The development of Xiantao, Hubei Province, into a global medical spunbond fabric supply chain center is a typical microcosm of the clustering, specialization, and digital upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry. Its success stems from the synergistic efforts of multiple dimensions, including industrial foundation, policy support, technological innovation, and supply chain integration. This can be analyzed from the following five aspects:
Forty Years of Accumulation Building a Complete Industrial Chain
Xiantao’s nonwoven fabric industry began in the 1980s, starting with initial family workshops and gradually forming a complete industrial chain covering “equipment manufacturing—raw material production—product processing—R&D and testing.” Currently, the city has more than 3,000 nonwoven fabric enterprises, including 189 large-scale enterprises, employing nearly 100,000 people, with an annual output of over 1 million tons of nonwoven fabric. Products cover 32 major categories and more than 130 varieties, including medical protective equipment, industrial filtration, and automotive interiors, and are exported to more than 150 countries and regions.
This “vertically integrated and horizontally clustered” industrial structure enables Xiantao to achieve a high degree of localization in raw material procurement, mold development, and product testing, significantly reducing the production and logistics costs for enterprises. For example, Hengtian Jiahe’s high-loft, elastic, antibacterial polypropylene two-component spunbond material has reached the international advanced level, and Xinxin Company’s biodegradable antibacterial and antiviral nonwoven fabric is about to enter mass production. Upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain are continuously launching new and upgraded products through technological collaboration.
Policy Empowerment and Industrial Upgrading as Dual Drivers
The Xiantao Municipal Government promotes the transformation of the industry towards high-end and intelligent development through a three-pronged policy system of “planning guidance, platform construction, and financial support.” The “Several Measures on Further Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Nonwoven Fabric Industry in the City,” issued in 2024, clearly stipulates that enterprises with an annual sales revenue increase of over 50 million yuan will receive a maximum reward of 1.5 million yuan, a 20% subsidy for R&D and testing costs of new export products, and a special fund to support enterprises in obtaining international certifications such as FDA and CE.
Simultaneously, the government is leading the construction of the “Four Bases and Two Centers” industrial park, including the National Nonwoven Fabric Foreign Trade Transformation and Upgrading Base, the National Protective Material Emergency Reserve Base, and the National Quality Inspection Center, providing enterprises with one-stop services for R&D, testing, and certification. For example, the National Testing Center laboratory can test the particulate filtration efficiency of N95 masks, and its test results are widely recognized in the international market, effectively promoting the export of Xiantao products.
Furthermore, by establishing Hubei Feizhi Supply Chain Company, and utilizing big data and blockchain technology to integrate resources across the entire industry chain, centralized procurement of raw materials, pre-sale of production capacity, and optimized logistics have been achieved, further improving industrial synergy efficiency.
Technological Innovation Leads to Differentiated Product Competition
Faced with fierce competition in domestic and international markets, Xiantao enterprises take technological research and development as their core driving force, continuously expanding the application boundaries of their products. In the medical field, Ruikang Company’s graphene antibacterial and antiviral masks can be worn continuously for 100 hours. Its graphene composite nonwoven fabric has a near 100% inactivation rate against bacteria and viruses and has been applied to aquaculture, increasing the survival rate of eel fry to 95%.
Jinshida Company has transformed its business by developing a series of medical first-aid kits, driving nearly a quarter of its output value growth. In the industrial field, Baide Company applies nonwoven fabric to automotive floor sound insulation and collaborates with Guangdong Baole Company to develop high-end automotive interior materials, planning to invest an additional 180 million yuan to expand production capacity.
Through industry-academia-research collaboration, Xiantao enterprises have also overcome key technologies such as water-electret meltblown fabric and breathable membrane composite nonwoven fabric, significantly increasing product added value. In 2023, despite a slowdown in market demand, Xiantao’s nonwoven fabric enterprises above designated size still achieved an output value of 25.335 billion yuan, with technological innovation contributing over 40% to growth.
The Pandemic’s Test Fosters Global Supply Chain Status
After the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, Xiantao, with its strong production capacity and rapid response capabilities, quickly became a global “supply hub” for medical protective equipment. In the early stages of the pandemic, the city’s daily production capacity jumped from less than one million masks to 120 million masks, and protective clothing production capacity increased from 20,000 pieces to 500,000 pieces. Within three months, it supplied 850 million masks and 12 million protective suits to the world.
This surge in production capacity under “wartime conditions” not only consolidated Xiantao’s leading position in the field of medical spunbond fabrics but also promoted the standardization and normalization of the industry. For example, Xianwanli Company’s newly built 400-person factory during the pandemic operates strictly in accordance with the ISO13485 medical device quality management system. Its mask and protective clothing production lines have obtained EU CE certification, allowing its products to directly enter the high-end markets of Europe and America.
After the pandemic, Xiantao further strengthened its emergency reserve capabilities and was designated as a national emergency reserve base for protective materials, maintaining a certain scale of medical protective equipment production capacity on a regular basis.
Digital Transformation Reshaping the Industrial Ecosystem
In recent years, Xiantao has actively promoted the deep integration of “Internet + nonwoven fabric,” improving the efficiency of the entire industrial chain through digital means. Hubei Feizhi Supply Chain Company’s intelligent platform integrates resources from over 2,000 suppliers and buyers, achieving a 10%-15% reduction in raw material procurement costs and a 30% increase in inventory turnover.
Companies such as Weimei Medical have introduced automated hanging production lines and intelligent cutting equipment, reducing labor costs for mask production by 40% and increasing product qualification rates from 90% to over 99%. Simultaneously, companies are expanding sales channels through e-commerce platforms. The cross-border e-commerce business of leading companies like Xianwanli has exceeded 30%, directly connecting with overseas end customers. This “digital supply chain + intelligent manufacturing” model has transformed Xiantao from an “OEM factory” to a “value hub” in the global industrial chain.
Conclusion
Currently, Xiantao is aiming to become a global high-quality medical protective equipment base, further consolidating its core position in the global medical spunbond fabric supply chain through technological innovation, brand building, and market diversification. As a local business leader stated, “Xiantao not only wants to be the ‘world’s mask factory,’ but also a research and development center and standard setter for nonwoven fabric new materials.” This transformation path provides a valuable “Xiantao model” for the upgrading of traditional manufacturing clusters in China.
Dongguan Liansheng Non woven Technology Co., Ltd. was established in May 2020. It is a large-scale non-woven fabric production enterprise integrating research and development, production, and sales. It can produce various colors of PP spunbond non-woven fabrics with a width of less than 3.2 meters from 9 grams to 300 grams.
Post time: Nov-03-2025