The first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award has once again been awarded to the textile chemical fiber sector. In the 2025 awards ceremony, Tongkun Group, as the lead unit, together with Donghua University, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and seven other institutions, won this top domestic scientific honor for the project "Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of Polyester Fiber Industry Chain." For China's textile industry, which produces 70% of the world's chemical fibers—with polyester fibers ranking first—the value of this award goes beyond technology itself: it signifies that the independent technology system for the polyester fiber industry chain, often called the "industrial staple," has been essentially established.
Technical Path: From Single-Point Breakthroughs to Full-Chain Coverage
Over the past decade, the textile sector has accumulated 28 national science and technology awards, covering areas such as specialty fibers, intelligent equipment, and green dyeing. However, what sets this award-winning project apart is that it is not a breakthrough in a single process or piece of equipment, but a systematic innovation spanning the entire chain from PTA to polyester fibers to end products. Wang Huaping, a researcher at Donghua University and the project's lead, along with his team and Tongkun Group, achieved innovations in three dimensions:
- Green manufacturing: Pioneering a direct PTA-PET coupling low-carbon model, replacing traditional processes with environmentally friendly titanium-based catalysts, and establishing full lifecycle green standards.
- Intelligent manufacturing: Achieving domestic substitution of DCS control systems, forming an integrated system for process and quality control, providing a replicable upgrade solution for the industry.
- Service-oriented manufacturing: Through a "multi-head, multi-tail" polymerization technology platform, enabling modular production and agile manufacturing of differentiated products, deeply binding manufacturing with downstream demand.
The data speaks volumes: 76 authorized invention patents, 14 national and industry standards, and an expert panel conclusion that the overall technology is "internationally leading."
Industrial Implementation: The Scale Effect Behind 200 Billion Yuan in Sales
Technology's value ultimately hinges on industrial conversion efficiency. The project's results have been implemented in industrial bases across Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang, as well as more than ten other enterprises, generating cumulative new sales exceeding 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes of over 10 billion yuan, and export earnings of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars. For buyers, this means systematic improvements in the supply stability, quality consistency, and cost competitiveness of polyester fiber products. Tongkun Group, leveraging the project's demonstration effect, was selected as one of the first national "Zero-Waste Enterprise" cases and was recognized as a national service-oriented manufacturing demonstration enterprise.
A noteworthy detail: the concurrently awarded International Science and Technology Cooperation Award went to Professor Elsa Reichmanis of Lehigh University in the U.S. She has collaborated for years with Donghua University's State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials, jointly training talent, publishing papers, and promoting international conferences. This reflects that China's textile industry innovation is no longer a closed pursuit but deeply embedded in the global research network.
Industry Impact: The Intersection of Chain Security and New Productive Forces
Upgrading the polyester fiber industry directly relates to alleviating the "grain-cotton competition" conflict and preventing the risk of industrial chain relocation. For China, which produces 70% of the world's chemical fibers, if it cannot achieve independent control over core technologies, its scale advantage could be eroded by technological barriers. This award-winning project precisely achieved domestic substitution in key areas like catalysts, control systems, and oils, providing a more stable raw material foundation for downstream industries such as fabrics, apparel, and home textiles.
From a broader perspective, this project aligns closely with the "dual carbon" goals and the new productive forces strategy. The green manufacturing dimension reduces energy consumption and emissions per unit, the intelligent manufacturing dimension enhances total factor productivity, and the service-oriented manufacturing dimension pushes the industry from "selling products" to "selling solutions." These changes are reshaping the competitive landscape of the polyester fiber industry—technology leaders will gain greater pricing power and customer stickiness.