Fastener Industry Opportunities After Two Sessions 2026

In March 2026, the National Two Sessions were held as scheduled. Premier Li Qiang's government work report set a clear tone for the year's economic development, defining the core direction of stable growth, promoting transformation, and improving quality. For the fastener industry, known as the rice of industry, the policy signals in this report are particularly critical. With macro-level fiscal stimulus, the rise of new quality industries, and deeper high-quality development, multiple favorable factors are converging. The fastener industry, which serves as the joints connecting major engineering projects, is standing at a significant growth inflection point, facing unprecedented opportunities.

Although fasteners are small, they are used across thousands of industries including infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, and electronics. They are core basic components supporting the normal operation of the industrial system. As the policies from the Two Sessions are gradually implemented, policy dividends continue to be released, and market demand steadily recovers. The fastener industry in 2026 is breaking free from the constraints of traditional low-price competition and transitioning toward technology-driven, high-end, and standardized development. This article combines core Two Sessions policies, recent market dynamics, and industry data to identify four major development opportunities for the fastener industry in 2026, providing references for industry practitioners to help companies precisely seize policy-driven growth and achieve high-quality development.

1. Macro Direction: Fiscal Policy Intensifies, Infrastructure Demand Continues to Be Released

The government work report clearly set a 2026 economic growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent, with a deficit ratio of approximately 4 percent and a deficit scale of 5.89 trillion yuan. It plans to issue 1.3 trillion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds, focusing on supporting major strategic initiatives and security capabilities in key areas as well as large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods replacement. It also arranges 4.4 trillion yuan in local government special bonds to further strengthen funding guarantees for infrastructure. This series of proactive fiscal policies brings direct market dividends to the fastener industry.

As the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, key projects supported by central government fiscal funds will continue to advance. Major infrastructure projects such as urban underground pipelines, high-standard farmland, shelterbelt projects, transportation, and water conservancy are accelerating. These projects require massive quantities of fasteners. According to Zheshang Securities analysis, new infrastructure projects in 2026 will drive synchronized growth in demand for raw materials including waterproofing materials, coatings, and cement. As basic connecting components, fasteners will certainly see peak demand. Notably, this year ultra-long special treasury bonds are explicitly allowed for financial sector expenditures, guiding financial resources toward the real economy through methods such as replenishing capital for financial institutions and providing risk compensation. This also facilitates financing for fastener companies and alleviates capital pressures for small and medium enterprises.

Looking at specific applications, major infrastructure projects such as large bridges, high-speed rail tracks, and urban rail transit have strong demand for high-strength, corrosion-resistant fasteners. Livelihood projects such as renovation of old residential communities and urban renewal will also drive batch demand for ordinary fasteners. Policy-level funding guarantees will effectively solve the problem of delayed project funding, accelerate project implementation, and drive continued growth in fastener industry demand.

2. New Quality Transformation: Smart Construction Empowers, Technology Dividends Replace Price Competition

This government work report proposed for the first time to create a new form of smart economy, explicitly requiring the development of smart construction and the cultivation of modern construction industry chains. It also emphasized cultivating and strengthening emerging and future industries, developing pillar industries such as integrated circuits, aerospace, biomedicine, and low-altitude economy. This policy direction is pushing the fastener industry to transform from traditional low-price competition to a technology dividend era.

The advancement of smart construction places higher demands on fastener precision, strength, and compatibility. Traditional manual assembly is gradually being replaced by smart production lines. Supporting fasteners must have higher dimensional accuracy and more stable performance to adapt to the efficient operation of smart assembly equipment, which drives fastener companies to increase technology investment and improve product refinement. At the same time, the government work report proposes implementing new infrastructure projects such as ultra-large smart computing clusters and computing-power collaboration. In these new infrastructure projects, the installation and fixing of electronic equipment and computing facilities require a large number of high-precision micro fasteners, further expanding fastener application scenarios.

More notably, the rise of emerging industries such as aerospace and low-altitude economy is generating explosive demand for high-performance fasteners. Data from international research firm SNS Insider shows that aerospace-grade fasteners are the fastest-growing fastener segment globally, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.03 percent. Research and Markets reports that expansion of global aerospace production activities continues to drive demand for high-performance, lightweight, corrosion-resistant fasteners. Domestically, production capacity of the C919 domestic large aircraft is gradually being released. Each aircraft requires tens of thousands of high-performance fasteners. Combined with upgrades to military aviation equipment, this will continue to drive demand for high-end fasteners made from titanium alloy and high-temperature alloys, providing broad market space for fastener companies with core technologies.

