In the wave of “Made in China” transforming from scale expansion to quality and efficiency, Hubei Xiantao has written the miracle of the rise of industrial clusters with “a piece of cloth”. This city located in the Jianghan Plain started with a random non-woven fabric foreign trade order in 1986, and now has gathered more than 3000 non-woven fabric related enterprises, nearly 100000 employees, and an annual output of over 1 million tons of non-woven fabrics.
Among them, medical spunbond fabrics and products are exported to more than 150 countries and regions, and the export volume of Pengchang Town alone accounts for 31.4% of similar products in the country. The rise of Xiantao is not accidental, but the inevitable result of the combined effects of historical accumulation, industrial chain coordination, policy empowerment, and innovation driven under the background of “Made in China”. Its development path provides a typical model for local characteristic industries to be embedded in the core of the global supply chain.
Historical Accumulation: Forty Years of Deep Cultivation from “Grassroots Sprouts” to “Industrial Anchors”
The foundation of Xiantao medical spunbond fabric industry is deeply rooted in the grassroots entrepreneurial vitality and geographical endowment of the early days of “Made in China”. In 1986, the former Pengchang state-owned school run weaving factory unexpectedly received an order for non-woven portable bags from a coastal foreign trade company, which became the starting point of the industry’s budding. At that time, it was a period of rapid development in China’s light industry.
Xiantao was located in the Wuhan metropolitan area, adjacent to the golden waterway of the Yangtze River. It not only enjoyed the advantage of labor costs, but also had convenient access to coastal foreign trade channels, which quickly spread this “good business” within the town and formed the embryonic form of grassroots clusters of “every household opening factories and weaving cloth”.
The dividend of industrial division of labor after the reform and opening up further promoted its growth. After 2000, the global demand for medical protective materials expanded, and Xiantao took the initiative to undertake the transfer of medical spunbond fabric production capacity based on its early accumulated experience in non-woven fabric processing, transforming from low-end industrial fabrics to medical grade products.
The local government keenly seized the opportunity of industrial upgrading and began planning and constructing non-woven fabric industrial parks since 2005, promoting the transformation of small workshops scattered in towns and villages to intensive and standardized production, laying a spatial foundation for subsequent supply chain integration. This development model of “market driven sprouting and government guided upgrading” perfectly fits the stage characteristics of “Made in China” from extensive growth to standardized development.
Industrial Chain Restructuring: Core Competitiveness from “Single Point Production” to “Full Chain Control”
The core essence of a global supply chain center lies in “full chain collaboration and cost control”. Through 40 years of deep cultivation, Xiantao has built a full industry chain ecosystem covering “equipment manufacturing – raw material procurement – production and processing – research and development testing – logistics export”, which has become a key support for its foothold in the global market.
1. Vertical integration: Building a seamless industrial ecosystem without blind spots
In the upstream of the industrial chain, Xiantao solves the bottleneck of raw materials through “platform centralized procurement+local matching”. Hubei Feizhi Supply Chain Co., Ltd., established in 2024, integrates the procurement needs of more than 2000 enterprises to achieve large-scale centralized procurement. In just 8 months, it achieved a transaction volume of nearly 8000 tons, and by 2025, it will achieve a transaction volume of over 100 million yuan in raw material centralized procurement.
Through unified bargaining, the company’s procurement costs will be reduced by 10% -15%. At the same time, multiple raw material modification enterprises have been cultivated locally, which can customize polypropylene raw materials according to special needs such as antibacterial and high filtration of medical spunbond fabrics, eliminating dependence on external raw materials.
In the production and processing process, Xiantao has formed a pattern of “leading by the leader+small and medium-sized collaboration”. Leading enterprises such as Hengtian Jiahua and Jinshida control the core production capacity of high-end medical spunbond fabrics, and their high fluffy elastic antibacterial spunbond materials developed by China Hengtian Jiahua have reached the international advanced level; 638 small and medium-sized enterprises focus on cutting, sewing and other sub sectors, forming a gradient production capacity structure of “10000 ton level leaders+1000 ton level backbone+100 ton level supporting facilities”, which can quickly respond to various orders from bulk orders to customized needs.
