A top national science award has put polyester fiber—the 'industrial staple' of textiles—back in the spotlight. The 2025 National Science and Technology Progress Award First Prize was granted to a project led by Tongkun Group in collaboration with Donghua University and nine other institutions, titled 'Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing in the Polyester Fiber Industry Chain.' This marks a major leap for China’s chemical fiber sector, signaling a shift from following to leading in full-chain technology.
Three Breakthrough Dimensions Reshaping Industry Logic
The project’s core achievement lies not in a single device or process improvement, but in a systemic restructuring of the entire polyester fiber value chain. Three technical directions stand out.
Green manufacturing: The team pioneered a direct-coupling low-carbon model for PTA-PET production and developed eco-friendly titanium-based catalysts to replace traditional heavy metal ones. This directly targets the highest carbon-emission segment of the chemical fiber industry—polymerization and spinning. For an industry that produces 70% of the world’s chemical fibers, even a 1% reduction in unit energy consumption yields massive absolute emission cuts. The industrial application of green catalysts will also force upstream raw material suppliers to adjust formulations, enabling full-chain green synergy.
Intelligent manufacturing: The project achieved full-process automation upgrades and localized substitution of DCS control systems. Previously, high-end control systems in the chemical fiber industry relied heavily on imported brands, which were costly and posed supply chain risks. The team’s systematic localization of both hardware and software gives downstream factories a more economical and independent option when expanding or upgrading.
Service-oriented manufacturing: The unique 'multi-head, multi-tail' series-parallel polymerization platform allows a single production line to simultaneously produce multiple differentiated polyester fiber products. For buyers, this means shorter lead times and greater customization flexibility. For factories, it dramatically improves the economics of small-batch, multi-variety orders, breaking the traditional rigid production model that only profits from large-scale single-variety runs.
Industry Impact: From Data to Ground Reality
Technical leadership doesn’t guarantee market success, but this project has proven its industrial value. According to public industry data, the results have been adopted in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, and at over ten companies, generating cumulative new sales of over 200 billion yuan, profits and taxes exceeding 10 billion yuan, and export earnings of $1.8 billion.
These figures reflect concrete industrial logic. In core polyester fiber production areas like Tongxiang (Zhejiang) and Shengze (Jiangsu), factory energy consumption and defect rates have dropped significantly, directly lowering production costs. For foreign trade companies, the $1.8 billion in export earnings signals growing competitiveness of domestic chemical fibers in mid-to-high-end international markets. Previously, international buyers mainly recognized Chinese polyester fibers for commodity grades. Now, with green certification and smart manufacturing labels, pricing power is expected to improve.
Another noteworthy signal: Tongkun Group was selected as one of China’s first 'Zero-Waste Enterprise' demonstration cases. This suggests that future environmental standards for the polyester fiber industry will shift from end-of-pipe treatment to full lifecycle management. Buyers will no longer evaluate suppliers solely on price and delivery; green manufacturing levels and digital maturity will become mandatory criteria.
The Lesson of a Decade-Long Collaboration
The list of project participants is itself a model of industrial synergy. Donghua University provided theoretical support from its top-tier materials science program. Tongkun Group took on the risks of pilot-scale testing and mass production. Zhejiang Sci-Tech University contributed expertise in mechanical engineering and information intelligence.
This pattern—university theoretical breakthroughs + enterprise engineering transformation + multi-university cross-disciplinary support—mirrors the structures behind previous national prize winners like the 2017 carbon fiber project from Zhongfu Shenying and the 2014 cone-dyeing project from Shandong Kangpingna. The evidence shows that top-tier national science awards in textiles rarely result from a single company’s upgrade; they stem from the co-evolution of an entire supply chain.
For small and medium-sized chemical fiber companies, the takeaway is clear: going it alone can’t break through technology barriers. Actively integrating into the R&D ecosystem of leading companies or establishing joint laboratories with universities may be a more efficient path to innovation.