China'S Chemical Fiber Industry Needs To Explore And Innovate In Combination With The Industry'S Current Situation And National Conditions

All kinds of signs indicate that China's chemical fiber industry has reached a critical period of transformation and upgrading.

With the macroeconomic adjustment at home and abroad and the pressure from upstream and downstream forces, the structural contradictions within the chemical fiber industry are further highlighted. The questions about the path selection, factor allocation, system and mechanism involved in the industrial transformation and upgrading need to be explored and innovated in combination with the industrial status and national conditions.

The collective mentality of seeking breakthrough was seen at the China International Chemical Fiber Conference in September, and an agreement was reached that the original development model has limited the potential of breakthrough. Fundamentally, this is because the chemical fiber industry is limited by the mindset of traditional industries with serious overcapacity, low technical level, high energy consumption and high pollution. Only by breaking this thinking limitation can we innovate the development path. Therefore, return to the chemical fiber itself and break through the original "dressing, covering and quilting" spin Concept can build a basic material industry that really concerns the level and quality of economic and social development, and it is also a strategic industry for national development.

In this context, the round table forum of "the road of scientific and technological chemical fiber development in a global perspective" was organized and held in the management committee of China (Xiaoshan) Chemical Fiber Science and Technology City. Based on the development trend and mode of global chemical fiber industry, the forum aims to study and discuss the transformation and upgrading path of Zhejiang chemical fiber industry, especially to analyze the necessary elements and path selection for the development of chemical fiber industry driven by scientific and technological progress and mode innovation, Provide suggestions for the construction of the industrial platform of China (Xiaoshan) Chemical Fiber Science and Technology City, and find the right position and direction for the development of chemical fiber industry.

Industry observation

Facing problems squarely is the key to solving problems

Duan Xiaoping (President of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association): The future situation is not optimistic

Last week, the National Development and Reform Commission convened relevant associations and enterprises to analyze the economic situation. The judgment for the chemical fiber industry is that it basically bottoms out and will not fall again, but it may remain at the bottom for 2-3 years, which is not optimistic.

First, the industrial profits are transferred to the upstream seriously, and the profit distribution is seriously unbalanced, mainly PX. If the current situation does not change, the entire polyester industry will work for PX, and will be in a situation of low profits or even losses.

Second, chemical fiber production capacity is in an inertial growth channel. In 2002, it began to shout about excess chemical fiber production capacity. At that time, the country was only about 8 million tons. In 2008, the financial crisis again shouted, causing a number of "obedient" enterprises to miss the golden development period of the chemical fiber industry. Now that the "wolf" is really coming, some enterprises are not convinced. The coiling head is the core component, which is mainly controlled by Oerlikon, Japan TMT and the Academy of Textile Sciences in China. Several companies are in an orderly way to curb the capacity expansion of downstream chemical fibers. However, at present, the order of Oerlikon has reached 2015, so the production capacity will still grow by inertia.

Third, textile clothing New changes have taken place in the industry. China's textile and clothing markets are still highly dependent on foreign countries, and the international market is depressed, which directly leads to a decline in exports; The textile industry is transferring to emerging countries and Southeast Asian countries, which makes the situation of China's textile and clothing export depressed; The clothing industry has changed the traditional marketing model, e-commerce, virtual business and other textile and clothing brands to de inventory, which have a lot of uncertain impact on the sales and inventory of upstream chemical fiber products.

Chen Wenxing (Vice President of Zhejiang University of Technology): Both internal and external causes aggravate the dilemma

At present, the development of chemical fiber industry has internal and external problems. From the perspective of internal factors, since the chemical fiber industry started in the 1990s, private enterprises have developed mainly through simple investment, key projects, and purchase of complete sets of equipment, lacking real original and disruptive innovation accumulation. In terms of external factors, China is facing external pressures such as chemical fiber resources, environmental protection and rising labor costs. In addition, the instability of the current world economic development situation has also exacerbated the plight of the development of China's chemical fiber industry.

Wang Huaping (Vice President of Donghua University Research Institute): Missed the opportunity of soft power

China has become a major manufacturing country in the world chemical fiber pattern, relying on its advantages in resources, environment and labor costs. Now, these comparative advantages are gone, which directly leads to the current situation of China's chemical fiber. Due to the demand of China's chemical fiber market and the foundation of the development of China's chemical fiber industry, especially with the improvement of the living standard and urbanization level of our people, the demand of the textile and clothing industry can support the development of China's chemical fiber industry, so the leading position of China's chemical fiber in the world is still unshakable, and there is still a large space for development in the future for a long time. However, the mode of development should be changed. The path of relying on traditional advantages is no longer feasible.