3. High-Quality Development: Certification and Empirical Evidence Become Key, Industry Barriers Gradually Rise

Two Sessions representative Ni Haiqin suggested increasing support for the green building industry and promoting green building technology from pilot demonstration to full popularization. As green buildings and ultra-low energy buildings are promoted, and as the concept of full life cycle safety in engineering takes hold, the durability and reliability of building materials are being held to higher standards. This has made international certification and engineering empirical evidence the hard currency of the fastener industry.

Currently, major projects such as the C919 aircraft, nuclear power plants, and super-high-rise buildings have explicitly adopted international certifications such as ETA and FM as access conditions for fasteners. FM certification, recognized globally as a high-quality standard, has a rigorous process covering product testing, production process audits, and periodic reexaminations. Fasteners that pass this certification not only prove product conformity but also provide performance characteristic values that can be directly used for structural calculations, becoming a key to entering high-end markets. For fastener companies, obtaining international certification not only improves product competitiveness but also breaks through overseas market barriers and expands international business.

4. Market Dynamics: Production Resumption Accelerates, Enterprise Confidence Continues to Recover

The release of policy dividends has also driven positive responses on the market side. Production resumption in the national fastener industry is progressing in an orderly manner. Companies have full order books, and market confidence continues to recover. According to research data from 100 Construction, as of March 4, the construction start rate across 10,692 construction sites nationwide was 23.5 percent, the labor arrival rate was 29.7 percent, and the funding availability rate was 35.5 percent. All these figures were flat or slightly higher than the same lunar period last year. The gradual start of infrastructure projects provides solid support for fastener demand.

On the enterprise side, the production resumption boom at Jiaxing Jinshang Nuclear Grade Industrial Park is particularly representative. As the first four-star small business park at the provincial level in Haiyan County, the park houses 24 production enterprises with a occupancy rate of 96 percent. It achieved 100 percent production resumption before the 15th day of the lunar new year. At Jiaxing Aozhan Industrial Co., Ltd. in the park, 190 employees returned to work with a return rate of 99 percent since resumption. The company currently has over 1,300 tons of orders on hand, with March production plans fully booked. In the first two months of 2026, the company achieved output value of approximately 38 million yuan, a strong start. According to reports, the park achieved total output value of 780 million yuan in 2025, with a 2026 target of an additional 5 percent growth, and plans to invest 3 million yuan in a new automated packaging line to improve shipping efficiency.

Additionally, Tengda Technology raised prices on some fastener products for two consecutive days, also reflecting positive industry signals. Raw material cost pass-through is smooth, market demand is recovering, and companies have sufficient confidence in future development. As production resumption continues to advance and downstream industry demand is gradually released, fastener companies will see continued order growth, and overall industry sentiment is expected to steadily improve.

5. Conclusion

In 2026, the fastener industry stands at the intersection of multiple favorable factors. Proactive fiscal policy provides solid funding guarantees. Smart construction and the rise of emerging industries bring technology dividends. The push for high-quality development drives standardized industry upgrading. Accelerated production resumption continues to restore market confidence. For fastener industry practitioners, this represents not only unprecedented development opportunities but also a critical year for transformation and upgrading.

The industry is gradually breaking free from the constraints of traditional low-price competition. Technical strength, certification qualifications, and product quality have become core competitiveness. As a fastener industry platform, we recommend that practitioners closely follow the path of high-quality development, actively adapt to policy directions, increase technology research and development investment, strategically pursue high-end products, obtain authoritative international certifications, and enhance brand influence through engineering empirical evidence. At the same time, closely monitor market dynamics and precisely match downstream demand to seize opportunities under policy tailwinds and achieve sustainable enterprise development.

In the future, as Two Sessions policies continue to be implemented and industry technology continues to innovate, the fastener industry will gradually transform toward high-end, smart, and green development, becoming an important force supporting high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry. We will continue to monitor industry dynamics and deliver the latest policy information, market trends, and technical insights to practitioners, helping the fastener industry achieve new breakthroughs and new development in 2026.