A technology achievement covering the entire polyester fiber industry chain has just won China's top science award. In the 2025 National Science and Technology Awards, the project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of the Polyester Fiber Industry Chain,' led by Tongkun Group with ten institutions including Donghua University and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, received the first prize for scientific and technological progress. This marks another first prize for the textile chemical fiber sector after carbon fiber and digital dyeing, but with a distinct significance—it targets full-chain self-reliance for general-purpose fibers.
Technological Breakthrough: From 'Industrial Staple' to Full-Chain Autonomy
Polyester fiber accounts for the largest share of China's chemical fiber output, with 70% of global production coming from China, earning it the nickname 'industrial staple' in the textile industry. Previously, key segments of the industry chain relied heavily on imported technology and equipment, particularly in catalysts, oils, and control systems. The award-winning project, developed over more than a decade of industry-university-research collaboration, was led by Donghua University researcher Wang Huaping, with deep involvement from the team of Academician Zhu Meifang, achieving systematic breakthroughs in three dimensions.
- Green Manufacturing: The project pioneered a direct PTA-PET coupling low-carbon model, developed environmentally friendly titanium-based catalysts and crude oil-based chemical fiber oils, and established a full lifecycle low-carbon pathway from raw materials to fibers.
- Intelligent Manufacturing: It completed full-process automation equipment upgrades, achieved large-scale domestic substitution of DCS control systems, and built an integrated process-quality management system.
- Service-Oriented Manufacturing: A 'multi-head multi-tail' series-parallel composite polymerization platform was created, enabling modular, digital customized production of differentiated polyester fibers.
To date, the technology has generated 76 invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national/industry standards, with an expert panel confirming it has reached international leading levels.
Industrial Impact: 200 Billion Yuan in New Sales and Regional Transmission
Technology is not just about awards but also about implementation. Public data shows the results have been promoted in industrial bases in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang, as well as over 10 other entities, generating cumulative new sales exceeding 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes over 10 billion yuan, and export earnings of $1.8 billion. For buyers and factories, this means systematic reductions in energy consumption and defect rates for polyester fibers, along with enhanced product differentiation.
Tongkun Group, as the lead unit, leveraged the project's demonstration effect to be selected as one of the first national 'Zero-Waste Enterprise' cases and was recognized as a 'National Service-Oriented Manufacturing Demonstration Enterprise' and a 'National Excellent Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Factory.' These labels signify a substantive leap for the chemical fiber industry—from being 'large' to being 'strong'—focusing not just on capacity but on full-chain green and intelligent levels.
International Collaboration: An American Academician's Boost to Fiber Science
In the same awards, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, Chair of the International Advisory Committee of Donghua University's State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials, received the People's Republic of China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. As a distinguished professor at Lehigh University and a member of three U.S. academies, she has long promoted Sino-U.S. scientific exchanges, collaborating deeply with Donghua University since 2013 on talent training, publications, and international conferences. Her award reflects the deepening integration of China's textile science into the global academic network.