The future development of China's chemical fiber still faces the pressure of remanufacturing in European and American countries. At present, we lack chemical fiber enterprises like DuPont, as well as the construction of enterprise technology innovation system and development strategy. In the past quite a long time, China Chemical Fiber has missed opportunities to improve its technological innovation ability, marketing ability, brand building ability, etc.

Xin Haozhong (Director of Department of Textile and Garment Science, Hong Kong Polytechnic University): Strive for monopoly value with production capacity advantage

China's polyester production capacity is the highest in the world and has a monopoly position, but it has not obtained monopoly value. The reason is that we are now engaged in polyester production, but we have not combined the production of polyester with the development of terminal products. At that time, DuPont developed "Lycra", which is also a common spandex fiber, but through brand building and industrial chain integration, it dominated the market and even became a synonym for fashion, which is the power of business model innovation. So, is there any room for further development of our polyester fiber in this regard? In addition, with the gradual depletion of fossil energy, the sustainable development of chemical fiber industry is a major issue for everyone. Including the research and development of some bio based fibers, the low-carbon process in the production of chemical fibers, and the application and expansion of traditional fibers, which need to increase the investment of human and financial resources.

Yu Xiaoyan (Deputy Director of the Industry Department of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission): accelerate the optimization and adjustment of positive capacity structure imbalance

To correctly understand the problem of overcapacity in the chemical fiber industry, we should not avoid the fact that the chemical fiber industry has structural overcapacity, which is the result of market competition. However, it should be viewed dynamically in the global market, and we should see whether Zhejiang's capacity is more competitive than other regions. Next, we will also, according to the guidance of the state, "digest a batch, merge and restructure a batch, eliminate a batch and transfer a batch" to speed up optimization and adjustment.

Seeing clearly is an opportunity

Wang Ying (Director of the Textile Department of Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology): Have a correct understanding of the chemical fiber industry

Many people outside believe that the chemical fiber industry is a "sunset" industry, which is a misunderstanding. The demand of the chemical fiber industry in aerospace, national defense and military, industrial manufacturing, people's daily necessities and other fields is rising, so everyone should be confident.

Chen Wenxing (Vice President of Zhejiang University of Technology): Chemical fiber consumption is expected to increase

Have confidence in the development of chemical fiber industry in the future. In the future, with the growth of the global population, the improvement of living standards and the development of new uses of chemical fiber, the consumption of chemical fiber will certainly increase, and the future of chemical fiber will be bright.

Zhao Qiang (President of China National Academy of Textile Sciences): Cotton will not replace polyester in large quantities

It is necessary to justify the name of chemical fiber industry, especially polyester. To be fair, polyester fiber is a very good material. No matter its use and performance, it has its advantages and will play an important role in the future. At present, polyester accounts for 60%~70% of the total amount of chemical fiber, and cotton can not replace such a large number of polyester.

Yu Xiaoyan (Deputy Director of the Industry Department of Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission): policy gives industry dividends

At present, it has become an indisputable fact that the chemical fiber industry has a low profit. In this context, globalization and technology are the future development path of chemical fiber industry. As far as the industrial layout is concerned, the State Council's delegation of approval authority for petrochemical projects represented by 100000 tons of polyester, PET and PX is undoubtedly a great benefit to the industrial chain integrity of large chemical fiber enterprises, so that they will not be constrained by the upstream industry in the future competition. In the textile industry chain, the integration and upgrading of the upstream petrochemical industry and the downstream printing and dyeing industry is conducive to completing the two-way drive between the upstream and downstream, and achieving the purpose of industrial collaboration. In this process, the government departments will provide strong support in terms of funds and land, support endogenous enterprises and take a key step in the transformation and upgrading of chemical fiber industry by allocating special funds for national industrial restructuring.

Duan Xiaoping (President of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association): There is no doubt about the development space

At present, opportunities and challenges coexist in the chemical fiber industry. Yao Mu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, quoted a report from the United Nations and said that by 2050, the global fiber processing volume will reach 250 million tons, including 170 million tons of industrial textiles. At present, the chemical fiber production capacity is only about 90 million tons, largely concentrated in the clothing and household areas. The current sluggish industrial development is caused by the shrinking demand brought about by global economic problems. According to the prediction, China's chemical fiber industry still has a lot of room for development. Next, the chemical fiber industry should focus on how to adjust and develop.

