New Model of Corporate Social Responsibility in Textile: Insights from Jifa Group's Donation of Thermal Wear

A donation of over 50,000 yuan worth of thermal underwear reveals a substantive shift in the textile industry's philanthropic model. In early 2025, Qingdao Jifa Group, through the Textile Light Foundation, donated 300 sets of self-heating underwear to flood-affected residents in Xixian, Shanxi, with distribution completed before the Spring Festival.

Background

Xixian, a former national-level poverty-stricken county in Linfen, Shanxi, suffered severe mountain floods in summer 2025, creating an urgent need for winter thermal supplies. The Textile Light Foundation, since launching its 'Textile Light · Love Benefits' initiative in 2017, partnered with Jifa Group to directly channel technical products to the most vulnerable groups.

The donated items were Jifa's self-heating underwear, with a fair market value of over 50,000 yuan, approximately 167 yuan per set. This price point positions the product in the mid-range of the self-heating underwear market, balancing functionality with cost-effectiveness for bulk procurement. Notably, Jifa chose product donation over cash, a trend increasingly observed in textile philanthropy.

Industry Impact

The core technology of self-heating underwear lies in fabric construction—special fiber arrangements or coatings that reflect and store body heat. Jifa Group, a Shandong-based textile giant, has years of expertise in functional fabrics. This donation, ostensibly charitable, also serves as a real-world test of product performance under extreme conditions.

From a supply chain perspective, the 300-unit order required tight turnaround. The flood occurred in summer, but winter needs emerged months later. Jifa's ability to manufacture, transport, and distribute before Spring Festival demonstrates a supply chain flexible enough to handle small emergency batches. For buyers, this signals that functional fabric suppliers can deliver not only technology but also rapid response.

More profoundly, textile philanthropy is shifting from 'donating money' to 'donating technical products.' Traditional CSR often involves cash transfers, which may not translate into the most needed items for disaster victims. Jifa's case shows that companies can fill supply gaps directly with their own products, reducing intermediary losses.

Practical Advice

For Buyers - Assess functional fabric suppliers' capacity for emergency relief goods, especially self-heating and waterproof-breathable categories, which see stable demand in disasters. - Establish ties with industry charities like the Textile Light Foundation, which hold real-time disaster demand data and can channel product donations. - Include 'emergency delivery clauses' in contracts, specifying response times and pricing for small urgent orders, modeled after Jifa's flexible supply chain.

For Exporters - Overseas demand for functional thermal wear is rising, especially post-European energy crisis, with self-heating underwear exports growing significantly year-on-year. Jifa's case can serve as product performance proof. - Participation in industry charity can boost a company's ESG score, aiding market access in CSR-conscious regions like the EU. - Ensure compliance with different safety standards for self-heating fabrics; for example, the EU has strict limits on chemical additives in textiles—pre-export testing is mandatory.