Under the guidance of the "dual carbon" goal and the global green transformation trend, bio-based materials, as the core alternative to fossil-based materials, are leveraging their unique advantages of being renewable, low-emission, and degradable, becoming an important growth pole of China's strategic emerging industries. Based on in-depth industry reports and practical industrial experiences, this presentation comprehensively showcases the overall development landscape of China's bio-based materials industry from aspects such as core characteristics, policy support, market status, technical paths, and development trends.
I. Core Industry Understanding: Definition, Classification and Core Strengths
Definition and Essence
Biobased materials refer to new types of materials that are made from renewable biomass sources such as crops, straw, bamboo and wood powder, and animal and plant residues through biological transformation, chemical synthesis, or physical processing. The core feature lies in establishing a "biomass - material - degradation" closed-loop circular system. From raw material acquisition to waste disposal throughout the entire life cycle, they implement the concept of green development and are deeply integrated with synthetic biology technology, becoming an important application carrier of the biomanufacturing industry.
2. Main Classification
Based on their application forms, bio-based materials can be classified into eight major categories, covering various application scenarios across multiple fields:
Bio-based chemicals: including bio-based monomers, platform compounds, HMF and its derivatives, etc.;
Polymers: containing bio-based polymers, biopolymers and natural high-molecular substances;
Plastics: covering PLA (polylactic acid), PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates), PBSA and other bio-based plastics and bioplastics;
Bio-based chemical fibers: including renewable fibers, synthetic fibers and marine bio-based fibers;
Bio-based rubber: divided into natural rubber and biomass synthetic rubber;
Bio-based coatings: green and environmentally friendly coating products;
Material additives: specialized additives suitable for bio-based materials;
Composite materials: such as starch-based plastics, wood-plastic materials, bamboo-plastic materials, etc.
3. Core Competitive Advantage
Compared to traditional petroleum-based materials, the advantages of bio-based materials lie in their green attributes throughout the entire life cycle and the sustainability of resources:
Comparison dimensions Biobased materials Petroleum-based materials
Raw material sources Renewable biomass such as corn husks, cassava, and straw Petroleum-refined resins, non-renewable
Environmental impact Biodegradable (3-6 months), non-toxic, recyclable Non-biodegradable (about 200 years), flammable, polluting the environment Carbon emissions Each ton of plastic emits 0.6 tons of carbon dioxide. Each ton of plastic emits 3.1 tons of carbon dioxide.
Production characteristics Low energy consumption through normal temperature and pressure fermentation / enzyme conversion High energy consumption through high-temperature and high-pressure refining and processing
Furthermore, bio-based materials can achieve carbon sequestration through photosynthesis. Their raw material acquisition is flexible, which can effectively alleviate reliance on fossil resources and align with the "negative carbon" development concept.
II. Dual-driven by Policies and Technologies: The Core Support for Industry Development
1. Intensive policy support, establishing a development guarantee system
In recent years, the national and local governments have issued a series of policies from multiple aspects such as industry planning, technological innovation, and market promotion to support the development of the bio-based materials industry:
At the national level: The "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Biotechnology Industry" has listed biobased materials as a key development direction; the "Guidelines for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)" has included them in the encouraged categories; in 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other seven departments jointly issued the "Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry (2025-2026)", promoting typical cases of non-food-based biobased materials and improving the certification of green products.
At the local level: Shanghai has introduced a special plan, regarding biobased materials as a key sector in the synthetic biology industry; Chaozhou City has included the preparation technology of biobased materials in the priority development industry list, forming a policy framework of coordinated actions and precise measures across the country.
2. Technological innovation breakthroughs, enabling industrial upgrading
The core of the technology for bio-based materials lies in biological transformation and material modification. Currently, a mature industrialization technology path has been established:
Production process: Mainly based on microbial fermentation and enzyme conversion. By using the modified organisms as "cellular microfactories", the carbon and nitrogen sources in biomass raw materials are directedly transformed to produce a green and mild process;
Core technology: Includes performance optimization technologies such as molecular structure design, blending modification, and nano-composite, as well as continuous and automated production technologies, laying the foundation for large-scale application;
Industrial practice: The enterprise has developed diversified biomass composite new materials such as starch, grains, straw, and coffee residue, as well as fully degradable PLA, PBAT, and PBS composite systems. Some enterprises have achieved large-scale supply of specialized products such as degradable masterbatches and antibacterial masterbatches.
