Party Building and Industry: How Textile Companies Convert Red Genes into Competitive Edge

The textile industry is undergoing a quiet governance transformation. From late June to early July 2025, over a dozen leading textile companies—including Shenghong, Weiqiao, Erdos, Dasheng, Hongdou, Tongkun, Hengli, Anhui Huamao, and Yueda—held concentrated activities for the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. This is not merely ceremonial: data shows party building is evolving from a political task into a management tool and competitive barrier.

How Party Building Reshapes Corporate Governance

Shenghong Holding Group's party secretary, Miao Hangen, proposed a framework of 'four integrations'—aligning party building with business, management system optimization, work style improvement, and talent development. The essence is turning the party's organizational discipline into corporate execution. For giants with tens of thousands of employees, party building offers a low-cost, high-efficiency mechanism for cross-level communication and supervision.

Erdos Group's practice carries more quantitative significance. Its party committee oversees 13 sub-committees, 8 general branches, and 92 branches, with 1,956 members forming a red network across the entire supply chain. The group won the 'Inner Mongolia Charity Award', 13 branches were rated as 'strong fortress' units, and an innovation team won the Youth May Fourth Medal—these directly impact ESG ratings and brand premiums. In an era where overseas buyers scrutinize supply chain compliance, the party building system can serve as a localized ESG certification.

Dasheng Group's case reveals the value of historical heritage. On June 27, Dasheng commemorated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Nantong Independent Party Branch in its cotton mill, releasing annual key projects. Party secretary Bao Weidong instructed branch secretaries to act as 'cultural ambassadors', integrating Zhang Jian's entrepreneurial spirit, red genes, craftsmanship, and patriotism into daily management. For traditional industries like textiles, cultural identity is a hidden asset that reduces employee turnover and improves process stability.

From Ceremony to Productivity

Hongdou Group directly transformed the four dimensions of Yan'an Spirit—correct political direction, emancipation of the mind, serving the people, and self-reliance—into development standards. Chairman Zhou Haijiang systematically deployed these in a special party lecture, requiring cadres to use them as decision-making criteria for product routes, cost control, and customer service. This is not sloganeering but involves specific operational choices.

Tongkun Group's red study tour chose Zunyi, Guizhou. Over 650 party members benchmarked the Long March spirit against the company's 'unity, hard work, pragmatism, and innovation' ethos. Chairman Chen Shiliang, party secretary Xu Jinxiang, and deputy secretary Chen Lei led the team, signaling direct senior management involvement. For a 40-year-old chemical fiber company, surviving cycles requires not just technical reserves but organizational resilience.

Hengli Group's red light-and-shadow creative performance competition in Suzhou involved 12 branches creating original performances based on classic red films, blending party history with job insights. This form reduces the tedium of party activities, attracting younger employees. Amid labor shortages and talent drain in textiles, such activities are becoming a new venue for corporate culture building.

Industry Implications: Party Building as Differentiated Competitiveness

The participating companies cover chemical fiber (Shenghong, Tongkun, Hengli), cotton spinning (Weiqiao, Dasheng, Huamao), cashmere (Erdos), apparel (Hongdou), and silk (Dali). This is no coincidence—these are mostly segment leaders facing common challenges of international competition, tech upgrades, and workforce structural shifts.

Deep party building integration is yielding quantifiable management dividends. At Anhui Huamao, party secretary Ni Junlong emphasized 'morality first' in talent standards, directly influencing recruitment and promotion. In an industry where average gross margins are below 15%, reducing friction and improving decision efficiency may yield more immediate cost savings than any tech innovation.

For small and medium textile firms, this trend offers a replicable path: transform party building from formalistic activity into organizational capacity building, focusing on system design rather than slogans. Start with small-scale pilots, link party member performance to production targets, and gradually build a trust and collaboration network covering all employees.

For Buyers - Prioritize suppliers with robust party building systems and ESG certifications; these typically show better on-time delivery and quality consistency. - Focus on employee participation rates and conversion results of party activities, not just award counts. High participation often indicates stronger internal cohesion. - In long-term partnerships, consider party building culture as a non-financial indicator of supplier management maturity.

For Foreign Trade Enterprises - Use party building systems as supplementary proof of supply chain compliance, especially for ESG-conscious European and American clients, providing materials as evidence of governance transparency. - Leverage 'red study tours' and similar formats to showcase social responsibility and cultural depth to overseas clients, enhancing brand soft power. - Focus on intersections between party building and 'green transition', such as Erdos Group's 'four steps ahead' demonstration, which can serve as internal drivers for meeting international environmental standards.