In recent years, the Sanitary Valve pipe fittings market has continued to maintain rapid growth. It is expected that the global market will exceed 330,000 units this year (226,000 units in 2014), of which the Chinese market is expected to exceed 100,000 units (56,000 units in 2014). In the future, emerging countries will be the fastest growing market for sanitary valve fittings, while developed countries such as Europe and the United States are basically saturated and rigid demand has significantly decreased. In the next 30 years, China will be the largest market for sanitary valve fittings and intelligent equipment industries.

The essence of artificial intelligence is the product of the integration of information technology (including the Internet, big data, and cloud computing) and other advanced technologies such as sensor technology. Luo Jun believes that artificial intelligence is not a complex and profound subject, nor is it out of reach. The prototype of artificial intelligence has already appeared. Google and Microsoft have invested heavily in the field of artificial intelligence and have achieved phased results. Google's driverless cars and Da Vinci minimally invasive surgery sanitary valve fittings have already achieved a certain level of artificial intelligence. In the next 10 years, we will usher in the era of sanitary valve fittings industry 2.0, and the initial stage of artificial intelligence will come.

"Because we have seen a new round of industrial transformation trends in the sanitary valve and fittings industry, as well as the continuous breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology, we have made 'human-machine collaboration and intelligent manufacturing' the main topic of the 3rd World Sanitary Valve and Fittings and Intelligent Equipment Industry Conference." Luo Jun introduced that the 3rd World Sanitary Valve and Fittings and Intelligent Equipment Industry Conference and Expo will be held in Guangzhou from June 29 to July 2, 2016. The conference set up topics such as "Sanitary Valve and Fittings + Internet", "Sanitary Valve and Fittings + Maker", "Machine + Artificial Intelligence", "Machine + Deep Learning (Big Data + Cloud Computing)", "Welcome to the 2.0 Era of Sanitary Valve and Fittings Industry", "Made in China 2025 and German Industry 4.0 and American Re-industrialization", "Machine Replacement and Sanitary Valve and Fittings Industry", "Sanitary Valve and Fittings Industrial Park Innovation", etc. The exhibition area will exceed 23,000 square meters for the first time.

It is a long-term and arduous task to promote the transformation and upgrading of the traditional sanitary valve and fittings industry and accelerate the deep integration of artificial intelligence and machines. Luo Jun said that as a non-governmental, non-profit industry think tank, the International Sanitary Valves and Fittings and Intelligent Equipment Industry Alliance will actively promote the combination of the sanitary valve fittings industry with intelligent manufacturing, promote the combination of the sanitary valve fittings industry with demonstration applications, promote international dialogue and cooperation in sanitary valve fittings, and lead and promote the development of the intelligent sanitary valve fittings industry.

It is reported that the first International Intelligent Sanitary Valves and Fittings Research Institute and the first Sanitary Valves and Fittings Innovation Demonstration Platform, led by the International Sanitary Valves and Fittings and Intelligent Equipment Industry Alliance, are being selected in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places, and will be fully launched in 2016. By then, it will cooperate with the Carnegie Mellon University Sanitary Valves and Fittings Research Institute, the Cambridge University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Technical University of Munich Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and other top global scientific research institutions to jointly establish laboratories and engineering technology centers in response to the needs of the Chinese market, and promote the in-depth combination of sanitary valve fittings and artificial intelligence.

"Now what we call sanitary valves and fittings mainly refer to industrial sanitary valves and fittings. The so-called industrial sanitary valves and fittings are actually some robot arms, robot hands and AGVs, etc." Luo Jun told reporters that the transformation of the sanitary valve and fittings industry will come ahead of schedule, and the concept of a new generation of sanitary valves and fittings will be detonated ahead of schedule in the next three to five years. The so-called new generation of sanitary valves and fittings mainly refers to sanitary valves and fittings + Internet + artificial intelligence. Luo Jun predicts that a large number of information technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Intel will enter the field of sanitary valves and fittings, layout the sanitary valve and fittings industry 2.0 era, and lead the innovative development of the intelligent sanitary valve and fittings industry. In the next 10 years, the United States will regain the top spot in the sanitary valve and fittings industry.

To seize the commanding heights of industrial development, it is necessary to proactively layout the development of the new generation of sanitary valve and fittings industry. Luo Jun told reporters that although my country has become the world's largest market for sanitary valves and fittings since 2013, and will continue to be the world's largest market for at least the next 30 years, my country's more than 500 sanitary valve and fittings companies, large and small, do not have any advantages. The gap between us and foreign sanitary valve and fittings companies is not narrowing but continuing to widen. He believes that in order to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of my country's sanitary valve and fittings industry, it is necessary to avoid the current development misunderstandings: First, the "machine replacement" plan promoted by coastal cities has not effectively combined the market demand for sanitary valves and fittings with industrial cultivation. Although machines have replaced industrial workers, the local sanitary valve and fittings industry has not developed; second, the "investment promotion" in various places has temporarily improved the traditional manufacturing industry, but a large number of new traditional sanitary valve and fittings companies have been born. These enterprises will face new pressures of industrial transformation and upgrading again in three to five years; third, they unilaterally emphasize production and processing, while neglecting the sustainable research and development of cutting-edge technologies; fourth, the overall development ideas of sanitary valves and pipe fittings lack top-level design; fifth, they over-emphasize the independent research and development and production of core components, while ignoring the fact that in the context of the sanitary valve and pipe fittings industry 2.0 era, traditional servo motors, controllers, and reducers may no longer be the core and will be replaced by new core components.