(Photo/International Financial News)

China's graphene industry is still in its early development stage. It needs at least five to ten more years to mature, according to a report released by China Economic Information Service on July 5.

As a new ultra-thin, super-conductive nanomaterial, graphene is known as the "black gold" and the "king of new materials."

The annual report on China's graphene development revealed that the material was researched from 2004 to 2013 for uses such as in transistors, modulators, and conductive tubing. Domestic graphene goods hit China's market in 2013. However, only products like lithium batteries and graphene heat radiation films that require low graphene quality can be commercialized due to limited preparative technology.

In 2016, the overall market size of graphene in China exceeded 4 billion RMB, nearly ten times of the size in 2015, and the sales volume reached about 3 billion RMB. The China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry forecasts that the graphene market will achieve great expansion in 2017 and could surpass 10 billion RMB. China is expected to become the world's largest country of graphene consumption.

As of 2016, the graphene industry in China has formed six markets: in new energy, health, composite materials, energy conservation and environmental protection, and raw materials, and in the preparation of the material. New energy takes up 49 percent of the market share.

The number of graphene enterprises has exploded since 2016. There were 704 graphene-related companies registered in 2016, a year on year increase of 113 percent. The majority are focused on graphene research and development.