Xu Kunyuan, Deputy Minister Of The Former Ministry Of Textile Industry, Is Always In My Heart.

　 Editor's note:

In the 70th anniversary and 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2019, China's textile industry has been developing from a weak to a strong and has achieved all-round and pioneering development. Profound and fundamental changes have taken place. As the mother industry, the pioneer of opening to the outside world and the forerunner of economic system reform, the textile industry has made China the largest producer, consumer and exporter of textiles and clothing in the world.

In order to comprehensively review the historical process of China's textile industry in the past 70 years, we show the great changes in the textile industry from different angles, and record the story of the textile industry's courage to explore and forge ahead. The China Textile Industry Federation magazine "textile and clothing weekly" set up a column of "I and my motherland" to write articles to the enterprises, institutions, schools, groups and individuals in the industry, and to express their love for the party, the motherland and the good life through the praise of the brilliant achievements of the industry, and further show the textile industry's determination to win the dream of building a well-off society in an all round way and realize the great dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 　　

My motherland and I

Xu Kun yuan

Xu Kunyuan, Vice Minister of the former Ministry of textile industry, is a member of the Tenth CPPCC National Committee and a senior engineer in professorship.

In 1966, he graduated from the Textile Machinery Department of East China Textile Institute of technology. In 1966~1976, he worked in the East China Textile Institute of technology and worked in the 4688 Army Training Institute and the second textile machinery plant in Shaoyang, Hunan. In 1976~1986, he served as technical director and vice president of Hunan Light Industry Design Institute, director of science and Technology Department of Hunan Light Industry Bureau, deputy general manager, general manager and Secretary of Party committee of Hunan Textile Industrial Corporation, and Secretary of the Party committee and director of Yueyang Dongting Ramie textile dyeing and printing factory. He was appointed director of the Ministry of textile industry in 1986. 1992~2011, Vice Minister of the Ministry of textile industry, vice chairman of China Textile Association, deputy director of the State Bureau of textile industry, vice president of China Textile Industry Federation. In 1993~1994, he served as head of the preparatory group of China Silk Group Corporation.

The founding of new China has changed the fate of my life.

I was born in an ordinary peasant family in Changshu, Jiangsu in 1941. My parents did not know a word. I myself used to be a farmer facing the loess. After the founding of new China, I began to study. At that time, I was 9 years old. After graduating from high school, I stopped working for a year at home because my family was poor. Later, I heard people from the same village say that the state has a stipend for poor students. In second years, I was admitted to Changshu Middle School of Jiangsu province to continue my studies. In 1961, I went to East China Textile Institute of technology, and I have relied on the national first aid program to complete all my studies.

When I choose universities and majors, local culture plays an important role. My hometown, Changshu, is a textile town. My hometown people are engaged in textile industry for generations. My family has soil spinning machines and looms, and my mother can spin and weave. My father has worked as a dyed worker in the factories of the county town. When I was in college, my parents wanted me to learn the "ocean machine" for spinning and weaving, instead of manual work. They said that people should dress, this industry is very important to the country and has a bright future. So I applied for the Department of textile machinery of East China Textile Institute of Technology.

After graduating from university in 1966, I stayed in school to teach. After the Cultural Revolution began, schools stopped enrollment because there were no students and no books to teach. I worked in Shanghai seventh textile machinery factory for a period of time. Later, in accordance with the requirements of the relevant documents, I went to Tianjin 4688 troops with a few detention teachers for more than a year. East China Textile Engineering Institute is directly affiliated to the Ministry of textile industry, and is managed by the Ministry of textile industry. In 1970, because there were still no students in the school, I went to the second textile machinery factory in Shaoyang, Hunan, along with the devolved cadres from the textile department. I worked there for 5 years, worked as a technician in the workshop first and then served as deputy director of the Institute. In 1976, I left Shaoyang two spinning machine and transferred to Hunan Light Industry Design Institute. I served as deputy section chief, chief and vice president of Technology Department, and later transferred to Hunan Light Industry Bureau as director of science and technology division. In 1978, the State Ministry of textile industry was reunited with the Ministry of light industry for nearly 8 years, and the textile industry bureau was resumed locally. Hunan province has set up a Hunan Provincial Textile Industry General Office, and I was appointed deputy general manager.

The Yueyang Dongting Ramie textile dyeing and printing factory under the Hunan Textile Industry Corporation is a key construction project in Hunan in the early 80s. It was also the largest modern ramie textile printing and dyeing factory in China, with thousands of people's scale. In order to speed up the pace of construction, the provincial Party committee decided that I should be the head of the plant. The organization has arranged for me to take up the burden, perhaps considering that I am younger and have worked in a factory. At that time, it was very difficult and difficult to be a leader in the factory. It was very hard. I got up at six o'clock every morning and worked overtime in the factory late at night.

