NANJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Putting on safety goggles, a visitor at the exhibition hall of Suzhou Maxphotonics Technology Co., Ltd. grips a welding gun weighing just 300 grams, lighter than a bottle of water, and in under a minute, a seamless, hairline-thin weld takes shape across a metal plate.
This is no sci-fi movie set, but a frequent scene at this company in east China's Jiangsu Province.
The "Hongtong K1M" welding gun, launched just this June, features an industry-first integrated wire-feeding mechanism built directly into the gun body, eliminating the need for welders to constantly turn around and reach for welding wire like dancers in a tango.
The gun's 360-degree rotating hover button takes ergonomics to the next level: whether bending, leaning sideways or welding overhead, fingers find the button from any angle, truly putting the welder in control of the device.
"Ordinary people can master the basics with simple training. New operators can reach the skill level of veteran welders after a short course," said Dang Jiantang, deputy general manager of Maxphotonics, with evident pride.
In Dang's view, laser welding is accomplishing something revolutionary, transforming welding from a traditional craft requiring "apprenticeship under a master for three years" into an accessible, democratized tool.
Dang joined Maxphotonics in 2013 and has watched the company grow from around 40 to 50 employees at the beginning to its current workforce of over 1,900.
"When we first settled here, revenue was just 2 to 3 million yuan (about 294,525 to 441,787 U.S. dollars). Last year we hit 1.5 billion yuan, and this year we're on track to reach 1.65 billion," he revealed.
These numbers translate into real industry leadership: Maxphotonics now ranks second globally and first domestically in the fiber laser market, with products exported to over 60 countries and regions.
As Yang Jinlong, R&D director at Maxphotonics, put it: "China accounts for 56 percent of the global laser market, and Maxphotonics alone holds a 27.5-percent share of the domestic market."
This "hidden champion" boasts an impressive patent portfolio, featuring over 1,000 patent applications and more than 600 granted patents, covering the entire industrial chain from optical fibers and pump sources to high-power control technology, achieving full autonomy across the board. Its most celebrated breakthrough is the world's first 160kW ultra-high-power fiber laser, which slices through thick steel plates with ease and has set a new industry benchmark.
Intriguingly, Maxphotonics' ambitions extend far beyond simply "exporting products." Dang explained that the company has established its European headquarters in Gilching in Bavaria, Germany, and its U.S. headquarters in Boston. Wholly-owned subsidiaries operate in Italy, Türkiye, Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea, with branch offices in India, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Thailand.
This is far more than equipment sales. Rather, it amounts to the weaving of a global laser service network. Local sales, local after-sales support and local training combine to compress the service radius of "Made in China" right to customers' doorsteps.
A half-hour drive from Maxphotonics lies the Suzhou High-Tech Zone and the headquarters of Suzhou Everbright Photonics Co., Ltd., where the high-power semiconductor laser chips that serve as the beating "heart" of Maxphotonics' lasers are manufactured.
If Maxphotonics' light is "visible sharpness," Everbright's light is hidden inside chips measured in millimeters. A chip smaller than a fingernail must pass through epitaxy, lithography, coating, packaging and testing, with each step tolerating not even the slightest deviation.
"When the project started, overseas manufacturers kept core beam-combining algorithms and coating processes strictly confidential. We had to build our experimental platform from scratch," recalled Wang Jun, R&D director at Everbright, reflecting on those grueling days in pursuit of technical breakthroughs.
In May this year, Everbright's "kilowatt-class blue-band active-control spectral beam combining technology" won China's Top 10 Optical Industry Technology Breakthrough Award, breaking Western companies' exclusive monopoly in blue high-power processing. Chinese solutions are now available for high-end applications such as new energy vehicle battery welding and highly-reflective metal 3D printing.
Today, Everbright is a far cry from its early startup days. It operates China's only 6-inch gallium arsenide laser chip production line, ranks first in domestic market share for high-power semiconductor laser chips, and saw revenue reach 477 million yuan in 2025, surging 75.09 percent year on year.
Notably, the most remarkable aspect isn't the strength of any single company, but how Suzhou has packed an entire photonics industry chain into single buildings. At No. 56 Lijiang Road, where Everbright is based, 12 upstream and downstream enterprises occupy one building.
Across the Suzhou High-Tech Zone alone, over 350 industry-related enterprises have clustered, including eight listed companies and 35 specialized "little giant" enterprises, with total output value exceeding 85 billion yuan. Three dominant industrial chains, namely lasers, optical communications and intelligent optical sensing, are advancing in tandem. ■
