The unexplored potential of China’s domestic market was the draw card for technical textiles and nonwovens manufacturers at seminars held recently in Japan and Korea.

Their presentations gave valuable insights into the opportunities for supplies and manufacturers.

Mr. Zhu Minru, Chairman of the China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association, Mr, Sun Qingxiang, Vice-Executive Director of the Experts Committee of China National Waterproof of Building Materials Association and Mr. Feng Shujun, Vice-Executive Chairman of the Subcommittee of Artificial and Synthetic Leather Industry, three prominent Chinese technical textiles and nonwovens professionals answered questions surrounding the level of demand of such products in this rapidly growing market.

Opportunities for synthetic leather suppliers

The main subject of Mr. Feng Shujun's speech was the Chinese's artificial and synthetic leather market which covers the booming garment, shoe, bag and luggage industries. China's clothing, fabrics and shoe output rose by 18 and 29 percent in July year-on-year.

Synthetic leather is also widely used in automobile production, a sector on the increase in China. In Beijing, vehicle production topped 144,000 units in Jan-Mar 2005, 12% more than the same period in 2004. As the population of cars, buses and trucks on China’s roads grows, so too will the demand for synthetic leather.

To cover this huge demand, the 400-plus synthetic leather manufacturers in China are increasing their production. In 2003, the total output value reached more than 30 billion yuan. Although, China's production of synthetic leather has increased, the nation is still not able to cover all its needs, which has led to a growth in synthetic leather imports. In 2003, more than 120,000 tons were imported.

Functional synthetic leather that include such functions as flameproof, waterproof, oilproof, breathability and anti-static are in particularly high demand.

Huge potential market for waterproof materials

Mr. Sun focused on the polyester waterproof material market in China. He explained that about 600 million m² of waterproof materials will be installed in 2005 and that a subsequent 200 million m² will be used for repairs.

The applications include reinforcement of modified asphalt waterproof membrane, exterior reinforcement of membranes used in tunnels, building waterproof coating, filtration layer for green roofs and geotextile non-woven polyester for landfills.

Mr Sun also gave his long-term view of the industry. He predicted that the waterproof material market will experience a sustained growth for at least 10 to 20 years following the nation's investment in new infrastructures. These include 2.5 million of km of roads, an increase of housing construction from 22 m² and 25 m² per capita in 2010 and environmental projects.

This new applications demand a high technology that is only available from European or American manufacturers.

Great demand for technical textiles and non-wovens

Mr. Zhu described in detail the technical textiles and non-woven market in China and focused on the level of import demand. He presented a analysis of several sectors:

Medical and cleaning textiles (Medtech):
In 2004, China consumed 280,000 tons of these products including sanitary napkins, household wipes as well as technical textiles used for biomedical engineering (BME). China represents a large potential market for all textiles related to the medical field following the increasing numbers patient seeking high standard treatments. As the country still lags behind many Western countries in this field most of the fibre-based products required are currently imported.

Textiles used in buildings (Buildtech):
Fibre reinforcement plastic (FRP) are widely used in China. Annually the nation consumes 400 tons of CFRP, a common FRP. Fibre reinforcement materials for cement (FRC) are also an essential part of the Chinese building industry. With more than 600 million tons of cement produced in 2004, the market for these fibres is tremendous.

Textiles used in vehicles (Mobiltech):
In 2004, China produced 5 million automobiles and on average one vehicle requires over 40 sqm of textiles which includes interior decoration, reinforcement material insulation material and filtration systems etc. Some of these products are produced domestically but some specific textiles can only be imported especially material for air bags.

Protective clothing (Protech):
There is an increasing demand for suitable protections for Chinese "first responders" (professionals such as fire-fighters, police, military personnel and medical workers) that protect the wearer from a variety of environmental hazards. This area relies heavily on imports and the yearly demand is now of 90,000 tons per year.