In the third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, the party opened a new course of reform and opening up, and brought new opportunities for development of Dongting Ramie factory and myself. In the early 80s, I read from the newspaper the report of Henan Shengli paper mill and Zhejiang Bu Xin Sheng garment factory about the reform and contracting of enterprises. I began to carry out corresponding reform measures in the factory. The construction and production lines were contracted out, with an average bonus of about 10 yuan. In addition, activities such as post training, labor competition and other measures, including ideological and political work and cadre team building, were also organized. At that time, I did my best to put my work into practice, not just verbal calls. I rarely organized meetings in factories. I spent most of my time working in the workshop and working with workers. I accomplished all the tasks well. At the time, there was a debate in the society about the contract reform implemented by the factory. Some people in the factory did not agree with my practice. But later, when the provincial organizations came to the factory to investigate, most of the cadres and workers responded well to my reform measures. The recognition of my work by the cadres in the organization and in the factory actually confirms the necessity and correctness of the decision of the state's reform and opening up in practice. In the past, the old way of eating big meals is really unsustainable. This further deepens my understanding and confidence in advancing the reform of the industry and enterprises, and is also an important turning point in my political career.

Reform and opening up for China's textile industry to take off wings

In 1984, the leading group of Hunan Textile Industry Corporation was adjusted, and I was appointed as the leader in the hall. At the time of the textile system, I was a very young cadre in the main hall. In 1986, I was transferred to the Ministry of textile industry as the director of the planning department. I was promoted to vice minister in 1992 and vice chairman of the China Textile Industry Federation in 2001. After more than twenty years after my work in the Ministry of textile industry, the textile industry has undergone profound changes and great changes since the reform and opening up. I have chaired or participated in the five five year development plan of the textile industry, the compilation of three scientific and technological development plans and the annual annual plan, and participated in the research and formulation of a series of major industrial decisions. In the past more than 20 years, my heart has been beating with the pulse of the textile industry, and the pace of learning and exploration has never stopped. At the same time, I also witnessed that the textile industry has achieved the brilliant achievements that it did not dare to think in the past.

The reform and opening up has taken the wings of China's textile industry to take off. We spent more than thirty years to develop from a backward textile producing country to the most complete textile production and export country in the world, and have the core competitive advantage. The textile industry has also become one of the most important basic industries in the national economy. Especially after entering the twenty-first Century, China's accession to the World Trade Organization has realized the integration of the textile industry with the international industrial chain and supply chain in an all-round way and marketization. Market demand and competition drive the manufacturing capacity of the industry to grow rapidly, and the comprehensive competitive power is constantly improving.

The outstanding contribution of the textile industry to the national economy is that the clothing problem of the one billion and three hundred million population has been completely solved. After the founding of new China, quite a few days later, the people were in a state of lack of clothes and quilt. Until the early stage of reform and opening up, the cloth was limited in quantity. Every year, 3~4 meters per person had only enough two clothes at most, and young people had to marry a couple of families to put the tickets together. Today, the rich variety of textile and clothing products not only meet the needs of beautiful, comfortable, safe clothing, decoration and home decoration, but also carry multiple functions such as expression, aesthetic orientation and cultural inheritance. Textile fiber materials have made new contributions in the fields of medical and health, transportation, geotechnical engineering, environmental protection filtration, structural enhancement and safety protection. At present, the textile industry can provide at least 15 new clothes per person per year, and the per capita fiber consumption in China has exceeded 20 kilograms, reaching the level of the moderately developed countries.

Second, the textile industry has assumed the important mission of enriching the people. In 1978, the number of employees in the textile industry was 3 million 110 thousand, accounting for 7% of the total industrial enterprises in the country. Now the total number of employed persons in the textile industry reaches about 20 million, and the proportion of employed Enterprises above Designated Size accounts for about 9% of the total. The textile industry has created a large number of employment opportunities and entrepreneurial opportunities, and has provided substantial remuneration income for practitioners, especially rural migrant workers. Moreover, the textile industry uses about 9 million tons of natural fiber raw materials annually, making an important contribution to the development of agriculture and the increase of farmers' income. The agglomeration characteristics of textile industry have strongly promoted the economic development of the counties and towns. Now there are more than 200 characteristic industrial clusters in the country. The list of the top 100 counties in the annual list of the top 100 counties is mostly based on the textile industry.

