Every year, the textile industry sees a plethora of evaluation and commendation activities hosted by industry associations and chambers of commerce, ranging from fabric innovation awards to enterprise competitiveness rankings. However, these activities are about to face stricter compliance thresholds. The 'Administrative Measures for Social Organization Evaluation and Commendation Activities' (Minfa [2026] No. 31), jointly issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Central Social Work Department, was officially released on July 9, 2026, providing systematic regulations for the establishment, approval, and implementation of such activities.
Core Changes: List Management and Five-Year Cycle
The most direct impact of the new regulation lies in the 'project list management' and the 'once every five years' limit. According to Article 5, all evaluation and commendation projects of national social organizations must be included in the list published by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and no activities outside the list are allowed. This means that the annual or biannual industry awards organized by different associations in the past will face significant compression. Article 7 further clarifies that, in principle, each social organization can only establish one evaluation and commendation project, generally conducted once every five years. For the textile industry, which has multiple award events each year, this clause will force many organizations to make trade-offs and integrate.
Higher Compliance Threshold: Tightened Qualifications and Procedures
Not all social organizations are eligible to host evaluation and commendation activities. Article 6 sets seven hard conditions, including that the organization's evaluation result must be 4A or above, its annual inspection must be qualified for the last two years, it must not have been listed in the abnormal list or dishonesty list in the last three years, and it must not have been punished for illegally conducting evaluation activities in the last five years. For small and medium-sized associations or chambers of commerce in the textile industry, these thresholds may directly exclude them. Additionally, the procedure requires that project establishment must be reviewed by the competent business unit and submitted to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for application, with centralized review once a year, greatly increasing the seriousness of prior approval.
Specific Impact on Textile Industry Activities
The textile industry chain is long, involving multiple sub-sectors such as chemical fiber, spinning, weaving, dyeing, and apparel, each with its own industry organizations. After the new regulation takes effect, if these organizations wish to retain the award function, they must conduct internal integration and merge similar projects. For example, the 'China Textile Industry Annual Innovative Product Selection' jointly participated by multiple associations may need to be unified under one organization. At the same time, the funding sources, selection process, and result disclosure of awards are required to be more transparent, and evaluations cannot be directed at party and government organs at all levels, limiting some awards that target government officials.