ITMF 2022 Annual Conference in Switzerland: Focus on Climate Change and Textile Value Chain Sustainability

From September 17-20, 2022, the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) 2022 Annual Conference was held in the Swiss town of Davos. With the theme of "Climate Change and Sustainable Global Textile Value Chain", the conference brought together more than 330 global textile industry representatives from 35 countries and regions over four days to discuss and exchange views on key issues affecting the recovery and development of the current textile industry.

International Textile Federation Chairman, China Textile Federation President Sun Rui Zhe led the Chinese textile delegation to participate in the meeting. Xu Yingxin and Li Lingshen, vice presidents of the China Textile Federation, Yan Yan, director of the Social Responsibility Office of the China Textile Federation, Zhang Chuanxiong, deputy director of the Science and Technology Development Department, Huang Song, director of the International Organizations Division of the Foreign Affairs Office, Gu Ping, president of the China Textile Machinery Association, Cong Zheng, secretary-general, and about 30 representatives of Chinese textile clusters and enterprises attended the meeting.

Sun Ruizhe, President of the International Textile Federation, delivered the opening speech of the conference. He first talked about, after three years, the annual meeting finally from the "cloud" back to "offline", the global textile industry gathered in beautiful Davos, Switzerland, which is a good start, reflecting the willingness of countries (regions) to promote industrial development, consensus and confidence.

He stressed that since the epidemic, the international situation is increasingly unstable, uncertain and insecure factors, overlapping each other, the world has entered a new period of turbulent change. The global textile industry to overcome the pressure, to promote recovery, showing the strong resilience and vitality of the industry chain supply chain. 2021, the global textile industry achieved stable growth, natural fibers, man-made fibers and spunbond nonwoven fiber market size grew 3.7% to 127.1 million tons. World production of natural and man-made fibers reached 118.5 million tons with a 3-year fastest growth rate of 4.6%, with man-made fibers growing 8.8% to 88.2 million tons.

He also talked about the uncertainty of the external environment makes the industry development face more pressure. Global industry chain cooperation is hindered, commodity prices fluctuate, global inflation persists for a long time, and the mid- and downstream market demand is sluggish. In particular, the European energy crisis has exacerbated the risk of upstream raw material supply. Demand contraction and supply shocks are intertwined, and the foundation for sustained industrial recovery is yet to be solidified.

Sun Rui Zhe believes that to address common challenges, grasp the important window of economic recovery, the global textile industry to create a community of common destiny, strengthen pragmatic cooperation, so that the global textile industry on a healthy and stable development track. First, we must adhere to common prosperity and promote open development. Second, we should follow the trend of science and technology, and promote innovation and development. Third, we should integrate into the digital economy and promote integrated development. Fourth, we should practice the dual carbon goal and promote green development. Fifth, we should adhere to the people-oriented, to promote responsible development.

In his speech, Sun Rizhe also focused on the International Textile Federation. He pointed out that at present, the epidemic repeatedly delayed, geo-conflicts intensified, broken chain decoupling and food and energy security issues are increasingly prominent, human beings are facing unprecedented challenges. At the same time, we also see that the expectations of countries (regions) to achieve peace and stability have not changed, the aspirations to accelerate economic recovery and development have not changed, and the spirit of solidarity and cooperation to overcome the difficulties of the times has not changed.

Sun Ruizhe stressed that under the new situation, the International Textile Federation, as an important constructive force in the world textile industry, should continue to be faithful to the original intention and mission of promoting the development of the industry and the pursuit of human progress; to uphold the positioning of promoting industry unity and serving the development of the industry; to promote the stability and consistency of exchanges and cooperation among members. As long as the industry is beneficial, the International Textile Federation should be obliged to do, and do a good job. And put forward a few suggestions: First, enhance the sense of pioneering, open a new situation; second, promote the development of the key, seeking new results; third, promote the spirit of solidarity, strengthen the new cooperation.

Sun Rizhe stressed that development is the eternal theme of human society. Everything gets its origin to be born, and everything gets its way to become. Open cooperation is the right way to promote the sustainable development of the global textile industry. Looking to the future, we should follow the trend of historical development and the development trend of globalization, be confident and move forward hand in hand, and we will definitely have a beautiful future for our embroidery business!

Swiss Textile Federation President Karieli and Swiss Textile Machinery Association Chairman Maurer spoke respectively to welcome the representatives of the participating countries and introduced the achievements and challenges faced by Switzerland in recent years in the field of textile and textile machinery in terms of economic policy, technology, talent, sustainability and design, hoping that the global textile industry to strengthen dialogue and cooperation to promote global textile openness, freedom, innovation and sustainable development .

During the four days of the conference, the topics of "Recycling", "Fibers - Cotton and Man-made Fibers", "Textile (Machinery) Industry in Switzerland", "Sustainability and Circularity - The Future", and "Textile (Machinery) Industry in Switzerland" were discussed. Sustainability and Circularity - Business Models of the Future", "Start-ups" and "Supply Chain Synergy". The participants exchanged ideas on various aspects.

