With 20 major events and 40 years of passion,the textile people have painted a grand picture of a powerful country

The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up. As the leader of reform and opening up， Chinas textile industry is bravely at the leading edge of the reform， keeping advancing in exploration and exploring in advancement. Generations of textile workers， by virtue of their diligence and wisdom， not merely meet the peoples new expectations for a beautiful life， but compose a new chapter in the transformation and upgrading of the textile industry. From the open-ended supply of all-round cotton cloth to the reform of the economic management system of the textile industry； from the widespread flowering of township enterprises to the reduction of output as a breakthrough point in the reform of state-owned enterprises； from joining WTO to the flourishing development of cluster economy； from the release of the Outline on Building a Textile Power（2011 - 2020） to the development of new normal； from Internet + and intelligent leadership to the new orientation of “science， technology， fashion and green”... Chinas textile industry， as the backbone of the worlds textile industry， a vital pillar industry and a livelihood industry in China， has made impressive achievements over the past 40 years of reform and opening up.

As an old textile worker in the industry， Wu Di， Deputy Director of Industry Department of China National Textile and Apparel Council， after devoting himself to the textile industry since 1979， has successively got involved in information construction， economic research and compilation of textile history. He can be said to be a witness to the changes in the textile industry in the past 40 years of reform and opening up. With a view to fully showcase the innovation achievements and development track of Chinas textile industry in the past 40 years， he has reviewed a large number of materials and documents and sorted out 20 important events in the textile industry in the past 40 years of reform and opening up， showing and taking on the responsibilities of a textile worker in a new era.

This article outlines a picture of textile development for you， jointly looking back into the past and looking forward to the future with you.

The countrys cotton cloth and other commodities have been supplied in an open-ended manner

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee， the central government developed a series of policies to support the development of light textile industry while strengthening support for agriculture. The fiber raw materials has grown rapidly， providing favorable conditions for the high-speed development of the textile industry. The textile industry strove to tap its potential， enhance its production efficiency and make its production increase rapidly. In 1979， 1980 and 1981， the average growth rate of production reached more than 18%， and the production of various major textiles has increased considerably； in 1982， the national output of cotton reached up to 15.3 billion meters， up by 50.7% compared with that of 1977， and the per capita share of cotton cloth has increased from 10.7 meters in 1977 to 15.2 meters in 1982， increased by 50% or so； the per capita share of fiber increased from 2.44 kg in 1977 to 4.16 kg in 1982.

In old China， the textile industry was rather backward， characterized in that people went short of garments and clothes， and the market was flooded with foreign cloth. After the founding of New China， the production of textile industry has undergone substantial development， but for various political and economic reasons， it fluctuates greatly in development， the contradiction between the demand and supply of textiles has not been solved for a long time， and the practice of rationing cotton cloth with vouchers has lasted for nearly 30 years. During this pe- riod， it has become the primary political tasks of the textile industry to ensure the encashment of cloth tickets and meet the basic needs of peoples lives.

Due to the rapid development of textile production for a number of years consecutively， the supply situation of the market has undergone changes as a result， and the problem of textile supply shortage that has perplexed the textile industry and the whole national economy for many years has been gradually alleviated. By 1982 or so， the supply of domestic textiles has been able to better guarantee the basic needs of the people. On December 1， 1983， the Ministry of Commerce issued a circular： from now on， the whole country will temporarily waive cloth tickets and cotton wadding tickets； cotton cloth， cotton wadding and other commodities will be supplied in an open-ended manner； cloth tickets and cotton wadding tickets will no longer be issued. The limited supply of cotton cloth， which had been implemented for 29 years， had become the past and the problem of people lacking garments and clothes has been basically solved， which is a milestone in the development of Chinas textile industry.

Emphatically developing “threepillar” products

After solving the problem of supply shortage， it had become a consensus in the textile industry to focus on marketoriented terminal products， adjust product structure and vigorously develop new varieties and colors. In 1984， the Ministry of Textile Industry proposed to emphatically develop “three-pillar” products， namely clothing， decorative textiles and industrial textiles， take serious measures to variety quality and vigorously develop deep-processed and precision-machined products. After several years of efforts， obvious results have been achieved.

