A first prize in the National Science and Technology Progress Award is rewriting the competitive rules of China's polyester fiber industry. The project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of Polyester Fiber Chain,' led by Tongkun Group and involving ten units including Donghua University, won the first prize in the 2025 awards. This marks the first time the textile chemical fiber sector has achieved this highest honor in the field of general fiber full-chain technology.
Core Breakthrough: From 'Single-Point Innovation' to 'Full-Chain Restructuring'
Previous first-prize winners in textiles focused on niche areas like carbon fiber or intelligent dyeing. This project is unique because it targets polyester fiber, the 'industrial staple'—China produces 70% of global chemical fibers, with polyester ranking first. The team achieved systematic breakthroughs in three areas: PTA-PET direct-coupled low-carbon manufacturing, full-process automation equipment localization, and a 'multi-head multi-tail' series-parallel composite polymerization platform.
What does this mean? For upstream raw materials, the engineering application of environmentally friendly titanium-based catalysts reduces the environmental risks of traditional antimony catalysts. For midstream manufacturing, the domestic replacement of DCS control systems breaks import dependence, and the integrated process-quality control system significantly reduces defect rates. For downstream applications, the modular digital system enables customized differentiation, quickly responding to varying demands from apparel, home textiles, and industrial textiles.
Industrial Impact: Over 200 Billion Yuan in Sales and Industry Restructuring
Industry data shows the project's results have been promoted across Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang, involving over ten enterprises, generating cumulative new sales exceeding 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes over 10 billion yuan, and foreign exchange earnings of $1.8 billion. These numbers reflect a substantive improvement in the competitiveness of the polyester fiber chain.
From a cost perspective, the green manufacturing model significantly reduces energy consumption per unit, directly translating into cost advantages for downstream buyers amid crude oil price volatility. From a supply chain security standpoint, localization of core equipment and catalysts reduces the risk of external technology blockades, which is crucial for weaving and dyeing enterprises reliant on stable raw material supply. From a market positioning angle, the service-oriented manufacturing system means leading firms like Tongkun shift from 'selling products' to 'selling solutions,' allowing small buyers to obtain customized fibers via modular platforms, reducing inventory pressure.
Notably, Tongkun Group has been selected as a national 'Zero-Waste Enterprise' model and recognized as a 'National Service-Oriented Manufacturing Demonstration Enterprise.' This signals that national policy increasingly views green and intelligent manufacturing as dual drivers of industrial upgrading, raising entry barriers and risking elimination for technology-deficient small firms.
Implications of the Industry-Academia Model: Why Donghua and Tongkun?
Another highlight is Donghua University simultaneously winning the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. Professor Elsa Reichmanis, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, received the honor for her long-term promotion of Sino-U.S. fiber materials cooperation. She collaborated with Donghua's State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, training multiple national-level talent and co-publishing 18 high-level papers.
This reveals a trend: deep binding between top academic resources and leading enterprises is becoming a standard path for technological breakthroughs. Donghua's disciplinary accumulation in fiber materials provided basic research support; Tongkun's industrialization capability transformed lab tech into a hundred-billion-yuan market. For other textile firms, the era of relying solely on equipment import or imitative innovation is over; they must build their own 'university-enterprise-application' loop.