The 2025 National Science and Technology Awards have been announced, with the textile and chemical fiber sector securing two major honors. The project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of Polyester Fiber Industry Chain' won the First Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. This marks the third time the textile industry has obtained this top prize, following the carbon fiber award in 2017 and the yarn dyeing award in 2014, and the first time covering the entire polyester fiber chain.
Background
The award-winning project was led by Tongkun Group, with Professor Wang Huaping from Donghua University as the principal investigator, and involved ten entities including Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. Over a decade of collaborative research, the project addressed critical strategic needs for China's polyester fiber industry chain security and international competitiveness. Polyester fiber accounts for the largest share of China's chemical fiber output, which itself represents 70% of global production. Technological upgrades in this sector directly impact downstream textile costs, quality, and environmental performance.
The project achieved breakthroughs in three dimensions: green manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and service-oriented manufacturing. In green manufacturing, it pioneered a PTA-PET direct coupling low-carbon production model, developed eco-friendly titanium-based catalysts, and established full lifecycle green standards. In intelligent manufacturing, it completed large-scale domestic substitution of DCS control systems and built an integrated process-quality management system. In service-oriented manufacturing, it created a 'multi-head multi-tail' series-parallel composite polymerization platform, enabling differentiated polyester fiber customization and multi-region agile manufacturing.
Industry Impact
From an economic perspective, the project's outcomes have been implemented in industrial bases in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang, and at over ten industry players, generating cumulative new sales exceeding 200 billion RMB, profit and tax over 10 billion RMB, and export earnings of 1.8 billion USD, while significantly reducing energy consumption and defect rates. For buyers, this means improved stability, consistency, and cost competitiveness of polyester fiber supply, especially as demand for green, low-carbon products surges.
Technologically, the project has formed a complete independent intellectual property system including 76 authorized invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national and industry standards. Expert panels have rated the overall technology as internationally leading. Tongkun Group has been selected as one of the first national 'Zero-Waste Enterprise' cases, and recognized as a 'National Service-Oriented Manufacturing Demonstration Enterprise' and 'National Excellent-Level Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Factory'. This signals that the polyester fiber industry has shifted from following to leading, with proprietary technology systems becoming core competitive barriers.
On the international cooperation front, Donghua University also won the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China, awarded to Professor Elsa Reichmanis. She has long promoted US-China scientific exchanges, collaborating with Donghua on graduate training, publishing 18 papers, and authoring one monograph. She has also chaired several international conferences on advanced fibers and polymer materials. This award reflects the growing global influence of China's fiber materials discipline and provides positive signals for future international research collaboration and talent acquisition.