Polyester Fiber Chain Wins Top National Sci-Tech Award, Marking Self-Reliant System for Chemical Fiber Industry

A technological breakthrough covering the entire polyester fiber value chain—from raw materials to end products—has just received the highest recognition in China's science and technology community. On July 8, the 2025 National Science and Technology Awards were announced in Beijing. The project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing in the Polyester Fiber Industry Chain,' led by Tongkun Group as the primary completing unit and jointly carried out by ten institutions including Donghua University and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. This marks another milestone in the general-purpose fiber segment, following the carbon fiber technology award in 2017.

A Self-Reliant Full-Chain System: From Follower to Leader

Polyester fiber is the 'industrial staple' of the textile industry. China produces 70% of the world's chemical fibers, with polyester fiber output consistently ranking first among all chemical fiber categories. Over the past decade, while the industry has led in scale, it still relied on imported technology and equipment for key green and smart manufacturing links. The core value of this award-winning project lies in building a complete self-reliant technical system covering direct-coupled low-carbon manufacturing from PTA to PET, full-process automation equipment upgrades, and a flexible 'multi-head multi-tail' polymerization platform.

Lead researcher Wang Huaping from Donghua University revealed that the team tackled bottleneck areas such as crude-oil-based fiber finishes and environmentally friendly titanium catalysts, achieving three major breakthroughs: First, in green manufacturing, they established a full life-cycle green standard for polyester fiber and opened a low-carbon production pathway. Second, in smart manufacturing, they completed large-scale domestic substitution of DCS control systems, creating a replicable industrial upgrade model. Third, in service-oriented manufacturing, they pioneered a modular digital linkage system with 'one head, three tails' for multi-point addition, enabling customized production of differentiated products.

To date, the project has formed a complete intellectual property matrix consisting of 76 authorized invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national and industry standards. The overall technology has been recognized by an expert panel as reaching an international leading level. Results have been promoted in industrial bases in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, and at over ten enterprises, generating cumulative new sales of over 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes exceeding 10 billion yuan, and export earnings of $1.8 billion. For downstream buyers, this means systematic improvements in the supply stability, quality consistency, and environmental compliance of polyester fiber.

International Sci-Tech Cooperation Award: A Catalyst for Open Innovation

At the same ceremony, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, chair of the International Advisory Committee of Donghua University's State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, received the中华人民共和国 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. A leading scholar in semiconductor materials and flexible electronics, she has collaborated deeply with Donghua University since 2013, co-supervising graduate students, publishing 18 high-level papers, and helping transform the International Conference on Advanced Fiber and Polymer Materials into the world's largest fiber-themed academic event.

This award reflects the transformation of China's textile industry from 'importing technology' to 'collaborative innovation.' Over the past decade, the textile sector has produced 28 national science and technology award winners, including 22 Science and Technology Progress Awards covering specialties like specialty fibers, smart equipment, green dyeing, and technical textiles. However, previous awards focused on single technology points or niche categories. A full-chain systemic breakthrough like this one is unprecedented.

Ripple Effects on Industrial Clusters: Tongkun's Model and Industry Replication

As the lead unit, Tongkun Group has leveraged the project's demonstration effect to become one of China's first batch of 'Zero-Waste Enterprise' cases and has been recognized as a 'National Service-Oriented Manufacturing Demonstration Enterprise' and a 'National Excellent Smart Manufacturing Demonstration Factory.' Industrial clusters in Tongxiang (Zhejiang), Shengze (Jiangsu), and Changle (Fujian) are expected to benefit first from the technology system's rollout.

For polyester fiber buyers, the direct benefit is improved product quality stability, traceability, and reduced environmental compliance pressure. For fiber producers, the system provides quantifiable paths for cost reduction and efficiency gains—industry energy consumption and defect rates have already dropped significantly.

For Buyers - Focus on green fiber product lines from leading companies like Tongkun, Hengyi, and Rongsheng. Their products, certified under the full life-cycle green standard, offer clear compliance advantages under new international trade rules like the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). - Leverage the flexible customization capability ('multi-head multi-tail') to negotiate small-batch, differentiated polyester fiber orders with suppliers, reducing inventory risk.

For Foreign Trade Enterprises - Use the 14 national and industry standards developed by the project as quality endorsements for export products, especially in Southeast Asian and African markets, to strengthen bargaining power. - Monitor capacity expansion by Tongkun and others in regions like Xinjiang, where lower energy costs can optimize export tax rebates and logistics cost structures.