A great deal of work was done in the development of products of “three pillars”. The main task of the textile industry in the past was to ensure the peoples clothing needs， and most residents are also accustomed to purchasing dress materials for making clothes. Along with the increase of peoples income and the improvement of their lives， their demand for clothing is also undergoing changes accordingly， manifested as the follows： on the one hand， they not merely pay attention to the quality， variety and color of textiles， but gradually change from“making clothes” to “purchasing clothes”and also raise the demand for decorative textiles （later developed into household textiles） for beautifying life. Meanwhile， thanks to the development of national economy， all sorts of industrial textiles are needed to be used in the fields of national defense， medical treatment， construction， agriculture and so on， while in the past this aspect was rather weak and far from adapting to the needs.

In response to the aforesaid situation， all places made a great deal of work to develop the products of “three pillars”. From 1984 to 1986， during the meeting of directors of the National Textile Industry Department， three new product exhibitions were held， and after selection， 182 winning items of innovative products were selected in total， including 84 pieces of clothes， 68 pieces of decorative textiles and 30 pieces of industrial textiles. After selection， 182 winning items of innovative products were selected， including 84 items of clothing， 68 items of decorative textiles and 30 items of industrial textiles. A total of 19 new product research， development and design and training centers have been set up throughout the country， and a complete system has initially taken shape from the links of investigation and research， planning， trial production and sales exhibition activities.

The reform of economic management system stimulates enterprise vitality

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee， the textile system was the first to boldly reform a series of old management systems of enterprises， and there appeared some enterprises with national influence. Taking Zhejiang Haiyan Shirt Factory as an example， under the leadership of factory director Bu Xinsheng， more than 300 workers in the whole factory studied the rural contract responsibility system for co-production and adopted a series of reform measures， such as “co-production remuneration system” in the workshop， with no top pay and no bottom pay for the first-line salary； in respect of grasping quality， it was regulated that two pieces be compensated for damaging a shirt； to open up the market for shirts， it took the initiative to strengthen ties with commercial departments and hold various purchasing meetings； besides， it took two years to become one of the countrys famous shirt factories and realize a profit and tax of 1.64 million yuan. Peoples Daily published the report “A Factory Director with Original Spirit” on November 16， 1983.

In 1984， the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made the Decision on Urban Economic Reform， speeding up the pace of urban reform. In line with the spirit of the Central Committee， the textile industry began to reform the economic management system， focusing on streamlining administration and delegating power to the lower levels， expanding the autonomy of local governments and enterprises， and increasing the vitality and enthusiasm of enterprises.

For example， in terms of improving the internal management mechanism of enterprises， the textile industry explored specific ways to separate the management rights and ownership of enterprises and handed over the management rights to entrepreneurs with innovative and pioneering spirit. In quite a number of places， competition mechanisms have been introduced to optimize operators. Stateowned large and medium-sized enterprises fully promoted the director （manager） responsibility system and combined it with their tenure objectives， so as to fully implement the rights， responsibilities and benefits to enterprise operators； besides， it conscientiously carried out the system of staff and workers congress， do well in democratic management， and respect and safeguard the status of staff and workers as masters of their own affairs； moreover， it conscientiously implemented the State Councils Decision on Several Issues Concerning Strengthening Corporate Management， vigorously strengthened the basic management of enterprises， and carried out high-grade and high-level activities of enterprises； furthermore， it stabilized the post wage system and the full piece rate wage system for first-line workers， which were implemented in enterprises owned by the whole people； finally， it established a normal promotion system for second-line and third-line workers and conducted the selection of technicians. The gradual implementation of these reforms mobilized the enthusiasm of business operators and the majority of employees and boosted the development of enterprises.

The management system of the clothing industry has changed to form a “big textile” pattern

Reform and opening-up injected momentum to Chinas garment industry. It can be said that the 1980s were the first decade of the first industrial upgrading in Chinas garment industry. In 1986， the state decided to classified the garment industry under centralized textile system management. In November 1986， the General Office of the State Council issued a Notice on Classifying Clothing Industry under Textile Sector to Implement Industry Management to the State Economic and Trade Commission by telegraph， thereby classifying the garment industry from the Ministry of Light Industry to the Ministry of Textile Industry for management， forming a complete textile industry chain at the national management level， building a “big textile” pattern， and breathing new life into the development of the textile industry. The consciousness of developing large textile industry with clothing as the leader is gradually accepted， which is greatly conducive to the development from raw materials to end products in a connected sequence and effectively coordinates all links of the industrial chain； on the other hand， the clothing industry relies on textile， the raw material supply channel is smoother， and developing various forms of horizontal integration is conducive to its own development. The great development of the clothing industry later proved this point.