Third, the textile industry has made outstanding contributions in increasing the country's foreign exchange earnings. In the initial stage of reform and opening up, China's goods trade has been in a state of deficit for a long time. The textile industry is one of the few surplus Industries and the absolute main force of foreign exchange earning. Until 2012, the trade surplus of the textile industry was larger than that of the country's total trade in goods. In 2018, it still accounted for about 74% of the national trade. Our country today has strong foreign exchange reserves to protect the national economic security and implement the national economic strategy. Behind this is the textile industry workers' decades of hard work.

China's textile industry has undergone such earth shaking changes in a short time. I think there are three main reasons:

First, the state attaches importance to it. The Ministry of textile industry was the earliest industrial department in New China. After a long period of time after the founding of the PRC, there must be a steel worker and a textile worker on the poster of the working class. The position of the textile industry in the national economy is evident. Before the reform and opening up, the state has planned and constructed a number of textile production bases and textile machinery bases, and adopted a series of measures to ensure the supply of raw materials such as cotton, wool, linen and silk. In the seven and 80s of last century, the state made great efforts and invested a lot of money in building four major chemical fiber bases in Shanghai, Liaoyang, Tianjin and Sichuan. Later, they invested in new, upgraded and expanded a number of major chemical fiber projects, laying the foundation for the rapid development of China's chemical fiber industry in the future, and opening up a new chapter in our country's independent solution to the shortage of fiber raw materials. By the end of 1983, the abolition of the cloth ticket and the announcement of the shortage of the textile program supply in the economic age were officially concluded. This is an important milestone in the history of textile industry in New China. If there is no state support for large-scale production of synthetic fiber, and later support the textile industry to break through the large capacity domestically produced technology of polyester fiber and upstream PTA raw materials, we will be in a state of shortage of textile products for a long time, and the international competitiveness is far from being mentioned. At present, the proportion of chemical fiber in China's textile industry is more than 85%, and the output of chemical fiber accounts for 60% of the world's total. It has a place in the field of high technology, biological, functional, differential and other high technology fiber development, production and application.

Two is the state's policy of reform and opening to the outside world. The textile industry is a pioneer and resolute practitioner in China's market-oriented reform and opening up. The fundamental changes in the economic system and mechanism and the market opportunities and quality resources brought about by opening up have brought great vitality and vitality to the industry. In the initial stage of reform and opening up, about 95% of the gross output value of the textile industry came from the enterprises owned by the whole people, the rest were collective enterprises, and the capital structure was very simple. In the 80s of last century, when I was the director of the planning department of the Ministry of textile industry, I made annual plans to coordinate domestic cotton, chemical fiber and other resources, formulate and deliver the yarn and cloth production plan, and plan for the infrastructure, materials and exports of the industry. In 1987, I participated in the national planning meeting for the first time. In the Beijing West Hotel, the meeting lasted for half a month, and the documents were filled with two safes. At that time, the allocation of a series of indicators was very tedious and painstaking. Compared with the resource allocation based on market mechanism, the efficiency of the economic plan was obviously a problem. Since the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the socialist market economy system has been established and perfected continuously, and the textile industry has entered a comprehensive reform period. The State encourages the development of a variety of economic sectors, and the private textile economy has sprung up rapidly to become the backbone of the textile industry. In the late 90s of last century, cotton spinning capacity was compressed by 10 million spindles, and about 1000000 workers were shunted. It became an important turning point for the textile industry to seek new development with market orientation. The development vigor released by the reform of the system made the textile industry surpass the developed countries of the United States, Japan and Europe in the middle and late 90s, and achieved the first export volume, fiber processing volume and chemical fiber output in the world. Now, the proportion of state-owned capital in the textile industry has been less than 3%, and the non-state-owned capital mechanism is relatively flexible and adaptable, which can better meet the characteristics and requirements of the rapid response of the modern consumer market.

