Shanghai Daily news

A glass supermarket, with many delicately carved glass handicrafts, was recently opened in Jiuxing Town, Minhang District.
Located near the Outer Ring Road and covering a space of 8,000 square meters, the glass supermarket mainly sells glass home decorations to retailers.
Wu Enfu, Chief Executive Officer of the Shanghai Jiuxing Market Management and Operation Co Ltd, said the glass market was opened to cater to the increasing demand of glass-made products, especially in house-decoration market.
Profits from the country's flat glass industry, including float glass, horizontal glass as well as drawing and rolling glass, reached about 3.12 billion yuan (US$375.9 million) last year, registering an increase of 250 percent from a year earlier, according to China Architectural And Industrial Glass Association.
Industrial insiders said the dramatic growth in the glass industry can be attributed to the booming industries concerned, including building, mechanical and automobiles.
According to the industrial insider, about 60 percent of glass is supplied for the building industry, while 7 percent is used in automobiles and 10 percent is used in furniture and home decorations.
Last year, domestic companies strived to build up float-glass production lines, which at last reached 123 in total with an increase between 10 percent and 15 percent.
About 25 production lines are expected to be built this year.
Take Qinghuangdao Glass Industry Research and Design Institute, one of the largest institutes in China, for example.
Between last August and January, the institute built three float glass production lines, each with a producing capacity of 900 to 1,000 tons a day.
According to Guo Liya, project department director for the institute, producers are quite optimistic about the market for flat glass, which is mainly used by the building industry.
To cater for the booming industry, manufacturers and institutes have started investing in their research and development programs and environmental protection projects, since technology and the environment have been two main attractive elements for customers.
Guo said the institute allocated 30 percent of its budget to R&D programs last year and also spent a large sum of money on an energy circulation project.
While demand for the product is growing, industrial experts said they should remain on alert for signs of over production, since the industry is pretty much dependent on the other constructional markets. "If manufacturers are all crowded in one highly-valued technology, for example, the price of the products will soon decrease as the core technology is no longer monopolized," said Guo.
Located in the southwest of the city, Jiuxing Town is home to many indoor markets specializing in tea, hardware and auto parts.
Wu said the company could respond quickly to the market by shutting or opening stores, whenever they find some new products in hot demand.