By the end of the “Seventh FiveYear Program”， clothing production had developed in leaps and bounds， and earning foreign exchange through exports had increased steadily. Statistically， there were about 30，000 garments， shoes and hats enterprises in the country， with nearly 3 million employees and a total output of 3.175 billion pieces. The total retail sales of clothing in China amounted to 118.22 billion yuan， accompanied by the booming urban and rural clothing market and the growing variety of styles， and the long-standing problem of lack of garments and clothes in Chinese society has been solved. Foreign exchange earnings from exports reached 6，848 million USD in 1990， exceeding Chinas textile exports for the first time， accounting for 6% of the worlds total clothing exports， and ranking first in the worlds exports since 1994.

Township textile enterprises are springing up exuberantly

In the mid-1980s， township textile enterprises came into full swing and entered a stage of all-round development， arousing a wide range of attention. In 1984， the State Council approved the Ministry of Agricultures Report on Creating a New Situation for Commune and Brigade Run Enterprises， giving positive recognition to the development of township enterprises and further formulating preferential policies to support the development of township textile enterprises with respect to credit， taxation and price， etc. Township textile enterprises made great progress whether in respect of scale， capability， product structure or management level. In 1989， the output value of township textile enterprises reached 69.8 billion yuan， 10 times as much as in 1983 and 48 times as much as in 1978， making up 32% of the total output value of the textile industry in that year and becoming a vital force in the development of the textile industry. What is more meaningful is that this batch of township textile enterprises became the pioneers of the vast number of private textile enterprises as the main force in the industry in the future， which gathered experience for the rapid development of private economy and laid a foundation for the formation and growth of the textile industry cluster in the future.

During the improvement and rectification of national economy in the late 1980s， township textile enterprises， guided by the market， consciously adjusted their industries and industrial structures， and the too large investment scale was reduced， the excessively rapid development rate was controlled， the production factors were reasonably allocated， and the optimization of industrial structure was driven by the new products， which not only developed medium and high-grade products that meet the needs of the city and products that earn foreign exchange through exports， but actively developed products that meet the needs of the rural market and closed down a number of enterprises. The export-oriented economy has also further advanced， with enterprises of three import and compensation trade developing in a pretty fast pace. In 1990， the export purchase value of township textile enterprises reached 16.47 billion yuan， an increase of 4.4 times in four years.

Opening to the outside world， introducing capital， advanced technologies and management experience

In the implementation of the strategy of opening up the textile industry to the outside world and achieving exportoriented development in the early 1980s， the Ministry of Textile Industry decided to organize its subordinate units and 17 provincial and municipal bureaus in the country to set up a joint venture with CITIC to form Shenzhen Hualian Textile Union Co.， Ltd.， and “Hualian” became the largest window for Chinas textile industry to open its economy directly to the outside world. Subsequently， a large number of foreign-funded， Hong Kongfunded and Taiwan-funded enterprises（hereinafter referred to as three kinds of investment enterprises） entered the mainland market and played a vital role in opening up to the outside world.

The textile industry introduced foreign capital quite early. At the beginning of the reform and opening up， in November 1979， Hong Kong businessman Cao Guangbiaos Xiangzhou Woolen Mill was officially completed in Zhuhai， mainly carrying out the “three-processing and one compensation” （materials for processing， processing with supplied samples， processing parts supplied by clients and compensation trade） business， which has achieved a pretty good demonstration effect. In 1981， the Hong Kong Tang Family and Shanghai Textile Bureau jointly established Shanghai United Wool Textile Co.， Ltd. in Pudong， the first Sino-foreign joint venture in the textile industry in China， which made a good start in developing three kinds of investment enterprises in the textile industry.

At the beginning， three kinds of investment enterprises in the textile industry were basically dominated by clothing， cotton knitting and wool knitting， with cotton， wool and bast fibre each accounting for a certain proportion. In 1990， three kinds of investment enterprises in the textile industry earned the foreign exchange of 1.59 billion USD through exports， accounting for 12.4% of the same caliber textile exports and 25% of national exports of three kinds of investment enterprises. After 1991， foreign investors were encouraged to develop high-tech and large and medium-sized projects， such as Shanghai Lianji Synthetic Fiber Co.， Ltd. （joint venture）， Guangzhou Yamei Polyester Co.， Ltd. （joint venture）， Xiamen Xianglu Polyester Co.， Ltd. （wholly owned by Taiwan businessmen）， etc. There were also a number of key projects that directly utilized foreign capital， such as Jinan Nylon Project， Jilin Acrylic Fiber Project， Zhuhai PTA Project， etc. These were all large and medium-sized projects with advanced technology in the world. They not merely used foreign capital to drive exports， but introduced advanced technology and management experience to facilitate the structural reform and mechanism transformation of the textile industry. By 1996， three kinds of investment enterprises accounted for 25.4% of the total industrial output value of the textile industry.