In the session of "Social and Environmental Standards", Yan Yan, Director of Social Responsibility Office of China Textile Federation, gave a speech on the topic of "Integrated Development: Ways to Cooperate on Social and Environmental Standards". Regarding the development and implementation of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), she called for, firstly, improving the transparency and participation of stakeholders in the process of standards development; secondly, strengthening the capacity building of VSS applications; and thirdly, combining with market mechanisms to provide encouragement support for business development to companies that perform well in the application of VSS.

During the annual meeting, Sun Rizhe, as the chairman of IFTF, presided over a series of IFTF working meetings, including the decision making committee meeting, the council meeting and the management committee meeting.

The IFTF Management Committee meeting voted unanimously to extend the term of office of the current IFTF President Sun Rui Zhe for one year until October 2023. The meeting considered that during the critical period when the global textile industry is facing many challenges from economic, health and political aspects, Mr. Sun has given exemplary leadership and played a very important role in leading the national (regional) textile industry to come together; it is believed that Mr. Sun will continue to push the world textile industry forward. The meeting discussed the establishment of the Standardization Committee Working Group, with Li Lingshen, Vice President of the China Textile Federation, and Christine Schindler, Director General of the International Textile Federation, as conveners, to seek views and form further consensus on the organizational framework and work direction of the Committee.

The meeting of the Decision-making Committee of the International Textile Federation was held at the same time. At the meeting, Sun Rui Zhe once again talked about the Xinjiang issue. He reiterated that the U.S. so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act", which came into force on June 21 this year as a unilateral sanction, is based on the assumption that "forced labor" is used in the manufacture of products in Xinjiang. This "presumption of guilt" is not based on solid facts and lacks legitimacy. Sanctions against Chinese textile companies, including Yida, which are recognized worldwide for their excellence, will not only harm the interests of the Chinese textile industry, but also the interests of the global textile industry chain and the interests of global consumers. He also said that international brands and institutions, including the U.S. industry, are welcome to visit Xinjiang cotton production areas and textile and garment factories to independently understand and judge the relevant facts, and the China Textile Federation is willing to facilitate and assist relevant visits and trade and investment cooperation.

During the meeting, the International Textile Federation under the cotton, spinning, fiber and fiber applications, home textile manufacturers committee held a professional committee meeting respectively.

Xu Yingxin, a member of the Decision-making Committee of the International Textile Federation and vice president of the China Textile Federation, spoke at the meeting of the Home Textile Manufacturers Committee, saying that currently, many countries and regions are facing multiple challenges such as high inflation, slowing growth, credit crunch, intensifying geopolitical conflicts, and recurring epidemics of the new crown pneumonia. At the same time, driven by the new round of technological and industrial revolution, technological innovation, digital economy and green development are changing the structure and ecology of the industry with unprecedented speed, scale and scope. In this context, it is important to make use of the role of the Home Textiles Producers Committee platform to exchange views and share the latest practices, to put forward ideas and concepts on how to address current and future challenges, and to inject steady strength into the strong recovery and sustainable development of the world textile industry, including the home textiles industry.

At the meeting of the Committee on Fiber and Fiber Applications, Li Lingshen, Vice Chairman of the Committee on Fiber and Fiber Applications of the International Textile Federation and Vice President of the China Textile Federation, talked about the fact that in recent years, Chinese high-performance fibers and technical textiles have been widely used in medical and health care, environmental protection, geotechnical construction, safety and protection, aerospace and other fields, and have played an important role in national economic construction and key projects. During the New Crown epidemic, China's production capacity of masks and protective clothing expanded rapidly, making an important contribution to the prevention and control of the global epidemic. In the coming years, China's fiber and product industry will adhere to the key development direction of differentiation, functionalization and high performance, strengthen the collaborative innovation of the industry chain, and devote itself to achieving greater value in the cross-border integration of science and technology and the expansion of product applications.

This year, the annual meeting added the "International Textile Federation Awards" awarding session. The project jointly carried out by Donghua University and Kaisai Biotechnology Co., Ltd - the technology development of bio-based polyamide 56 industrial sets, won the IFTF Innovation and Sustainability Award; the platform jointly built by nine industry organizations including China Textile Federation - STAR NETWORK, and the project jointly built by Shanghai Textile Federation, Ltd. STAR NETWORK, and Coloro, a collaborative project developed by Shanghai Yuancai Technology Co., Ltd, won the International Cooperation Award of the International Textile Federation.

The conference also issued an invitation to the 2023 IFTF Annual Conference to be held in October 2023 in Keqiao, China.

During their stay in Davos, the delegation was invited to meet with Mr. Georg Stausberg, CEO of Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions, Mr. Eric Schöller, Executive Vice President of Groz-Beckert, Mr. Andreas Engelhardt, President of the Fibre Yearbook, Mr. Ernesto Maurer, President of the European Textile Machinery Association, and Mr. Ernesto Maurer, President of the African Textile Federation. Mr. Ernesto Maurer, Vice President of the African Cotton and Textile Industry Federation Mr. Mohammod Kassem, and member companies of the Egyptian Textile Industry Association met and exchanged views in depth.