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According to Sinochem New Network, at present, China’s ethylene oxide (EO) industry is facing challenges such as intensified competition over basic products, a shortage of high-end products, and rising raw material costs. It is necessary to strengthen technological innovation and promote coordinated industrial development, pursuing a path of advancement toward higher quality products, international expansion, and an integrated full-industry chain approach. This was the consensus reached by experts attending the 2025 National Forum on the High-End Development and Sustainable Growth of the Epoxy Industry Chain (Dena Chemical), which was held last week in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Gu Qichang, the executive director of the National Cooperation Forum on the Sustainable Development of Epoxies and Derivatives, believes that to address the structural issue of excess low-end production capacity and a shortage of high-end products in the EO industry, it is first necessary to open up new fields of \"value competition\" and engage in a \"coordinated effort\" centered on technology, quality, and service” ； Secondly, it is necessary to \"connect the world through chains,\" establish platforms for international cooperation, and expand new opportunities for industrial development ； It is once again necessary to strengthen collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutions in order to make breakthroughs in key core technologies and achieve self-sufficiency and control over essential raw materials and technologies. Zheng Baoshan, deputy director of the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute, pointed out that to enhance its competitiveness, the EO industry needs to focus on four aspects. First is chain-based development, aiming to achieve a full industrial chain for EO, including ethylene—EO—ethylene glycol/ethanolamine—polyethylene glycol (PEG). By extending the industrial chain, competition risks are diversified, thereby enhancing the resilience of the industrial chain. Second, it is to enhance the competitiveness of the ethylene industry chain, the main raw material, by using low-cost ethylene feedstocks and introducing low-carbon light hydrocarbons. Third, reduce the level of fixed costs by increasing the scale of the installations. Fourth, it is to improve the level of research and development in high-end materials, including accelerating the industrialization of new product types, enhancing the quality of existing products, and overcoming bottlenecks in the supply of key supporting raw materials. How to reduce uncontrolled expansion and avoid industry \"involution\"? Yang Bin, deputy secretary-general of the National Forum on Sustainable Development of Epoxies and Derivatives, pointed out that on the one hand, enterprises in the upstream and downstream sectors should strengthen integrated coordinated development along the \"EO–monomer–surfactant–ethanolamine\" chain, build cost advantages, and increase exports ； On the other hand, taking advantage of EO’s low cost, efforts should be intensified in research and development to move towards downstream products with higher added value. Speaking on the development of high-value downstream derivatives, Fu Xu, former president of Zhonghao Chenguang Chemical Research Institute Co., Ltd., proposed four development directions. In the field of high-end electronic chemicals, electronic-grade EO is a key ingredient in surface cleaning solutions for wafers used in advanced manufacturing processes. Companies can establish strong partnerships with wafer factories, thereby creating barriers to entry due to high switching costs ； In the field of new energy materials, battery-grade ethylene carbonate (EC) is currently imported from Japan and South Korea, leaving significant room for domestic substitution ； In terms of pharmaceutical intermediates and excipients, there is significant potential for domestic substitution of biodegradable polyethylene glycol as a pharmaceutical excipient ； In the field of green surfactants and specialty polyethers, fatty alcohol ethoxylates (AEO) and alkyl glycosides (APG) can replace nonylphenol ethoxylates in quantities exceeding 200,000 tons. Traditional water-reducing agent manufacturers can enter the market for green surfactants by utilizing bio-based EO and catalytic technologies that enable narrow molecular weight distributions. Peng Yiqiu, an expert in the national epoxy and derivatives industry, believes that areas such as polyether amines, green surfactants, and electronic-grade ethers hold tremendous market potential. Companies need to choose the right market segment, intensify efforts in technological research and development, and transform from bulk manufacturers into providers of high-end solutions.