“Two machines” and other technical transformation projects have achieved results

Technological transformation has always played an important role in the development of textile industry. Since the 1990s， the focus of technological transformation has been to comprehensively adjust the industrial structure， introduce and absorb advanced foreign technology， develop high-quality well-known goods， and raise the technical level of textile industry. During the period of the “Eighth Five-year Program” （1991 - 1995）， the state significantly increased its investment in technical transformation of textile enterprises， speeding up the implementation of technical transformation projects. In the five years， the investment in fixed assets in the textile industry reached 138.5 billion yuan， of which 84.7 billion yuan， or 61%， was nearly double that of the“Seventh Five-Year Program”， of which 1，172 special technological transformation projects have been arranged by the central government， with an investment of 26.5 billion yuan.

In light of the “Eighth Five-Year Program” for technical transformation and planning of textile industry， it is intended to implement two batches of technical transformation projects， including technology digestion， absorption and localization of cotton spinning spindles， automatic winders and shuttleless looms （referred to as the “two machines”）， increasing colors and varieties and increasing effective supply （referred to as “double-increasing projects”）， export of “deep， refined and high” final textile products， new textile raw materials and their special products， localization of new textile machinery， etc.

For instance， in the special project of “two machines”， through digestion and absorption of imported technology and independent development， Chinas textile machinery manufacturing industry begun to have the capability to produce world-class equipment and replaced imports with a certain amount. The State Councils directive on localization of new textile machinery during the “Eighth Five-year Program” highlighted the key point of urgently needed， large-scale and wide-ranging key equipment in China. It took the top four priorities of automatic winder， shuttleless loom， carding machine and combing machine as a breakthrough point， aimed at the international market and accelerated the development of new textile machinery. Moreover， it adopted the method of “combining technology and trade” and used part of the import trade volume as chips to introduce the design and manufacturing technology of these equipment and to reform the existing equipment of various manufacturing enterprises. By 1995， there was a production capacity of 500 automatic winders， 3000 air-jet looms， 300 projectile looms and 50 carding units per year. The performance of these equipment was close to the international level at that time， and the localization rate reached 60% - 70%.

State-owned textile enterprises suffered serious losses at the same time of high-speed development

In the 1980s and 1990s， in the general context of reform and opening up and socialist market economy， all walks of life in the textile system developed at a high speed. This was mainly due to the countrys major policy of centering on economic construction and the shift of the world textile industry to developing countries， highlighting the characteristics of low investment and quick results in the textile industry itself. From 1980 to 1997， the production capacity of Chinas textile industry increased to a substantial extent， with cotton spinning developing from 17.8 million to 42.45 million spindles， wool spinning from 600，000 to 3.87 million spindles， silk reeling from 880，000 to 3.24 million spindles and bast fibre spinning from 180，000 spindles to 840，000 spindles and printing and dyeing capacity from 7.7 billion meters to 15.5 billion meters， and china rapidly became the worlds largest textile industry.

The top-speed development of textile industry rendered it possible for China to solve the problem of peoples clothing and made it become a world textile and clothing exporter.

Nevertheless， after more than a dozen years of rapid development， there appeared problems rarely seen in Chinas industrial sector in the past， such as excessive market competition， unsalable products， corporate losses， underemployment， and surplus personnel. In the meanwhile， after a long period of “extensive”development， some structural contradictions also emerged at this time： the overall technical level was relatively low and the overall equipment level had fallen behind as well； the industry structure had not adapted to the new situation of domestic and foreign markets， with more initial processing and less deep processing； state-owned enterprises are increasingly suffering from losses caused by a number of factors such as employing a lot of personnel， heavy burdens， inactive mechanisms and too centralized management systems.

