What are the reasons for the low quality of domestic valve products?

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In China’s current valve market, while low-pressure valves have reached levels acceptable in the international market, high-pressure valves still rely on imports. Amid the generally positive macroeconomic outlook, most companies in the valve industry achieved rapid growth in their production and sales figures. However, due to price wars, the industry’s revenue and profits declined significantly compared to the same period last year. As the world economy recovers, the import and export of valve products in our country have also increased. However, due to the significant gap in advanced technology compared to foreign manufacturers, product technology will remain a bottleneck restricting the development of valve products in our country for some time to come. 　　Valves are essential fluid control devices in various sectors of the national economy, including petroleum, chemical industry, power plants, long-distance pipelines, shipbuilding, nuclear industry, various cryogenic applications, aerospace, and offshore oil drilling. After years of development, China has the largest number of valve manufacturers in the world, with over 6,000 such enterprises of various sizes; among them, 900 have an annual output value of more than 5 million yuan. In terms of product offerings, China’s valve industry is currently capable of producing more than a dozen different types of valves, such as gate valves, globe valves, ball valves, butterfly valves, safety valves, check valves, throttle valves, plug valves, pressure reducing valves, diaphragm valves, steam traps, and emergency shut-off valves. The maximum operating temperature for these valves is 570°C, while the minimum is –196°C. The maximum pressure they can handle is 600 MPa, and the largest diameter they can achieve is 5350 millimeters. Furthermore, according to statistics from relevant departments, China’s valve market generates annual turnover of around 50 billion yuan, of which more than 10 billion yuan goes to foreign valve manufacturers. 　　At present, the valve industry in our country still faces certain issues; for example, most valve manufacturers in China are small-scale enterprises operating on a household workshop basis at a low level. In terms of products, due to repeated investments and insufficient technology adoption, the main products of China’s valve manufacturers remain low-quality, mass-market products. At present, the various valves produced by Chinese enterprises suffer from various shortcomings such as external and internal leakage, poor appearance quality, short lifespan, inflexible operation, as well as unreliable electric and pneumatic actuation systems. Some of these products are only on par with the international standards of the early 1980s, and valves required for high-temperature, high-pressure applications and critical systems still rely on imports. Furthermore, China’s valve industry lags significantly behind foreign companies in terms of industrial structure, the value chain of the valve industry, and the level of specialization within this sector. 　　The reason for the low quality of domestic valve products is that, due to the rapid expansion of the market, existing state-owned valve manufacturers shut down or changed their operations. Although a number of township enterprises developed rapidly, they started from a low level, had very weak technical capabilities and simple equipment; most of their products were produced through imitation, and the problem was especially severe regarding low-pressure valves used in water supply and drainage systems.