China’s chemical fiber output accounts for 70% of global total, with polyester fiber serving as the ‘industrial staple’. The 2025 National Science and Technology Progress First Prize awarded to a polyester fiber full-chain project marks a system-level leap from isolated breakthroughs to integrated autonomy.
Background
On July 8, the project ‘Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of Polyester Fiber Industry Chain’, led by Tongkun Group with ten partners including Donghua University, won the top prize. This signals that China’s polyester sector has built a full-chain tech system covering raw materials, polymerization, spinning, and downstream processing.
Concurrently, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, chair of Donghua’s international advisory committee, received the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, highlighting the role of global collaboration in fundamental materials research.
Industry Impact
The decade-long R&D tackled three pain points: high energy consumption, low flexibility, and reliance on imported catalysts. In green manufacturing, the team created a direct-coupled PTA-PET low-carbon model and developed eco-friendly titanium catalysts to replace antimony-based ones, enabling full-lifecycle decarbonization.
In smart manufacturing, full-process automation achieved domestic replacement of DCS control systems, forming a replicable ‘China solution’. The service-oriented manufacturing breakthrough—a ‘multi-head, multi-tail’ serial-parallel polymerization platform—enables modular digital production for differentiated fiber customization.
The project has generated 76 authorized invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national/industry standards. Expert panels rated the overall technology as world-leading. Deployed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, and over ten companies, it has yielded over 200 billion yuan in new sales, 10 billion yuan in profit/tax, and 1.8 billion USD in exports, while significantly reducing energy consumption and defect rates.
For downstream buyers, this means improved supply stability, performance consistency, and low-carbon attributes that meet stricter EU/US eco-standards. For fiber plants, the tech system provides a clear path from traditional to smart and service-oriented manufacturing, reducing dependence on imported equipment and catalysts.