At the 2025 National Science and Technology Awards ceremony, the textile chemical fiber sector secured a highly prestigious prize: the First Prize for Technological Invention for the project on green and intelligent manufacturing key technologies for the polyester fiber chain. Unlike previous top awards focused on specialty fibers or single processes, this one covers the entire polyester fiber chain—from raw materials to end products—signaling that China's most fundamental textile fiber sector has established a self-controlled technological system.
Background
Polyester fiber accounts for over 70% of China's chemical fiber output, and China produces about 70% of the world's chemical fibers. This massive scale means any technological upgrade at this level ripples downstream to fabrics, garments, and consumer markets. The award-winning project was led by Tongkun Group, in collaboration with Donghua University, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and seven other entities, after over a decade of research. The team, headed by researcher Wang Huaping and involving academician Zhu Meifang, leveraged the State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials to integrate expertise in materials, information science, and mechanical engineering.
The project achieved breakthroughs in three dimensions: green manufacturing (a direct PTA-PET coupling low-carbon model, eco-friendly titanium catalysts, and full life-cycle green standards); intelligent manufacturing (domestic replacement of DCS control systems, replicable upgrade solutions); and service-oriented manufacturing (a 'multi-head, multi-tail' polymerization platform enabling modular customization and multi-region collaborative production). To date, the project has generated 76 invention patents, 10 software copyrights, and 14 national/industry standards, with cumulative new sales exceeding 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes over 10 billion yuan, and export earnings of $1.8 billion.
Industry Impact
The award's implications for the textile supply chain are already unfolding. For upstream chemical fiber producers, green manufacturing reduces energy consumption and defect rates, directly improving cost structures. For downstream fabric and garment buyers, intelligent production enhances product consistency and customization capabilities, speeding up supply chain response and stabilizing quality. Tongkun Group, as the lead unit, has been recognized as a national 'zero-waste enterprise' and a national-level intelligent manufacturing demonstration factory.
Notably, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award was given to Professor Elsa Reichmanis from Lehigh University. She has long collaborated with Donghua's State Key Laboratory, co-supervising graduate students and publishing 18 high-impact papers. This underscores that China's textile technology is not developed in isolation but actively integrates global expertise. For industry professionals, this means the pace of technological iteration will accelerate, narrowing the window for traditional production methods.