The maternal and infant hygiene products industry is at the starting line of the '15th Five-Year Plan,' with a deep adjustment around tech innovation, channel iteration, and industrial collaboration unfolding. The 2026 CNITA Health & Maternal-Infant Products Branch Annual Conference in Shanghai on July 16 sent a clear signal: the industry has moved from fragmented breakthroughs to systematic capability upgrades. Despite overcapacity and market involution, enterprises are maintaining positive momentum through model innovation and tech iteration.
Tech Focus: Systematic Upgrades and Bio-Based Materials
During the '14th Five-Year Plan,' the sector achieved continuous breakthroughs in bio-based absorbent materials, ultra-thin cores, fine-denier nonwovens, intelligent products, and functional finishing. CNITA President Li Guimei noted that these advances mark a shift from single-point innovation to systematic improvement. This means future competitiveness will depend on full-chain integration from raw materials to finished products.
Equipment changes are particularly visible. Trützschler's 2025 NCX/NCTX carding machine addresses pain points like uneven web formation and long downtime, achieving significant improvements in carding capability and uptime. Its hot-air oven technology for hygiene applications enhances product loft and consistency. Andritz focuses on flushable technology, offering a wet-laid solution using wood pulp and viscose with an annual capacity of 16,000 tons. These equipment upgrades directly respond to the industry's urgent need for flexible production and cost efficiency.
Channel Shift: Content E-Commerce Reshapes Decision Paths
New-generation parents' consumption habits are undergoing a fundamental transformation. Douyin's maternal and infant operations expert Kang Shiqing shared data showing short videos and live streaming have become core decision-making arenas. Merchants must focus on scenario-specific needs and visualize quality and ingredients to achieve precise reach via content e-commerce. Xiaohongshu's expert Liangzi pointed out that young parents tend to follow online 'parenting guides,' shifting marketing focus from exposure to delivering the right content to the right consumer at the right time.
This channel shift exerts dual pressure on traditional brands and OEMs: they must quickly adapt to content-driven marketing logic while the rise of instant retail blurs online-offline boundaries. Roundtable discussions on 'warehouse-store integration' and 'how physical stores cope' suggest future channel layouts will move from single channels to deep online-offline integration.
Industrial Collaboration: Building a New Ecosystem from Raw Materials to End Products
Facing the '15th Five-Year Plan' challenges, CNITA proposed five priorities: innovation-driven, quality-first, green low-carbon, digital empowerment, and collaborative development. These directions are interconnected. For instance, promoting bio-based materials requires upstream fiber companies and downstream brands to jointly verify performance; smart equipment adoption requires equipment makers and factories to interconnect data interfaces.
In roundtable discussions, representatives from Yizheng Chemical Fiber, Hengyi Petrochemical, Xinfengming, and Lenzing exchanged views on raw material safety and eco-upgrades. R&D progress in Lyocell fiber and spunbond nonwovens is providing more sustainable raw material options. Meanwhile, Futian Seiki's 'four-dimensional intelligent manufacturing' system—product glue-free, equipment unmanned—is driving full-chain intelligence from raw materials to finished goods.
Pain Points and Breakthrough Directions
Overcapacity and market involution remain real challenges. Demographic shifts are contracting demand, forcing a shift from quantity to quality competition. Shanghai Songchuan Fengguan's complete packaging line achieves 1,500 pieces per minute while solving material waste through hot-melt cutting—a typical path of exchanging efficiency for space.
Another noteworthy trend is overseas market growth. Roundtable participants discussed Chinese maternal-infant companies' export opportunities, with equipment upgrades toward intelligence and high efficiency matching overseas demands for quality and stability.