Innovation is the courage to change

Zhao Qiang (President of China National Academy of Textile Sciences): Leading enterprises should consider "dragon body" and "dragon tail"

Leading enterprises need to assume the responsibility of leading the pack. After this round of brutal market reshuffle, "aircraft carriers" like Rongsheng and Hengyi will be more competitive. However, the future market competition will not be won alone. It needs industrial chain cooperation, but also integration. A large number of small and medium-sized enterprises need to go to sea with aircraft carriers. Therefore, leading enterprises should adjust their development ideas, be more responsible and open.

Chen Wenxing (Vice President of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology): The enterprise mechanism is aligned with the first-class enterprises

The development mode of scientific and technological chemical fiber should pay more attention to the transformation of achievements. At present, there are countless new materials developed in the field of scientific and technological chemical fiber, but few of them really have major innovation achievements, and even fewer of them are industrialized. Scientific and technological chemical fiber should increase R&D investment, develop new products and technologies with significant innovation around market demand, and make scientific research achievements profitable after industrialization.

The development concept of the enterprise should be transformed and upgraded. China's chemical fiber enterprises have a long way to go before they can truly enter the world's top 500, not simply in terms of scale, but in terms of connotation, especially in the field of research and development. We should follow the example of DuPont and other companies, deeply transform the internal system and mechanism of the enterprise, attach importance to the research and development work of the enterprise, and not just simply set up a project to compete for policies and state subsidies, but become a truly innovative enterprise.

Cheng Huifang (President of the Global Zhejiang Business Development Research Institute of Zhejiang University of Technology): international vision, raw materials and scientific research

I mainly talk about three development paths.

First of all, China's chemical fiber needs to achieve "breakthroughs" in three aspects in order to improve its position in the world chemical fiber industry. First, we need to achieve scale breakthroughs. The huge market demand means that we must first realize the scale expansion of the chemical fiber industry, especially in the field of industrial use. The second is to achieve breakthroughs in quality and efficiency. We should constantly improve the quality of chemical fiber products, so that a certain international technical standard of chemical fiber can be in our hands in the future. The third is to achieve brand breakthrough. We should vigorously enhance the brand influence of products and increase the added value of products.

Secondly, the path of the global layout of the chemical fiber industry chain. First, the global distribution of chemical fiber raw materials. It is necessary to seek international strategic partners in the field of resources and energy. The second is the layout of international strategic alliances. It is necessary to establish strategic alliances or cooperative relationships with top international chemical fiber enterprises, and introduce world-class or domestic first-class chemical fiber research institutes and research centers.

Thirdly, the cultivation path of scientific and technological chemical fiber enterprises in a global perspective. We should cultivate the world's top 500 multinational enterprises in the chemical fiber industry, and pay attention to the research on the coordinated development mechanism between key leading enterprises and SMEs around the industrial chain.

Wang Huaping (Vice President of Donghua University Research Institute): Create an innovation system and create monopoly advantages

First of all, in the future, we must take the initiative to invest in the establishment of a new technological innovation system, intervene from the aspects of technology, equipment, products, etc., combine the protection of intellectual property rights, establish strategic cooperation between enterprises, build industry barriers in some aspects, form local monopoly advantages, and increase added value.

Secondly, the products are market-oriented, and we need to segment them in terms of specialization, functionalization and diversification, which are far from enough. In the long run, expanding emerging markets and specialized market segments is the trend of chemical fiber industry development in the future. This is mainly divided into industrial fiber and high-end fiber, such as fiber varieties in emerging fields such as aerospace, transportation and environmental protection, and high-level fiber varieties such as comfort, health, affinity, safety, easy cleaning, stain resistance and flame retardancy suitable for modern lifestyle.

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the development of raw materials other than petrochemical resources, such as biomass fiber, recycled fiber, etc.

Wang Ying (Director of the Textile Department of Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology): Technological innovation must be subversive and perfect

How to improve the chemical fiber industry? First, subversive technological innovation is needed. Enterprises should be the main body to carry out technological innovation together with universities and research institutes, and the latest scientific research achievements should be industrialized; The second is the need for perfect technological innovation, technological transformation and process innovation, to reduce energy consumption, pollution, raw material consumption, and land conservation; The third is to improve the design level of products and develop differentiated and high-end chemical fiber products; The fourth is to innovate the marketing system, production, management, R&D and the entire business operation mode through the application of new generation information technology such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing.

