buildings dropped by 20.2%. This had a substantial impact on the demand for traditional building coatings. Meanwhile, downstream sectors such as the container manufacturing industry, home appliances, and smartphones are also facing cyclical adjustments, resulting in slow growth rates. According to the Coatings Association’s forecast, by 2026 the decline in China’s coatings production volume will slow down, with the growth rate of main business revenue reaching 1%~2%, while the growth rate of total profits will narrow to around 8%. “The growth of balance and efficiency will be one of the basic principles for the development of the coating industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The industry needs to break away from the mindset of focusing on volume at the expense of efficiency, and shift its focus toward improving quality and innovation levels. ”said Gui Taijiang, chairman of the Technical Experts Working Committee of the Coatings Association. Growing demand for remanufacturing and protection: Coating applications account for 75.6% of corrosion protection efforts, making them the most important method for controlling corrosion. With the development of industries such as deep-sea exploration, ultra-high voltage power grids, and industrial equipment remanufacturing, the market demand for functional coatings with protective and repair capabilities is experiencing rapid growth. “The direct economic losses caused by corrosion in power grids amount to 6–8 billion yuan. ”According to Dr. Yi Pan from State Grid Electric Power Research Institute Co., Ltd., transmission and transformation equipment is exposed to harsh environments for extended periods, resulting in significant corrosion issues. There is therefore a strong demand for functional protective coatings that can prevent ice accumulation, provide fire protection for steel structures, offer resistance to high salt fog, and withstand severe pollution. Beyond traditional corrosion protection, the remanufacturing industry has also placed clear demands on functional industrial coatings, opening up new application areas for the coating industry. Wu Gang, head of the Mechanical Industry Environmental Protection Industry Development Center under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, explained that by using epoxy resin in combination with chopped fibers or carbon fiber patches, as well as tetrafluoro-carbon coatings on the outer surface of fiberglass-reinforced plastic components, wind turbine blades can operate stably in an environment with strong ultraviolet radiation at an altitude of 2,700 meters for 14 years. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic power transmission towers, when coated in this way, remain free from powdering or cracking for 15 years. “In the future, industrial coatings will no longer be limited to merely providing protective functions; they will evolve to incorporate multiple functions such as corrosion resistance, heat conduction, heat insulation, and antibacterial properties. ”Du Mingjun, secretary-general of the Anti-Corrosion Committee of the China Petroleum Engineering Construction Association, said. Emerging industries give rise to new demands. By 2025, emerging industries in China such as industrial robots, generator sets, wind power, and new energy storage equipment will experience rapid growth, becoming new drivers for the structural transformation of the coatings industry. Gu Guohong, deputy dean of the New Energy Vehicles Specialized and Innovative Industry College at Jiangsu University, pointed out that the rapid spread of new energy vehicles in recent years has reshaped the market demand structure and competitive landscape for automotive coatings. On the one hand, the “three-electric” systems (batteries, motors, and electronic controls) in new energy vehicles give rise to a demand for special-purpose coatings with features such as flame retardancy, insulation, high-temperature resistance, and electromagnetic shielding ； On the other hand, new energy vehicles are trending toward lighter weights, which requires extensive use of aluminum alloys, carbon fiber, and plastics; this gives rise to personalized demands for decorative coatings. “It is expected that by 2030, the share of specialty coatings designed for new energy vehicles will rise from 18% to over 35%, becoming a source of high-profit growth. ”Gu Guohong said. In response to this, Han Enhou, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, suggested that the industry should focus on key issues and utilize new materials to address problems such as poor compatibility among multi-functional coatings, insufficient durability in extreme environments, high environmental-friendly costs, and difficulties in scaling up the use of intelligent response mechanisms. It is also necessary to prioritize the needs in areas such as new energy and intelligence in order to accelerate the development of new markets. At the same time, the industry also needs to accelerate the localization of high-performance premium coatings and raw materials in order to avoid being held back. Low VOC alternatives remain a priority. In recent years, the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the coatings industry has attracted attention. Ning Miao, deputy director and researcher of the Atmospheric Environment Planning Department at the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told reporters that solvent-based coatings used in industrial painting account for as much as 40% of VOC emissions, making them a key focus in current efforts to improve air quality. “Currently, the replacement of coatings with low VOC content is progressing relatively slowly. According to statistics from 2025, solvent-based coatings still account for over 50% of the total production, with a usage rate of over 65% in sectors such as shipbuilding and automotive repair. ”Liu Tonghao, deputy director of the Atmospheric Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, called for the industrial coating industry to address VOCs through measures at the source, during the production process, and at the end stage. “Specifically, at the source, low-VOC coatings such as powder-based, water-based, and radiation-cured coatings should be promoted preferentially; for applications requiring high corrosion resistance, solvent-free or high-solid-content coatings can be used. During the painting process, efficient automated technologies such as electrostatic spraying and reciprocating spray booths should be adopted to improve paint adhesion and reduce emissions ； Strengthen closed collection; sealing can reduce unorganized emissions by over 80%. In terms of end-of-pipe treatment, the use of efficient treatment technologies such as adsorption and concentration (RTO) is encouraged, while less effective treatment facilities are phased out to achieve an environment-friendly transformation. ”Liu Tonghao said.