III. Current Market Development Status: The scale has been steadily expanding, and both supply and demand have continued to increase.
The market size has expanded rapidly
Thanks to policy support and the release of downstream demand, the market size of China's biobased materials industry has continued to grow at a high speed. According to the data, the industry's market size was only 13.511 billion yuan in 2016, but it has increased to 61.519 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 18%, demonstrating strong development resilience.
2. The production-demand pattern continues to improve
Production: During the period from 2015 to 2025, the industry's production increased from 96.3 thousand tons to 356.2 thousand tons, with a compound annual growth rate of 14%. The scale production capacity has significantly improved;
Demand: During the same period, the demand volume rose from 69.4 thousand tons to 330.5 thousand tons, with a compound annual growth rate of 17%. The growth rate of demand was higher than that of production, and the market gap gradually emerged;
Price level: In 2025, the average industry price was 18,600 yuan per ton, overall remaining stable. Although it is still at a relatively high price, with the advancement of large-scale production, the cost reduction potential is expected.
3. Industrial Chain and Enterprise Structure
Industrial Chain Structure: The upstream consists of biomass raw materials such as grains, straw, bamboo, and wood; the middle stream is composed of bio-based material manufacturing enterprises, including leading companies like Kesai Bio and Huaheng Bio; the downstream is widely applied in packaging, catering, textiles, agriculture and forestry, transportation, electronics and electrical appliances, etc.
Competitive Landscape: The international market is dominated by chemical giants such as BASF, Dow, and DuPont; the domestic market presents a "leadership driven by specialized fields" pattern. Companies like Kesai Bio (biological platform compounds), Haizheng Shengcai (PLA), Jinfabao Technology (PBSA), and Tian'an Xincai (PHA) have taken the lead by leveraging their technological advantages, and the overall competitiveness of local enterprises has continued to improve.
IV. Future Development Trends: Functionalization, Large-scale Production, Circular Economy
Performance enhancement and functional expansion
In the future, the industry will focus on addressing the shortcomings of traditional bio-based materials in terms of heat resistance, mechanical strength, and barrier properties. Through technological innovation, high-impact-resistant automotive materials, high-maintenance electronic materials, and customized preservation materials will be developed. This will lead to a transformation from a general type to a functional type, expanding the application boundaries in the automotive, electronic, and high-end packaging sectors.
2. Cost Reduction and Large-scale Production
Cost control is the key to the widespread adoption of bio-based materials. The industry will reduce production costs by optimizing fermentation processes, developing inexpensive raw materials such as non-food biomass, and improving conversion efficiency. At the same time, it will promote the establishment of large-scale production lines with a capacity of over 10,000 tons, leveraging continuous and automated technologies to unleash the scale effect and enhance the market competitiveness with petroleum-based materials.
3. Deepening of Sustainable Development and Circular Economy
Under the guidance of the "carbon neutrality" goal, the bio-based materials industry will further enhance its sustainability throughout the entire life cycle: On one hand, it will prioritize the utilization of non-food biomass raw materials such as agricultural waste to avoid competing with food production for land; on the other hand, it will promote the integration of recyclable and regenerative design with biodegradation technologies, establishing a complete closed-loop chain from "raw materials - production - application - degradation/recycling", deeply integrating into the circular economy system, and providing core support for achieving carbon neutrality.
The Chinese bio-based materials industry is currently in a golden development period characterized by the convergence of policy benefits and technological innovation. With the upgrades in functionality, the expansion of scale, and the deepening of circularity, the industry will continue to unleash its growth potential and become the core engine for the green and low-carbon transformation and the development of the bio-manufacturing industry.
