The awarding of a first-class National Science and Technology Progress Award has put polyester fiber, the 'staple food' of the textile industry, in the spotlight. The project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of Polyester Fiber Industrial Chain', led by Tongkun Group as the primary unit and jointly completed with Donghua University, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and seven other institutions, won the top prize at the 2025 National Science and Technology Award Ceremony. This is not only the first time the chemical fiber industry has reached the top in general fiber full-chain technology, but it also signifies that China has built a completely independent and controllable technology system for polyester fiber, the world's largest-volume synthetic fiber.
For buyers and downstream fabric factories, the formation of this system directly affects supply chain stability and cost control. Polyester fiber accounts for over 70% of China's chemical fiber output, and China produces 70% of the world's chemical fibers. Previously, production equipment, key catalysts, and oiling agents for high-end polyester fiber relied heavily on imports. Any disruption in the supply chain would put enormous pressure on downstream production. Now, from direct PTA polymerization to green titanium catalysts, from full-process automation to differentiated product customization, domestic technology has covered the entire chain. This gives buyers stronger bargaining power and more reliable delivery cycles.
Three Core Technological Breakthroughs Reshape the Industry Logic
The project's core breakthroughs lie in three dimensions: green manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and service-oriented manufacturing. In green manufacturing, the team pioneered a direct PTA-PET coupled low-carbon production model, significantly shortening the process while developing environmentally friendly titanium-based catalysts to replace traditional antimony-based ones, eliminating heavy metal pollution. This path directly addresses the stringent carbon footprint and chemical management requirements of overseas markets like the EU, providing crucial compliance leverage for export-oriented companies.
On the intelligent manufacturing front, the project achieved large-scale domestic replacement of DCS control systems and established an integrated process-quality management system. This means that production line control systems, once dominated by foreign giants like Siemens and ABB, now have a domestic alternative. Based on field data, the results have been promoted in industrial bases in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang, generating cumulative new sales of over 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes of over 10 billion yuan, and export earnings of 1.8 billion US dollars. Industry energy consumption and defect rates have also dropped significantly, providing downstream fabric companies with more stable and lower-cost raw material supply.
Service-oriented manufacturing is the most forward-looking breakthrough. The project's pioneering 'multi-head, multi-tail' series-parallel composite polymerization technology platform enables modular, digital customization of differentiated polyester fiber products. Simply put, a single plant can simultaneously produce multiple fiber specifications and quickly switch recipes based on customer orders. For buyers, this means shorter sampling cycles and more flexible small-batch customization capabilities, fundamentally changing the traditional supply pattern dominated by standard products.
A Decade of Research and the Model of Industry-University Collaboration
From a research timeline perspective, the project took over a decade, led by Professor Wang Huaping from Donghua University as the first completer, with deep involvement from the team of Academician Zhu Meifang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project has formed a complete independent intellectual property system including 76 authorized invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national and industry standards. It was evaluated by an expert panel of academicians as reaching an internationally leading level. This long-cycle, high-intensity model of industry-university collaboration is particularly valuable in today's fast-paced industrial environment.
Notably, at the same award ceremony, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, Chair of the International Advisory Committee of Donghua University's State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials, also received the中华人民共和国国际科学技术合作奖 (International Science and Technology Cooperation Award). This U.S. academician has long promoted Sino-US exchanges in fiber materials and collaborated with Donghua to train several national-level talents. The simultaneous awarding of this prize sends a clear signal: open international cooperation remains a vital pillar in building China's independent technology system for the chemical fiber industry.
Industry Impact: From Cost Advantage to Technology Barrier
For the textile industry, this first-class award signifies that the polyester fiber sector is shifting from 'scale-driven' to 'technology-driven'. In the past, the core competitiveness of Chinese chemical fiber companies came mainly from economies of scale. Now, as green and intelligent manufacturing technologies are widely promoted, technology itself is becoming a new competitive barrier. When selecting suppliers, buyers need to evaluate not only price but also the autonomy of their technology system and their green compliance capabilities.
From a regional industrial cluster perspective, areas like Tongxiang in Zhejiang (home to Tongkun Group), Shengze in Jiangsu, and Changle in Fujian are beginning to accelerate the adoption and replication of this technology package. It is foreseeable that in the next two years, companies with green and intelligent production capabilities will secure more high-end orders and export qualifications, while technologically backward small and medium-sized chemical fiber plants may face accelerated market exit.