Opening to the outside world has opened the door to the world for the textile industry. The textile industry actively develops diversified international markets, and the scale of exports continues to expand. Especially after China's accession to the world trade organization, the textile and garment trade liberalization has created unprecedented opportunities for the textile industry, and the market competitiveness has been fully released. In 2000, China accounted for less than 15% of the global textile and clothing export trade, and in 2008 it exceeded 30%, and 2017 was 35%. The textile industry takes advantage of foreign resources such as raw materials, capital, technology and talents to make up for its shortcomings. In 2011, China's textile industry imported $73 billion 750 million of raw materials, equipment, dyes and auxiliaries, which is the highest level in history and the amount is 66 times that of 1978. The field of textile industry has realized the equal opening of enterprises with various economic components, and the cooperation between foreign enterprises and Chinese capital has brought about the spillover flow of technology, talent and advanced management experience. In 2004, the contribution rate of foreign-funded enterprises to the textile industry reached a historical high point, the total industrial output value accounted for 32.4% of the whole industry, and the proportion of paid up capital was 34.7%. In recent years, with the enhancement of self supporting ability and the enhancement of the competitiveness of private capital, the textile industry has transformed from "Introduction" to "going out" in the form of international resources. The backbone textile enterprises have established overseas raw material bases, processing factories, brands and channels, R & D centers, etc., and actively set up a transnational industrial chain and value chain system, bringing the transformation and upgrading of textile industry to a new height.

Three, we must persist in scientific and technological innovation. In 1988, comrade Deng Xiaoping put forward the proposition that "science and technology is the first productive force" at the National Science Conference. Science and technology have also become an important cornerstone for the textile industry to become bigger and stronger. Take textile equipment as an example, in the 70s of last century, China imported foreign technology to build four major chemical fibers, but the textile industry has always insisted on developing its own technical equipment with independent intellectual property rights. During the "65" period, it broke through the annual production of 15 thousand tons of polyester staple fiber complete sets of equipment, and to the end of 12th Five-Year, 400 thousand tons of differential polyester filament equipment has been industrialized. During the "85" period, significant progress was made in the independent innovation of key equipment represented by automatic winder and shuttleless loom. It marked the beginning of our country's ability to produce advanced textile equipment in the world. Since then, the level and reliability of domestic textile machinery integration, numerical control and upgrading have been greatly improved, with a large number of products replacing imports, and the domestic market share of over 70%. In addition to equipment, China's high-performance fibers break the monopoly of foreign technology, carbon fiber, aramid and other products have reached the international advanced level, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and other varieties into the international market. Spinning process continues to upgrade in the direction of continuous, high-speed and intelligent, and the number of cotton spinning spindles dropped from 500 to 60. The new home made digital cotton spinning set can lower the employment of 10000 spindles to less than 20 people and achieve no night duty. Weaving, dyeing and finishing technology has been continuously innovating, and fabric supply capability has been greatly improved. At present, the overall self-sufficiency rate of China's textile fabrics is over 95%, and the proportion of garment export general trade has increased from 35% in the mid 90s to more than 80% now. The construction of ecological civilization has been vigorously promoted. In 2006~2015, the comprehensive energy consumption of the textile industry has decreased by 44%. The water consumption of the printing and dyeing units has dropped from 4 tons / 100 meters to 1.8 tons / 100 meters, and the water reuse rate has increased from 7% to 30%. Driven by scientific and technological innovation, the labor productivity of the textile industry has increased significantly, reaching about 800 thousand yuan / person in 2017, 44.5 times that of 1978. The textile industry chain can realize the independent development and design of high-quality products using independent technology and independent equipment, which is rare in China's manufacturing industry.

Today's China's textile industry is a strong presence in the world, which accounts for more than 1/3 of the total fiber processing volume and exports. It fully interprets the proper value of the traditional pillar industries, important livelihood industries and international competitive industries of the national economy. At the same time, it continues to work hard towards the innovation driven technology industry, the culture led fashion industry and the responsibility oriented green industry, so as to take the lead in the world textile power as the goal.

Along the ancient Silk Road to the future

In 1993, the State Council appointed me to set up the China Silk Group Corporation. At that time, the Ministry of textile industry revoked the establishment of the China Textile Association and plans to set up two general companies, China Textile Group Corporation and China Silk Group Corporation, which are headed by two vice ministers. I think there are two main reasons for the establishment of a specialized silk company: first, straighten out the management mechanism of the silk industry. In the era of planned economy, the silk industry is in a state of political administration. Many kinds of mulberry silkworms are in charge of the agricultural sector. The acquisition and supply of cocoons belongs to the supply and marketing department, and the production enterprises belong to the industrial sector, and the export trade is managed by the foreign trade department. The departments are divorced from each other, the communication between provinces and cities is not smooth, and the cocoon war is often seen in the market, which seriously affects the normal production of textile enterprises. Another reason for the formation of silk companies is to enhance the international competitiveness of China's silk industry. China's cocoon silk production accounts for 70%~80% of the world, but at that time the main export products were cocoon silk and other primary products. In France and Italy, China's cocoon silk was processed into the final product, which could get high profits, and we only got the labor cost. The Chinese silk industry had no dominating power in the international supply chain, and even did not have the right to speak. Therefore, the State Council is determined to change the dispersion of resources in the Chinese silk industry and integrate all forces to establish an international competitive advantage. This idea is very good. I was responsible for the construction, ran around the relevant departments, and went to the provinces to get in touch with the relevant leaders and departments, and wanted to merge all the provinces' silk companies and foreign trade companies to the central government. Finally, I reported to Deputy Prime Minister Li Lanqing that the time was not yet ripe and the state silk group company was not established.