On the downstream side, the “Four Bases and Two Centers” public service platform has completely opened up the closed loop of the industrial chain. The National Non woven Fabric Product Quality Inspection and Testing Center provides thousands of free testing services to enterprises every year, helping them quickly obtain international certifications such as FDA and CE; The National Emergency Reserve Base for Protective Materials has given Xiantao a core position in the global supply chain for “emergency support”. During the epidemic, it set a record of supplying 1 billion masks in 3 days, further consolidating its position as a global emergency supply chain hub.
2. Horizontal integration: Digitalization empowers efficiency leap
Xiantao is the first to integrate digital technology into supply chain management, achieving the full online process of “raw material procurement production progress logistics tracking payment settlement” through the Feizhi supply chain platform. Enterprises only need to place orders for raw materials through mini programs, and the platform relies on big data to predict peak demand, reserve core raw materials in advance, and shorten the delivery cycle from the traditional 15 days to within 7 days. At the same time, the government is promoting the digital transformation of enterprises, providing up to 200000 and 500000 yuan in subsidies to enterprises that have reached the second and third level of digitalization. After introducing fully automated intelligent production lines, companies such as Weimei Medical and Jinshida have increased production efficiency by more than 30% and reduced the defect rate to below 0.5%.
Policy Empowerment: Precise Policies from “Industrial Support” to “Ecological Cultivation”
The rise of Xiantao cannot be separated from the policy system evolution of local governments from “blood transfusion support” to “hematopoietic cultivation” under the strategic framework of “Made in China”. This precise policy not only aligns with the national industrial upgrading orientation, but also directly targets the pain points of industrial development, providing a solid guarantee for the construction of supply chain centers.
1. Targeted support: breaking through key bottlenecks in industrial development
Xiantao continues to optimize policy supply to meet the needs of different stages of industrial development. During the expansion period, we will implement the “Double Strong Project” (recruiting large and attracting strong, cultivating excellent and strengthening strong), sign 69 non-woven fabric projects in 2023, with a total investment of 11.549 billion yuan, and promote the landing of extension and repair projects such as high-end hydroentangled fabrics and Baide filter functional materials from Gezilaifu.
During the transitional period, in 2024, the “Several Measures to Further Promote the High Quality Development of the Non woven Fabric Industry in the City” will be introduced, providing support from eight dimensions including sales, foreign trade, and innovation: a maximum reward of 150000 yuan will be given to enterprises with an annual sales revenue increase of more than 50 million yuan, a subsidy of 100000 yuan will be given to provincial research and development institutions, and a reward of 50% of the investment will be given to digital transformation enterprises. These policies accurately cover the entire process of enterprises from production to innovation. By 2023, a total of 24.8343 million yuan in rewards will be awarded to 22 enterprises, and 8.265 billion yuan in technological transformation investment will be leveraged.
2. Ecological Construction: Building a National Industrial Carrying Platform
The government led construction of the “Four Bases and Two Centers” (including the National Non woven Fabric Foreign Trade Transformation and Upgrading Base, Emergency Reserve Base, and the National Quality Inspection Center and Technology Innovation Center) has become the “super interface” for Xiantao to connect with the global supply chain. The National Non woven Fabric Product Quality Inspection and Testing Center can provide 5498 project testing services to help enterprises avoid export testing risks.
The Hubei Non woven Fabric Technology Innovation Center has collaborated with universities such as Wuhan Textile University and Donghua University to develop over 10 high-end products, including nano calcium carbonate materials and positive pressure protective clothing. In 2024, the Xiantao nonwoven fabric industry cluster was awarded the national level characteristic industrial cluster for small and medium-sized enterprises, officially establishing its core position in the national industrial layout.
Innovation driven: High end Breakthrough from “Scale Advantage” to “Technological Barrier”
The transformation from “Made in China” to “Made in China” lies in technological innovation. Xiantao has broken the low-end lock of the medical spunbond fabric industry and built a technological barrier for global competition through an innovative system of “enterprise subject+industry university research collaboration+talent cultivation”.