Platform construction

Zhao Qiang (President of China National Academy of Textile Sciences): First, clarify the positioning and investment subject

The Chemical Fiber Science and Technology City is an industrial platform, which is set up by the government and played by enterprises. Its construction and development must rely on "innovation", including technological innovation, model innovation and even creating market demand. For the construction of the R&D platform, it is necessary to clarify the positioning and investment subject, which has a great relationship with the future operation. It is suggested that enterprises should be the main body of investment for higher efficiency.

Wang Huaping (Vice President of Donghua University Research Institute): The Science and Technology City should be patient enough

I think people in the Science and Technology City should be patient enough. The development of the Science and Technology City is not achieved overnight, which requires us to muster the courage to cope with the competition from European and American countries, and face the pressure of industry transfer to South Asia, Africa and other countries. It is necessary to increase investment, integrate various global resources, realize the integration of technology, talent, brand, capital, operation mode, etc., and achieve efficient and professional operation.

Land Railway (Director of Light Textile Office of Zhejiang Provincial Economic and Information Commission): build the Science and Technology City into three demonstration sites

The next step of the Chemical Fiber Science and Technology City should closely focus on the problems and difficulties faced by the transformation and upgrading of the chemical fiber industry in Zhejiang Province.

First, it is necessary to carry out demonstration pilot projects to explore the upgrading of traditional chemical fiber industry. How to transform and upgrade the current traditional chemical fiber industry? The old production lines of chemical fiber enterprises cannot be eliminated and updated all at once. What should we do? At present, Rongsheng has made a beneficial exploration in the aspect of "machine replacement", which can save 40% of labor after implementation, and has made a good demonstration for the chemical fiber industry. The next step is to further reduce the number of workers and even realize unmanned chemical plants, which can also be studied and explored.

Second, pilot projects should be carried out on new high-end chemical fiber materials. To take advantage of the land and space advantages of the Science and Technology City, with a planned area of 17.7 square kilometers, a number of high-end chemical fiber projects can be introduced to develop high-end chemical fiber materials.

Third, demonstration pilot projects should be carried out for the combination of production, teaching and research and the gathering of scientific and technological talents. We should change the loose form of cooperation between industry, university and research and strengthen close cooperation. We should also build nests to attract talents and strengthen the introduction of scientific and technological talents. In this regard, we can refer to the model of Hangzhou Future Science and Technology City.

Lan Jianping (Director of the Research Institute of Zhejiang Provincial Economic and Information Commission): based on Xiaoshan and facing the world

The development of scientific and technological chemical fiber in the global perspective emphasizes the "global perspective" and "scientific and technological chemical fiber". First of all, if the chemical fiber industry in Zhejiang Province, Xiaoshao region or Xiaoshan wants to truly enter the international market in the future, it must cultivate international local enterprises. The Zhejiang practice of the Chinese Dream should reflect our enterprise elements. In addition, we should explore the benign interaction mechanism between the planning and construction of the Science and Technology City and leading enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Second, the key to industrial transformation and innovative development is to take the lead in strategy, which should reflect "science and technology". Since it is a "scientific and technological chemical fiber", we need to apply the latest technology to all links from R&D, production, sales to customer management, and strive to stand in the forefront of the times and become the wind vane of chemical fiber technology progress.

Third, the development of chemical fiber industry should be based on Xiaoshan and face the world, and the development of Science and Technology City should make full use of global resources. Now integrating famous universities such as Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Donghua University into the platform of Science and Technology City is the use of global resources. After that, we should integrate more other elements and strive to become a global market.

Fourth, we should explore a new way of urbanization that integrates industry and city. At present, urbanization is mainly driven by the government, while the science and technology city should explore the innovation of system and mechanism in the process of urbanization, establish a characteristic urbanization development path with enterprises as the main body and industry city integration, and reflect the market mechanism to allocate element resources, which is truly sustainable development.

Wang Ying (Director of the Textile Department of Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology): The manufacturing link must not be lost

Xiaoshan chemical fiber industry chain should improve the "two ends", but the manufacturing link must not be lost, otherwise it will lead to the hollowing of the industry. Because the realization of "two ends" such as design, R&D and marketing is ultimately supported by manufacturing.

