From July 1 to July 5, 2013, the 23rd International Congress on Glass was held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The International Congress on Glass is the highest-level international conference in this field. More than 700 professors, experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from research institutes, universities, and enterprises in more than 30 countries around the world attended the congress.

This international glass exchange congress was hosted by the International Commission on Glass. The International Commission on Glass was established in September 1933. At present, its member countries have spread across 33 countries around the world. Its current President is Mr. Peng Shou, Chairman of China Building Materials International Engineering Group Co., Ltd. This is the first time a Chinese person has served as President of the International Commission on Glass. For this reason, China sent a delegation of more than 30 representatives to the congress.

The themes of the congress covered various aspects of glass materials, such as glass structure, glass surface treatment, glass crystallization, physical and optical properties of glass, special glass, energy-efficient glass, glass durability, bioglass, computer and structural models, glass coating technology, application of waste glass, indentation technology and surface performance evaluation, glass furnaces and refractory materials, and so on. The participating representatives carefully listened to keynote speeches on topics such as the current development of the world glass field at the plenary session and conducted extensive and in-depth discussions on current scientific issues in the glass industry.

At the invitation of the President of the International Commission on Glass, CTC Chief Scientist Bao Yiwang attended the roundtable meeting on behalf of China and delivered an invited congress report titled “The Road to Sustainable Development of China's Glass Industry.” The report mainly addressed the current status and existing problems of China's glass industry, the development prospects of China's glass industry, and policies and regulations. The report introduced in detail the major strategic decisions made by the Chinese government and a series of policies and regulations, as well as the tax incentives and financial funding support granted to high-tech glass enterprises and high-tech industrialization projects, which have provided strong impetus for the glass industry to vigorously carry out independent innovation and strong policy support for the sustainable development of the glass industry. At the same time, Bao Yiwang emphasized in the report that testing and evaluation technology is an important means of ensuring glass quality and service safety, and the important role CTC plays in the healthy and orderly development of China's glass industry. The excellent report attracted strong interest and heated discussion from senior officials and representatives of the International Commission on Glass. Participants conducted extensive exchanges and discussions on issues of interest.

During the congress, the Chinese glass delegation also visited relevant glass enterprises and research institutions, deepening exchanges with the European glass industry.

In recent years, although China's glass industry has achieved rapid development and progress, there is still a gap in technical level compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States. Strengthening cross-border industry academic exchanges through this congress will help promote cooperation between developed countries in Europe and the United States and emerging countries, accelerate the development of emerging countries, and cultivate more scientists in the industry. It also provides a platform for exchange and learning for CTC's “going international” path, laying a solid foundation for the rapid development of CTC.