Cutting the cloth to fit green needs

Textile mills are learning how to cut costs and pollution. Daniel Chinoy reports from Changshu, Jiangsu.

The 25 textile mill managers gathered at the Shang Lake Garden Hotel earlier this week buzzed with energy, shooting off orders to subordinates on their cell phones, exchanging name cards and then greeting each other like old friends.

A set of mostly self-made entrepreneurs with little formal education but an excellent business sense, they had come to learn new ways to improve efficiency, cut costs and increase profit at their mills.