The Tenth Five-Year Plan of the Textile Industry and its Development

1. Development Objectives
Growth rate: The average annual growth rate will be 6.5 percent; the industrial value added will increase from 267.8 billion yuan (US$32.26 billion) in 2000 to 430 billion yuan in 2005.

The total processing volume of textile fibers will rise from 12.1 million tons in 2000 to 14.25 million tons in 2005; the average fiber consumption per capita will go up from 6.6 to 7.4 kilograms.

Foreign exchange income from textiles and apparel exports will jump from US$52 billion in 2000 to US$70-75 billion in 2005.

The proportion between clothing, decorative and industrial textiles products will be readjusted from 67, 20 and 13 percent in 2000 to 64 percent, 21 percent and 15 percent in 2005 respectively.

Labor productivity will reach 35,000 yuan in 2005, a 40-percent increase over 2000.

The contribution rate of technological progress will reach over 50 percent in 2005.

Energy and cost efficiency: energy consumption per 10,000 yuan worth of output will fall 15 percent in 2005 against 2000.

Water conservation: the recycling rate of water in the textiles dyeing-printing industry will reach around 30 percent; water consumption of dyeing-printing per 100 meters of fabric will drop from 3.6 to three tons.

2. Highlights of textile development and adjustment

1). Technological and product structural adjustment

During the Tenth Five-Year-Plan period (2001-2005), the textiles industry will keep up with the international development trend of new technology and restructure the traditional industry by using advanced, new technologies to accelerate technological improvement and upgrade the industry.

Cotton textiles: The capacity of 10 million spindles together with the looms will be renovated to enable 60 percent of the spun-yarn machinery to reach the advanced 1990s level; the proportion of combed yarn, unknotting yarn and fine-count yarn and no-shuttled fabric will reach 30, 50 and 40 percent respectively.

Wool textiles: To realize electronic, serial and concatenating production for high speed and efficiency. To raise the general quality of wool fabric and develop high-count yarn and light and thin products. The proportion of high-class fabric will reach 70 percent; to further expand exports.

Linen-leave fiber textiles: Focus on developing technical equipment for biological de-gumming of ramie, carding spinning and tow-to-yarn process and finishing technology after dyeing and printing to solve the problem of drought evenness, color fastness and color brightness of fine-count yarn. To improve quality to ensure wearing comfort and to expand the utilization of linen-leave textiles in apparel and in household textile products.

Silk textiles: New types of composite fibers with silk as the main content will be developed; the serialization of raw materials with silk contents will be made and high-grade silk products will be stressed; a shrink-proof and crease-proof finishing level will be upgraded; blended, inter-woven and composite products using mulberry silk and other fibers will be promoted and copies of natural products using chemical fibers will be developed.

Knitted textiles: The use of new-type knitting machines will spread and the capability of product design and development will be improved; the development of the utilization of new types of raw materials and environmental protection fibers in knitted products will be a priority; health-care-based knitted products, knitted garments for the outdoor, high-grade knitted underwear and high-grade warp-knitted fabrics will be promoted and exports of knitted textiles products will be expanded.

Chemical fibers and chemical fiber raw materials: To develop new product varieties and increase quality. By 2005, the differentiation rate will reach 40 percent and the production capacity of enterprises with an annual output of 100,000 tons will account for about 60 percent of the total capacity of the chemical fiber industry.

A number of large chemical-fiber and chemical-fiber raw material bases will be set up. The connection of all up-stream and down-stream enterprises in the industrial chain will be better coordinated.

Textiles for industrial use: Focus on developing covering materials, planting-base materials, fabrics, medical and hygienic materials for health care, materials for industrial use, construction materials, environmental protection materials, packaging materials, framing materials and automobile-interior decoration materials.

Textiles machinery: Focus on the research and development of 40 kinds of textile machineries in the areas of chemical fibers, yarn spinning, weaving, knitting and dyeing and finishing; a break-through in the development of 36 key manufacturing technologies; electronics technology will be applied extensively to raise the level of tech-electronic integration.

Post-dyeing and print finishing: Focus on increasing the level of post-finishing technology for natural fibers, dye-finishing technology for chemical-fiber copies of natural fibers, dye-finishing technology for multi-fiber blends and composite fibers, biological ferment dye-finishing technology, clean-production technology, laser screen-making technology, no plate-making dye-finishing print technology; products with high added value and ecological and environmental protection products will be highlighted to increase the proportion of high-grade products to 60 percent and to meet demands for garment making and exports.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)