In the middle and early 1990s， the equipment scale in cotton spinning and other industries is too large， and the problem requiring to properly compress the total amount is beginning to attract attention. However， due to the lack of unified understanding at that time， the macro-control measures were not strong enough， and plus various subjective and objective reasons such as local interests driving， the problem has not been well solved. In 1992， state-owned textile enterprises suffered losses in the whole industry， and by 1996， they had suffered losses of 10.6 billion yuan for five consecutive years. Just during the same period， the national industrial state-owned enterprises were also in an extremely difficult period. According to statistics， nearly 6，000 large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises suffered losses of 55.5 billion yuan in 1996. Stateowned enterprises should get out of the predicament as soon as possible， and the reform of state-owned enterprises has entered a crucial stage. It is even more urgent and of universal significance in all industrial sectors to solve the problem of large-scale losses of state-owned textile enterprises and even losses of the whole industry.

The adjustment of ingot pressing has become a breakthrough in the reform of state-owned enterprises

In February 1998， the State Council issued the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Deepening Reform and Restructuring of Textile Industry to Solve Difficulties and Recover Losses， clearly setting out the task objectives and policy measures of ingot pressing adjustment of textile industry as a breakthrough for national state-owned enterprises to initially establish a modern enterprise system. The specific goal is to reduce backward cotton spindles by 10 million spindles in about three years from 1998， and to resettle 1.2 million laid-off workers so as to turn the whole industry into a profit by the year 2000.

From January 23， 1998， when Shanghai won the first bid of the countrys ingot pressing， the textile industry， through concerted efforts， finished compressing 9.4 million backward cotton spindles in three years， basically completing its task. By the end of April 2000， 1.21 million workers was relocated and resettled. Happily， the goal of three years relief was achieved one year ahead of schedule： the profit of the whole industry increased significantly， with state-owned enterprises earning 950 million yuan in 1999 and earning 6.9 billion yuan in 2000. The textile industry put an end to years of low-level repeated construction， made substantial progress in structural readjustment， and the quality of most state-owned textile enterprises improved markedly， which not only had the operation of the textile economy improved somewhat， but accumulated experience for other difficult industries to extricate themselves out of stuck.

The adjustment of ingot pressing can achieve the strategic goals in the near and medium term. The government played a powerful role in guiding and supporting policies. The central and local governments provided financial subsidies of 3 billion yuan and supported “combined boxing” policies such as bankruptcy write-off， employee resettlement， land use rights， export quotas， export tax rebates and cotton purchasing； the majority of state-owned textile enterprises responded to the call and took into account the overall situation， especially， the laid-off workers paid the price for this， which was a guarantee for the smooth implementation of ingot pressing.

What is more important is that the medium-and long-term effects of this ingot-pressing adjustment are becoming increasingly apparent upon entry of the new century. Chinas textile industry joined in the struggle without any burdens， seizing the historical opportunity of economic globalization and Chinas accession to the WTO on the basis of deepening market reform， and ushered in the best period of development since the founding of New China.

The industry association undertook historic heavy tasks

In 2000， the State Council proposed a reform plan for government agencies， and the National Peoples Congress passed the decision to abolish nine industrial administrations. On February 19， 2001， the State Bureau of Textile Industry was abolished and a New China Textile Industry Association （later renamed China National Textile and Apparel Council in 2011） was set up， which becomes a national textile industry organization， actively leading and guiding the development of the industry in the new era with the aim of serving the industry.

Since the founding of New China， the management organizations of Chinas textile industry have undergone quite a number of changes along with the development of the situation in different historical periods， indirectly reflecting the process of Chinas reform from a planned economy to a market economy. The Ministry of Textile Industry （which merged with the Ministry of Light Industry during the Cultural Revolution） established in 1949 was one of the earliest industrial ministries founded in New China to manage national textile enterprises， and to provide overall planning of the textile industry and offer specific leadership on principles， policies and business technologies. China Textile Association established in 1993 was to carry out industry-wide management in accordance with its new functions of “formulating industry plans， implementing industry policies， offering macro guidance， and rendering services to enterprises”.

In March 1998， in light of the State Councils institutional reform plan， the State Bureau of Textile Industry was set up to implement the principle of “separation of enterprise from administration， decentralization of power and integration of power and responsibility”. In the meantime， the establishment of the trade association was accelerated. In the next decade or so， the trade association played its service role， promoted reform and innovation of the textile industry based on investigation and research， opened up domestic and foreign markets， fully participated in economic globalization， actively responded to the challenges and opportunities of Chinas access into the WTO and the international financial crisis， and accelerated the pace of transformation and upgrading of Chinas textile industry. During this period， the organization underwent several reforms， its functions were constantly changing and its ranks kept growing； it has always shouldered historical responsibilities and played a rather important role in the development of the industry.