The 2024 CNTAC Science and Technology Awards ceremony sent a clear signal: the textile industry is shifting from quantity to quality. The approval rate dropped sharply to 28.0%, down 8.8 percentage points from 2023, meaning only one in four applications succeeded. This tightening reflects an urgent demand for original innovation and high-quality outcomes.
Award Structure: Sharper Competition, Headline Effect
A total of 59 awards were granted, including 5 natural science awards, 3 technical invention awards, and 51 science and technology progress awards, plus 4 Sangma Scholar awards. First prizes accounted for about 32%, second prizes 68%, reinforcing the scarcity of top-tier achievements. Since 2004, CNTAC has awarded 2,224 projects, but the 2024 approval rate hit a recent low.
Winning projects focused on high-end, intelligent, green, and integrated development, extending beyond traditional textiles to defense, aerospace, emergency safety, marine engineering, and life sciences. These projects yielded proprietary smart manufacturing equipment and industrial software.
Industry Impact: Enterprise-Led Innovation, Young Scientists as Core
A structural shift is that enterprises led 45.8% of winning projects, up significantly from previous years. This indicates that the innovation mainstay is moving from research institutes to the industrial front line. Young scientists under 45 accounted for 67.8% of winners, becoming the core force.
Economically, first-prize projects in technical invention and progress generated direct sales revenue of 163.88 billion yuan and new profits of 8.66 billion yuan over three years. This suggests that high-quality outcomes are increasingly translating into industrial gains.
Policy Direction: Four Pillars Reshaping the Industry
He Yaqiong, Director of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of MIIT, identified four key directions for future textile innovation:
- Digitalization: leverage digital trends to boost total factor productivity
- Integration: expand industry boundaries through cross-sector collaboration
- Greening: strengthen sustainable development foundations
- Branding: enhance value chain influence
These align with CNTAC President Sun Ruizhe's logic of 'technology-factor-industry' transmission. The industry is at a critical stage of technological trajectory shift. High-performance fiber capacity now accounts for over one-third of global capacity, textile machinery automation exceeds 75%, and localization of high-end equipment key components exceeds 50%. The industry is transitioning from 'following and running alongside' to 'running alongside and leading'.
Challenges and Opportunities: Original Innovation Still a Weakness
Despite progress, original innovation remains weak. Breakthroughs are needed in high-end materials, key equipment, core technologies, and brand building. Li Lingshen, CNTAC Vice President, noted that keeping the approval rate below 30% ensures award value and guides the industry toward truly creative outcomes.
For textile companies, this means higher thresholds for policy resources and industry recognition. Companies must invest more in basic research, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and industrial verification, rather than just short-term market returns.