Modern Light Industry Textile Industry Cluster

Shantou Chaonan was once one of the world's largest origins of homewear and underwear. The textile printing and dyeing industry of this century-old textile town prospered by the river was shut down due to the renovation of the river. After the company moved into the park, it was hit by the epidemic again.

Under numerous challenges, the potential and resilience deep in the industry have been stimulated. With the inclusion of the modern light industry textile industry cluster in Guangdong’s 20 Strategic Industrial Cluster Action Plan, the confidence of enterprises has increased. With the support of the local government, this textile printing and dyeing industry with a history of more than a hundred years, enterprises and associations have joined forces to save themselves, turning external pressure into a driving force for transformation, and is staging a life-and-death transformation battle.

The determination to "weave the second generation"

Chaonan District of Shantou City is one of the world's largest home furnishings and underwear origins, with more than 3,000 enterprises and 3 national-level clothing professional towns, with an annual output value of about 60 billion yuan.

The light industrial textile industry clusters headed by Shantou, Guangzhou and Dongguan occupy one fifth of the province’s 14 trillion manufacturing revenue.

The comprehensive renovation of Lianjiang caused waves in Shantou's textile printing and dyeing industry. Starting from January 1, 2019, all printing and dyeing enterprises in the Lianjiang River Basin have ceased production. At the same time, in Chaonan, Chaoyang, and Puning to build printing and dyeing centers, enterprises must concentrate on entering the park.

"The second generation of weaving" Liao Xiujie told Nanfang Daily that the printing and dyeing industry has serious pollution and has a greater impact on the environment, and it is time for some changes. In recent years, he has taken over the Chaonan Chuanghui Printing and Dyeing Factory founded by his father.

On June 15, 2019, Liao Xiujie’s first "crab-eating", with more than 20 workers and a new automatic dyeing tank just purchased from Taiwan, formally entered the Chaonan Textile Printing and Dyeing Environmental Protection Comprehensive Treatment Center (hereinafter referred to as "Chaonan Textile Printing and Dyeing" center").

The data provided by the center shows that a total of 127 printing and dyeing enterprises in Chaonan have been allowed to settle in, 69 of which have been put into production, and 19 are installing and debugging equipment.

For Shantou's textile printing and dyeing industry, this is not only a catastrophe, but also an opportunity to get rid of the cocoon.

Zhong Jinfeng, general manager of Fengcheng Knitting and Dyeing Co., Ltd., believes that the cost of moving into the park and upgrading equipment is expected to be absorbed within 3-5 years. Most of the enterprises in the park have upgraded their equipment and their benefits have been significantly improved.

"Enterprises that meet environmental protection standards and are proactive will be able to spend the'winter' and move towards the'spring.'" said He Yongqiang, the office manager of Chaonan Textile Printing and Dyeing Center.

With the assistance of the center, enterprises in the park have received nearly 600 million yuan in financing. The financial department of Shantou City also grants no more than 30% of capital subsidies for newly purchased equipment.

Forced under the epidemic

In the spring of 2020, Liao Xiujie is preparing for a big fight. In the spacious hall on the first floor of the workshop, 31 new dye tanks worth about 20 million yuan are arranged neatly, and the top steam pipes, hot water pipes and other pipes have been connected to the park. The automation rate of the dyeing workshop has reached 80%, and the daily production capacity has increased from 20 tons to 30 tons.

The new crown pneumonia epidemic broke out suddenly, and the flow of people and logistics was interrupted. Within two years, the company stopped production for the second time.

Fortunately, the epidemic was quickly brought under control. After the resumption of work and production, Liao Xiujie received an unexpected surprise: a major Foshan customer that had been lost before was found again. He visited and found that the Chuanghuiguang automation equipment was better than before, so he placed an order with pleasure . In addition, 4 customers also came here to seek cooperation. Soon, the newly purchased equipment began to operate at full speed.

If Lianjiang remediation made Liao Xiujie find that low-end traffic was not working, the experience of resuming work and production after the epidemic made him understand that only by transforming to high-end, taking the road of automation and branding, products can be competitive and development can be sustainable. .

"Products must keep up with the upgrading of the consumer market, and fabrics must be made to the extreme." Huang Yanqiong, general manager of Guangxin Textile Industry Co., Ltd., felt the same.

When Guangxin was established in 1992, it produced various grades of cloth. In 2008, it only produced mid-to-high-end cloth. Now it has begun to build its own brand of cloth. In order to let R&D take the lead, the company built a new 7-story R&D building to fully march into new fabrics, new processes, and new styles.

