The 2024 China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) Science and Technology Awards conference has just concluded, and one figure demands industry attention: the overall award rate dropped sharply to 28.0%, down 8.8 percentage points from last year. This signals that as the textile industry pivots toward new quality productivity, the bar for technological innovation is being rapidly raised.
Tightening Award Rate: The Logic Behind Higher Value
The decline in the award rate is no coincidence. Since its inception in 2004, the awards have recognized 2,224 scientific and technological achievements, but this year's tightening sends a clear message: the industry is no longer chasing quantity but focusing on breakthroughs with genuine originality and leadership.
Of the 59 awards, only 5 were for natural science, 3 for technological invention, and as many as 51 for scientific and technological progress. This reflects that the current innovation focus remains on applied technology integration and industrialization, rather than fundamental theoretical breakthroughs. Notably, first-prize achievements generated direct sales revenue of 163.88 billion yuan and new profits of 8.66 billion yuan over the past three years, indicating significantly improved technology transfer efficiency for top-tier awards.
Young Talent Takes the Lead
Young scientists under 45 accounted for 67.8% of all award winners—a remarkably high proportion for a traditional manufacturing sector. The four Sangma Scholars awardees—Hu Xudong from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Liu Lin from Shandong Zhongkang Guochuang, Wang Hongzhi from Donghua University, and Wu Hailiang from Xi'an Polytechnic University—all come from universities or research institutes, representing technical heights in different subfields.
This youth trend means the industry's technology iteration cycle is shortening. Universities and research institutions are transforming from 'technology reserves' into 'innovation hubs,' especially in critical areas like high-performance fibers and intelligent manufacturing equipment. For instance, China now produces over one-third of the world's high-performance fiber capacity, and the localization rate of textile machinery exceeds 75%—achievements driven by a generation of young researchers.
Enterprise-Led Industry-Academia Collaboration: From Follower to Leader
Enterprises led 45.8% of the awarded projects, significantly strengthening their role as technology innovation drivers. This marks a departure from the past disconnect where 'universities published papers and waited for enterprises to commercialize.' First-prize projects in technological invention and progress were mostly collaborative efforts between industry, academia, and users, directly boosting the industry's total factor productivity and product added value.
He Yaqiong, Director of the Consumer Goods Industry Department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, noted at the conference that China's textile industry has transitioned from 'following and running alongside' to 'running alongside and leading.' A key piece of evidence: high-tech value-added products like chemical fibers, fabrics, industrial textiles, and textile machinery have shifted from net imports to becoming the world's largest exporter—a fundamental change underpinned by an enterprise-led collaborative innovation system.
Future Directions: Digital, Green, and Branded
Despite progress, the industry still lacks original innovation capability, with gaps in high-end materials, key equipment, core technologies, and brand building. CNTAC President Sun Ruizhe emphasized that the industry is at a critical stage of technological trajectory change and industrial quality leap. It needs to foster new quality productivity centered on technology, culture, green, and health through the 'technology–factor–industry' transmission chain.
He Yaqiong outlined four concrete pathways:
- Digitalization: Accelerate the adoption of intelligent manufacturing equipment and industrial software.
- Integration: Expand industry boundaries through cross-sector innovation with defense, aerospace, life sciences, and more.
- Greening: Strengthen the foundation for sustainable development by decarbonizing the entire chain from raw materials to dyeing.
- Branding: Build value core to enhance China's textile global market voice.