China had a domestic glassmaking industry for some time, but it largely died out and was reintroduced by Jesuits during the early Qing.
The use of glass is important for lenses, scientific instruments, eyeglasses etc. There may be other reasons as to why Chinese scientific development stalled besides this, but it certainly helped.
There needs to be a reason for clear glass to exist in China, since it had the technology to make chromatic glass. Since the Romans had clear glass, China could have developed it independently, or perhaps the technique might propagate into China sooner. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough in Chinese history as to why they didn't bother. Perhaps they felt that they had no need for it - paper is transparent enough for natural light to pass through it, whilst also blocking out the wind, for instance.