On July 8, the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Joint Meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) were grandly convened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the 2025 National Science and Technology Awards were officially announced.

As China’s highest honor in science and technology, this year’s awards marked a major achievement for China’s chemical fiber industry. The project “Key Technologies for Green and Intelligent Manufacturing Across the Polyester Fiber Industrial Chain”, led by Tongkun Group Co., Ltd. as the principal institution and jointly developed with Donghua University, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and eight other organizations, received the First Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. At the same time, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, Chair of the International Advisory Committee of the State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials at Donghua University, was honored with the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People’s Republic of China. Donghua University thus became one of the few universities to receive two prestigious national-level science and technology awards in the same year.

As a pillar of China’s national economy and a key sector supporting people’s livelihoods, the textile industry has long adhered to an innovation-driven development strategy and has repeatedly been recognized with National Science and Technology Progress Awards. Statistics show that between 2012 and 2020, the textile sector received 28 National Science and Technology Awards (General Projects), including 22 National Science and Technology Progress Awards, covering specialized fibers, intelligent equipment, green dyeing and finishing, technical textiles, and other key segments.

Among the highly prestigious First Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, several landmark achievements have previously emerged. In 2017, the project “Key Technologies and Industrialization of Thousand-ton Dry-jet Wet-spinning High-strength/Intermediate-modulus Carbon Fibers”, led by Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd., with participation from Donghua University and other institutions, won the First Prize, breaking the long-standing international monopoly on high-performance carbon fiber technology. Likewise, Shandong Companion Group Co., Ltd.’s complete technology and equipment for digital automatic package yarn dyeing received the 2014 First Prize, ushering China’s dyeing and finishing industry into the era of fully intelligent production.

In addition, achievements in dry-spun polyimide fibers, high-efficiency recycling of waste polyester, and industrial flue gas filtration materials have successively won Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, creating a comprehensive innovation landscape spanning advanced materials, manufacturing equipment, process technologies, and green transformation.

Against this backdrop, the latest project on green and intelligent manufacturing across the polyester fiber industrial chain represents a milestone breakthrough in full-industrial-chain technologies for conventional synthetic fibers and further strengthens China’s independent innovation system in textile manufacturing.

Polyester fiber is often regarded as the “industrial staple” of the textile industry. China accounts for approximately 70% of global chemical fiber production, with polyester representing the largest share among all chemical fibers. Consequently, the development of the polyester industry is closely tied to national economic development and public welfare. Continuous upgrading of the polyester fiber industry not only helps alleviate the longstanding competition between grain cultivation and cotton production for arable land but also strengthens domestic industrial competitiveness, reduces the risk of supply-chain relocation, and lays a solid foundation for higher-quality downstream products, stronger brand development, and improved energy efficiency. It is therefore a key driver for building China into a global leader in chemical fibers, achieving the country’s Dual Carbon goals, and fostering new quality productive forces.

The project fully leveraged the talent pool and research resources of the State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials and Donghua University’s first-class discipline in Materials Science and Engineering. By integrating expertise from materials science, textile engineering, information intelligence, and mechanical engineering, the research team established an independently controllable advanced manufacturing system and achieved three major technological breakthroughs.

- Green Manufacturing

The team pioneered a direct PTA–PET integrated low-carbon manufacturing process, developed environmentally friendly titanium-based catalyst technologies and their engineering applications, invented crude-oil-based chemical fiber finishes together with environmentally friendly oiling technologies, and established a full life-cycle green standard for polyester fibers, thereby creating an end-to-end pathway for low-carbon production.

- Intelligent Manufacturing

The project completed the upgrading of fully automated production equipment, realized large-scale domestic substitution of Distributed Control System (DCS) technology, and established an intelligent manufacturing system integrating process control and quality management. This has produced a scalable and replicable “China Solution” for industrial upgrading.

- Service-Oriented Manufacturing

The team pioneered a multi-feed, multi-discharge series–parallel hybrid polymerization platform, creating a modular and digital production system that links polymerization, spinning, and draw-texturing through a “one-feed, three-outlet” multi-point feeding configuration. This enables the professional customization of differentiated polyester fiber products and agile collaborative manufacturing across multiple production sites, further promoting the deep integration of manufacturing and service industries.

Source: CHINA TEXTILE LEADER Express