"Business methods must keep up with the innovation of production and business models." Zhong Zejian, general manager of Shengye Weaving and Dyeing Co., Ltd., once went to Japan to learn from experience and found that the same underwear fabric was made by Japanese counterparts for high-end customization. The unit price was actually higher than similar products in Chaonan. Times more.

Having overcome the environmental crisis and withstood the test of the epidemic, more and more textile printing and dyeing enterprises in Shantou are deeply aware that transformation is no longer a question of "do or not", but a question of survival.

The ambition of a hundred billion cluster

This autumn, the 3 basketball court-sized parking lots of Chuanghuiguang Printing and Dyeing Factory were full every day.

In addition to the visiting customers, manufacturers such as clean technology and fine chemical factories have also visited. The broader industrial chain is quietly extending.

"After entering the park, upstream and downstream enterprises visit more frequently." Liao Xiujie said, the agglomeration effect of the industrial clusters in the park began to show up. After the transformation and upgrading of enterprises, the possibility of connecting with upstream and downstream enterprises has increased, and opportunities are coming one after another.

"Look, the Jingdu Town and Longtian Town here have to requisition land." Pointing to the sand table of the Chaonan Textile Printing and Dyeing Center, He Yongqiang told the Nanfang Daily reporter that 3750 mu of land is not enough, and the park needs to be expanded to more than 5,000 mu. Projects with missing links in the industrial chain such as chemicals, printing and dyeing auxiliaries, warehousing and logistics, and textile machinery manufacturing.

Chaonan Textile Printing and Dyeing Center revealed that the park has successfully sold 7 land, and Nantong Tianen Clean Technology Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Innovation Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. will soon settle down.

The "Master Plan for Shantou Development Zone" issued this year proposes that Chaonan will build a textile and garment industry cluster exceeding 100 billion yuan and a fine chemical industry cluster exceeding 20 billion yuan.

What makes "Liao Xiujie" even more exciting is that the Guangdong Provincial Government recently issued the "Opinions on Cultivating and Developing Strategic Pillar Industrial Clusters and Strategic Emerging Industrial Clusters" and 20 strategic industrial cluster action plans. Modern light industry textile industry clusters are impressively listed.

The blueprint of Guangdong's plan is: It plans to form a modern light industry textile industry cluster with global influence and competitiveness by 2025, with an industrial added value exceeding 720 billion yuan, and a main business income exceeding 3 trillion yuan.

Guangdong also proposed to play the role of Shantou provincial sub-center to create a new growth pole for light industrial textiles in the coastal economic belt, and support the construction of major investment projects in textile and garment industries.

The blueprint has been drawn, and the transformation is still on the way. The Shantou textile printing and dyeing industry, which has gone through twists and turns, is reborn from the cocoon, is ushering in the spring of high-quality development!

■Industry Voice

Orderly make the industry bigger and stronger

Guangdong modern light industry textile industry cluster has two outstanding characteristics: First, the industry cluster still represents the solid foundation of Guangdong industry. In 2019, the industry's main business income was about 2.7 trillion yuan, accounting for 20% of the province's manufacturing industry. Second, the enterprises in this industrial cluster still have their ambitions so far, with strong motivation for transformation and upgrading.

However, many companies have pointed out that today’s expansion and strengthening is not about low-end growth in a rush, nor barbaric growth by whoever is strong, but by supplementing, strengthening, and extending the industry chain in an orderly manner. Bigger and stronger. The current competition is the competition between industrial chains and industrial clusters on a global scale. Advantageous companies with a good foundation and distinctive characteristics can make full use of the domestic super-large-scale market advantages to attract high-end elements such as global advanced technology and high-quality talents to form innovations. Modern industrial clusters with outstanding capabilities, complete industrial chains, high coupling, and strong international competitiveness.

■numerical reading

The "Guangzhou Province's Action Plan for the Development of Modern Light Industry and Textile Strategic Pillar Industry Clusters (2021-2025)" puts forward:

●The scale of the industry keeps growing. By 2025, the industrial added value of the modern light industry and textile industry will exceed 720 billion yuan, and the main business income will exceed 3 trillion yuan.

●The industrial layout is more reasonable. By 2025, an innovative and creative center with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the core, and a network of advanced manufacturing bases focusing on the coastal economic belt and various characteristic industrial clusters will be formed.

●The industrial ecology is constantly improving, and the consistency of key areas with international standards has reached more than 95%. Green manufacturing technology is widely used.

Nanfang Daily reporter Su Li

Chen Xiao Zhang Weiwei