A technological achievement covering the entire polyester fiber industry chain has won the first prize in the 2025 National Science and Technology Awards. This landmark event for the textile chemical fiber sector signifies that China has established a complete independent technology system for general fibers, from raw materials to end products and from processes to equipment.
Background
On July 8, the National Science and Technology Award Conference in Beijing announced the 2025 winners. The project 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing of the Polyester Fiber Industry Chain,' led by Tongkun Group as the first completing unit and jointly developed with ten institutions including Donghua University and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. This is the third time the textile sector has achieved this top honor, following the 2017 carbon fiber and 2014 package yarn dyeing awards.
Polyester fiber is known as the 'industrial staple' of textiles. China produces 70% of the world's chemical fibers, with polyester fiber ranking first among all types. The breakthrough directly impacts the national economy and people's livelihoods by alleviating the 'grain-cotton land competition,' stabilizing the domestic industrial base, preventing industry relocation, and supporting downstream product quality improvement, brand cultivation, and energy efficiency upgrades.
The project was led by Professor Wang Huaping from Donghua University as the first completer, with deep involvement from a team including Academician Zhu Meifang. It relied on Donghua University's State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials and took over a decade of collaborative research to complete.
Industrial Impact
The project achieved core technological breakthroughs in three dimensions. In green manufacturing, it pioneered a direct PTA-PET coupling low-carbon production model, developed environmentally friendly titanium-based catalysts and green oiling technology, and established a full lifecycle green standard. In intelligent manufacturing, it completed full-process automation equipment upgrades, achieved large-scale domestic substitution of DCS control systems, and formed a replicable industrial upgrade solution. In service-oriented manufacturing, it created a 'multi-head multi-tail' series-parallel composite polymerization technology platform, enabling customized production of differentiated polyester fiber products and multi-region collaborative agile manufacturing.
To date, the project has formed a complete independent intellectual property system including 76 authorized invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national and industry standards. An expert academician panel assessed the overall technology as reaching international leading level. The results have been promoted in industrial bases in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang, as well as in over 10 industry units, cumulatively generating over 200 billion RMB in new sales, 10 billion RMB in profits and taxes, and 1.8 billion USD in exports, while significantly reducing industry energy consumption and defect rates.
This means for buyers and factories, the cost of polyester fiber production will further decrease, quality stability will improve, and customization capabilities will enhance. The 'multi-head multi-tail' technology platform is particularly critical, allowing factories to quickly switch product specifications based on customer needs, shortening delivery cycles—essential for fast fashion supply chains.
Simultaneously, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award was granted to Professor Elsa Reichmanis, a distinguished chair professor at Lehigh University in the US. She has long promoted Sino-US scientific exchanges, collaborating with Donghua University on joint graduate training and research, co-authoring 18 high-level papers, and serving as academic committee chair for multiple editions of the International Conference on Advanced Fibers and Polymer Materials, growing it into the world's largest fiber-themed academic event. This shows that while pursuing independent innovation, China's textile industry continues to deepen international scientific cooperation, enhancing global influence.