Chen Qiuqin (Deputy Director of Xiaoshan District Economic and Information Bureau): Realize the extension of the industrial chain upstream and downstream

Xiaoshan has a solid foundation of chemical fiber and textile industry. From the perspective of the concept of large textile, the output value reaches more than 200 billion yuan, which is a very large industrial cluster. Zhejiang industrial cluster pilot connects Shaoxing and Xiaoshan together, and the industrial cluster formed is unique in the world. The dream of taking root in the chemical fiber industry and realizing the upstream and downstream extension of the industrial chain has just begun. Hengyi's dream of layout in Brunei, Rongsheng's dream of layout in PX, and many dreams of the whole textile industry, especially the textile industry dominated by chemical fiber, have just set sail.

Example of platform construction:

Xin Haozhong (Head of Department of Textile and Garment Science, Hong Kong Polytechnic University):

The Hong Kong Government established the Hong Kong Garment and Readymade Garment Research Center in 2005, and has successively invested nearly 600 million Hong Kong dollars, mainly for the daily operation of the center and investment in scientific research projects, which has achieved very good results. The projects funded by the Center fall into two categories: platform projects and enterprise led projects.

Platform projects support the whole industry, 90% of which are funded by the Hong Kong government, and the remaining 10% must be invested by more than two Hong Kong enterprises. The R&D achievements are shared by the industry, and the intellectual property market is operated. Of course, the enterprises involved in R&D enjoy priority. For enterprise led projects, 51% will be funded by enterprises, 49% by the government, and R&D enterprises have the right to use them for the first three years. However, intellectual property rights are not completely owned by enterprises, but jointly owned by the government. The government can share or sell intellectual property rights to enterprises. These two types of R&D projects require the participation of enterprises, which also value the market acumen of enterprises.

However, there are also some problems with the support of the Hong Kong government. The main reason is that the Hong Kong government, in order to maintain fairness, often stops investing when the achievements are about to be industrialized, and is afraid of being involved in the so-called "collusion between officials and businessmen". Therefore, a large number of research achievements cannot be pilot tested or industrialized.

Corporate Voice

Li Shuirong (Chairman of Rongsheng Group):

The concept of chemical fiber science and technology city was put forward two years ago, but the chemical fiber industry situation was still good at that time, and all of them were still making money. Some enterprises did not really understand the essence of industrial transformation and upgrading, until everyone found that if they did not reform, they would die if they did not transform. Then they came back to seek the support of the platform, and needed the support of the government in policies, land and other aspects.

Today, we visited the Rongsheng "machine replacement" sample factory. In fact, we have been planning the automation transformation since 2005. We have always planned in this regard. We only wait until the right time to do this, which is to adapt to the situation and follow the trend. For example, the number of workers should be greatly reduced; Energy conservation and emission reduction, if the output value doubles and the power consumption remains unchanged, this is success; Product upgrading, from conventional varieties to high-end and differentiated products. Each enterprise has its own unique way of survival and development, but with the support of the Chemical Fiber Science and Technology City and the joint participation of the government, colleges and enterprises, I believe that the chemical fiber industry will usher in the next "golden decade".

Wang Jun (President of Oerlikon Group in China):

Ouruikang takes science and technology, R&D as the leading factor to reflect its core competitiveness. At present, the product research and development of Oerlikon is mainly divided into two categories. The first type is improvement research and development, which is to improve processes and products by improving functionality and process. For example, we use the method of combining metal materials with technology to make spindles and bearings bear more weight at high speed, greatly improve the spinning speed, significantly improve the production efficiency, and significantly improve the quality and uniformity of products. The second type is original research and development, which uses various disciplines and major development directions to bring substantive help to the development and survival of the industry. It is easy to see that the channel for further development of the chemical fiber industry is still technological progress.

Mao Xiangqiu (Chairman of Hangzhou Mingzhang Construction Co., Ltd.):

My team has been engaged in the construction and operation of the Science Park, and the real mission of the Science Park is to promote the spirit of innovation. Science and technology parks need to build an innovation system with enterprises as the main body, and have a market-oriented interest driven innovation mechanism. The government plays a leading role in the construction of the Science Park. The involvement of private capital is exactly a market-oriented mechanism, which makes the allocation of resources more effective. In the operation of the park, there will be a large number of industrial services. The use of the market-oriented penetration principle means that services can be truly valuable only if they are recognized by enterprises. At the same time, the chemical fiber science and technology city must have enough humanistic care, and a science and technology park that can retain enterprises and people can accumulate and develop continuously.