Chinese wool conference held in Inner Mongolia
China’s thirty-ninth annual national wool spinning conference and the Bayannaoer wool industry summit were recently held over three days in Bayannaoer, a significant wool- and cashmere-producing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) city in Inner Mongolia.
The BRI refers to the Chinese government’s large-scale infrastructure development strategy involving 70 networked countries, a flagship policy of current leader Xi Jinping.
Co-sponsored by the China Textile Engineering Society (CTES) and Bayannaoer’s municipal government, the overarching theme was empowering “green” development, Chinese media said.
In a speech to attendees, the city’s deputy mayor, Ren Yiqun, reportedly noted how the volume of cashmere produced in Bayannaoer currently amounts to around 25% of China’s national output. Regarding wool, more broadly, Mr Ren commented that the city is home to more than 120 wool purchasing companies alone.
First-class inspector of consumer products at the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Cao Xuejun, separately described the manufacturing industry as a strong nation’s foundation and source of wealth.
Ms Cao encouraged industry figures to be “self-reliant” and, first and foremost, advance industry-wide technological innovation, particularly in the areas of digital, intelligent and green wool spinning. She also suggested that attendees push into the mid to high-end segment by cultivating better international awareness and recognition of the quality and “brand” of fine wool and cashmere.
Another recommendation of Ms Cao’s was that the woollen textile industry should “open up” to cooperation and further integration with the wider textiles ecosystem, in order to improve industry-wide product quality and manufacturing efficiency.
Later, CTES and the Bayannaoer municipal government together signed a strategic agreement pertaining to the construction of an unspecified “technological innovation platform”, plus the facilitation of academic exchange, personnel recruitment and technical training, among other initiatives.
Image: Johnstons of Elgin via Unsplash.
