A technological achievement covering the entire polyester fiber industry chain has just rewritten the technological height of China's chemical fiber industry. The 2025 National Science and Technology Progress Award first prize was awarded to the project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of the Polyester Fiber Industry Chain,' led by Tongkun Group and ten other institutions including Donghua University. This marks the first time the general fiber full-chain technology system has reached the highest national science honor, signaling a shift from 'scale leadership' to 'technology leadership' for China's polyester fiber industry.
Background
Polyester fiber, as the 'industrial staple' of the textile industry, accounts for the largest share of China's chemical fiber output, with China producing 70% of global chemical fiber. The award-winning project, after over a decade of industry-academia collaboration, was led by Donghua University researcher Wang Huaping, with deep involvement from academician Zhu Meifang's team, Tongkun Group, and other research institutions. The project has formed a complete independent intellectual property system with 76 authorized invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national and industry standards, achieving international leading level overall.
Notably, this is not an isolated case. Between 2012 and 2020, 28 achievements in the textile field received National Science and Technology Awards, including 22 Progress Awards covering specialty fibers, intelligent equipment, green printing and dyeing, and industrial textiles. Previous first-prize winners include Zhongfu Shenying's carbon fiber project (2017) and Shandong Kangpingna's digital automated yarn dyeing technology (2014). This project completes the technology puzzle for the general fiber full chain.
Industry Impact
The project achieved three core technological breakthroughs with far-reaching effects across the chain:
- Green manufacturing: Created a direct PTA-PET coupling low-carbon production model, developed environmentally friendly titanium catalysts, and established full-lifecycle green standards. This provides lower-carbon raw materials for downstream industries, helping address carbon tariff barriers from markets like the EU.
- Intelligent manufacturing: Upgraded full-process automation and achieved large-scale domestic replacement of DCS control systems. This improves quality stability and reduces defect rates for buyers, lowering supply chain risks.
- Service-oriented manufacturing: Pioneered a 'multi-head multi-tail' series-parallel composite polymerization platform for customized differentiated polyester fiber products. This flexibility benefits brands and fabric buyers by enabling small-batch, multi-variety custom fibers, shortening new product development cycles.
Economically, the project has been deployed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, and over 10 industry units, generating over 200 billion yuan in new sales, 10 billion yuan in profits and taxes, and $1.8 billion in export earnings. This scale effect consolidates China's pricing power in the global polyester fiber market and provides a replicable pathway for achieving the 'dual carbon' goals.
Additionally, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, international advisory committee chair of Donghua University's State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials, received the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. The American engineering academician has long promoted US-China tech exchanges, collaborated with Donghua on talent training and publications, and helped develop the International Conference on Advanced Fiber and Polymer Materials into the world's largest fiber-themed academic event. This award indicates that China's textile technology international cooperation is transitioning from 'importing' to 'deep co-research,' attracting more global talent to tackle chemical fiber challenges.