1. Product high-end: Breaking through the bottleneck of core technology
Xiantao Enterprise has transitioned from traditional medical protective fabrics to functional and high value-added products. The disposable biodegradable antibacterial and antiviral spunbond fabric developed by Hubei Xinxin Non woven Fabric is about to enter mass production, solving the pain point of insufficient environmental protection of traditional products; The graphene antibacterial and antiviral mask developed by Ruikang Company has an inactivation rate of nearly 100%, and has been applied to aquaculture across industries, increasing the survival rate of eel seedlings to 95%; Baide Materials has broken through the inherent understanding of spunbond fabric being “light, soft, and thin”, and developed a special material for the bottom cover of new energy vehicles. Its compressive strength has been increased by three times, and its noise reduction effect has reached more than 20%, successfully entering the high-end industrial field. These innovations have shifted Xiantao’s medical spunbond fabric products from “cost-effectiveness advantage” to “technological advantage”, with export unit prices 20% -30% higher than the industry average.
2. Ecological innovation: building a community of industry, academia, research and application
Xiantao activates innovation momentum through the model of “government building platforms, enterprises setting questions, and universities solving problems”. The Non woven Fabric Industry College, led by Hengtian Jiahua and Wuhan Textile University, adopts an “order based training” model to transport more than a thousand professional and technical talents every year, solving the problems of “employment difficulties and talent loss” in the industry; Enterprises can receive provincial-level subsidies for establishing research and development institutions. Wanli Protective Equipment Company has invested tens of millions of yuan to build a CNAS accredited laboratory with international testing qualifications, shortening the product export testing cycle from six months to seven days. In 2023, Xiantao nonwoven fabric enterprise added more than 60 patents, of which invention patents accounted for 35%, far exceeding the industry average level.
Market anchoring: deep cultivation of channels from “local exports” to “global layout”
The formation of a global supply chain center ultimately depends on stable global market channels and brand recognition. Xiantao has established “Xiantao spunbond fabric” as a trusted label in the global market through its “internal and external dual circulation” layout and emergency support capabilities.
1. Deep cultivation of foreign trade: building a global marketing network
Xiantao Enterprise initially exported indirectly through coastal foreign trade companies, but now has achieved a transformation of “directly connecting with global customers”. The government implements a “case by case” reward for outstanding export enterprises, and provides a 20% subsidy for research and certification costs of new product exports to encourage enterprises to explore high-end markets. At present, companies such as Jinshida and Hengtian Jiahua have set up overseas warehouses in Europe and America, and their products directly enter the local medical institution procurement system; More than 50 medical spunbond fabric products in the city have obtained international certifications such as FDA and CE, with exports covering major markets such as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. Even in the context of slowing global demand, the export value will still reach 2.34 billion yuan in 2023.
2. Emergency Empowerment: Enhancing Global Supply Chain Discourse Power
During the 2020 pandemic, Xiantao undertook 80% of the national supply of medical masks and 40% of the supply of protective clothing. Its emergency response capability of “3-day production and 7-day capacity expansion” has attracted global attention and become a “stabilizer” in the global supply chain of medical protective materials. This emergency support capability has been transformed into a long-term competitive advantage, and the establishment of the national non-woven fabric emergency reserve base has enabled Xiantao to quickly allocate production capacity during global supply chain fluctuations, further consolidating its core position.
Conclusion: The county-level sample inspiration of “Made in China”
Xiantao has grown from a small town in the Jianghan Plain to a global medical spunbond fabric supply chain center, which is essentially a microcosm of the development logic of “Made in China”: accumulating industrial foundations through grassroots entrepreneurship, building core capabilities through full chain collaboration, breaking through development bottlenecks with policy empowerment, breaking through value barriers with technological innovation, and consolidating market position with global layout.
Currently, facing challenges such as product homogenization and talent shortage, Xiantao is moving towards a “world-class industrial cluster” through digital transformation, brand building, and expansion into emerging fields such as automotive and aerospace spunbond materials. Its development path proves that the competitiveness of “Made in China” not only comes from scale and cost, but also from the resilience of the industrial chain, the vitality of innovation, and the precise empowerment of policies – this is the key password for local industries to be embedded in the core of the global supply chain.
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-29-2025