I feel that the state attaches great importance to the silk industry for a long time. Silk is still one of the most important cultural symbols in China today, and the silk road is still regarded as a bridge and bridge for China to develop international trade and economic cooperation. The history of Chinese silk is a brilliant civilization history. The ruins of Hemudu Site in Zhejiang, Yuyao, have been discovered more than 7000 years ago. The Yangshao culture has been recorded 5500 years ago. Mankind has gone through thousands of years from primitive society to modern civilized society. It has used materials such as bark, skins and hemp to keep warm and decorate life. Silk is the most comfortable and luxurious fabric at that time, and also embodies the elegant aesthetic of the Chinese nation. Since ancient times, planting mulberry and raising silkworms is an important part of farming culture in China. Silk is also an important historical link, opening up a channel for exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries. In ancient times, it conveys China's unique culture and civilization to the whole world. Today, we continue to open wider to the outside world through the Silk Road, so as to realize the benefit sharing with our partners and share responsibility and fate.

Reform and opening up have added new vitality and vitality to the ancient industry of silk. At present, the output of cocoon silk has reached 150 thousand tons, which is more than 4 times that of 1980. In the past, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other coastal areas were the main silkworm producing areas. Now, silkworm breeding has shifted from east to west to Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou and other central and western regions. The spread of the silk industry's economic value, social value and cultural value has also expanded.

The development of silk industry is facing more and more pressure. The cost of mulberry cultivation and sericulture has been increasing continuously. The price of one ton per year in normal years can reach about 400000 yuan, while the price of chemical fiber per ton is only 10 thousand yuan. With the progress of science and technology, the simulation level of chemical fiber is getting higher and higher, and silk products are facing unprecedented fierce competition in the market. Only by applying modern industrial technology, constantly upgrading the level of silk printing and finishing, and developing high value added silk clothing and household textiles can the ancient fiber Queen keep alive. We also need to better publicize the characteristics of silk besides the function of cultural symbols. It is a kind of high-quality protein fiber with the function of natural skin care. I think, with the development of Chinese economy, people's living standard is improved and aesthetic taste is formed, the silk industry will have a better prospect.

The development process of the silk industry gives us a profound inspiration. Our country is a large country with a population of 1 billion 400 million, plus its geographical location in temperate zone, and the level of economic development is constantly improving. Now the total domestic fiber consumption accounts for nearly 1/3 of the world's total. Such a huge demand for textile consumption, in addition to our own, no country's textile industry has the ability to meet, just as the Chinese people must solve their eating problems mainly by themselves, our clothing and decorations need to rely on themselves for a long time. Similarly, although many emerging countries are vigorously developing modern textile industry, the scale of industry is expanding rapidly, but for a long time, no country has the ability to form a comprehensive competitive relationship with China's textile industry system. Based on domestic and global perspective, China's textile industry is still promising. The continuous development of economy and technology is still widening the development space of the textile industry. Apart from clothing and household textiles, China's textile industry still needs to make greater efforts to move towards the international forefront in the field of high-tech fiber materials and high value added industrial textiles, and on the way to the top of the power, there are still endless problems waiting for us.

I have been engaged in the textile industry for a lifetime, and I feel very happy whenever I think of it. When I was a child, I wore clothes made of mother's Woven homespun cloth, and the "cloth" clothes woven by the machine were all worn by the rich. At that time, I was very envious of the thin and soft "foreign cloth" clothes, and silently hoped to wear them in the future. From that time until now, I started from a farmer, walked out of the countryside, stepped into the textile industry, and embarked on the industry management post, which did a bit of work for the industrial development of the Republic, and realized my dream of wearing "foreign cloth" when I was young. Now, when I am old, I retire, but even if I leave my job, I can still see the dazzling textile products every day. I can see that the clothing level of our country's 1 billion 400 million population is improving. We can see that the children are dressed brightly and safely. Young people are still dressed and diversified, and the elderly are comfortable and beautiful. I think my life is very practical and very satisfying. Without new China, there would be no me today, and the motherland will always be in my heart. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary founding of new China, we wish our great motherland prosperity and happiness.

May 2019 in Shanghai