On August 29-31, the 1st YunZhu Cup China Bamboo Fiber Industrial Development Summit, organized by the China Knitting Industrial Association, the China Textile Engineer Institute and the China Textile Resources PuDong Ltd, China Chemical Fiber Economic Information Network, was held in Shanghai, aiming to promote the communication and development of Chinese bamboo fiber industry.

The bamboo resource in China is sufficient, of which the proportion takes one third of the global bamboo output, so that bamboo culture has already become one part of life for Chinese people for thousands of years, with its application in any aspects, such as the bamboo matting, cup, basket, slipper, and so on.          
 
Bamboo fiber is a kind of cellulose fiber, coming from the natural bamboo after the processing of pulp, spinning, and after treatment. Because of its unique natural antibacterial property, it is a perfect material for garment, home textile, medical application and some other fields.

According to the introduction, recently, there are only two enterprises involving in the research and production of bamboo fiber in China: one is the Heibei Jigao Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd; the other is the China Textile Resources PuDong Ltd, with its brand of Soft Bamboo. However, the development of Chinese bamboo fiber industry could not only depend on those single enterprises, the integration of the whole industrial chain is the essential, representing the importance of the first bamboo fiber industrial development summit in China.

The enterprises of each production process, ranging from fiber manufacture, spinning, fabric and garment production, were invited to take part in the summit to exchange their view on the development of Chinese bamboo fiber industry. Meanwhile, nearly 200 bamboo industrial experts, from research institute, university, and enterprises, gathered in the summit, sharing their latest technique and market information of bamboo fiber and its products. Furthermore, the organization committee received over 100 papers, with the content referring to the bamboo fiber spinning, dyeing and printing, fabric manufacture, and products, of which eight was so outstanding and awarded for their social and scientific merit.

Generally speaking, the R&D of bamboo fiber and market exploitation is a rough way to go. Being the general manage of CTRC-PD, Mr. Tong Jianfeng presented a report on the industrialization of Chinese bamboo fiber during the summit, bringing forward a theory of development with an integrated industrial chain. As he introduced, the Soft Bamboo has already gained the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Authentication and the authorization og JSLF and SGS, with the quality index that followed: Dry Breaking Strength >2.3 g/d, Dry Strength Irregularity is 12.5%, the Breaking Elongation is 18.8%, the Wet Breaking Strength is 1.3 g/d, the Whiteness is 68%, and the Residual Sulfur Content is 9.3 mg/100g.

According to statistics, the output of the bamboo fiber could reach 12,000 tons in 2006, and it is estimated that the output could arrive at 16,000 tons in 2007. To date, the bamboo fiber has already stepped into the global market, such as the EU, USA, Turkey, and so on, and Asia is the main market for Soft Bamboo, according to his introduction. Moreover, Mr. Tong still emphasized that the government associations, the fiber manufacturers and the scientific research institutes should unit together to develop and promote the upgrading and technical innovation of the Chinese bamboo industry jointly.  

Meanwhile, the CTRC-PD, together with the bamboo fiber R&D enterprises, such as the Dezhou Huayuan Eco-Technology Co., Ltd, Shanghai Shenan Textile Co., Ltd, Baoding Yimian Group Co., Ltd, to exhibit their products in a completer industrial chain during the First China Knitting Trade Fair, which was helpful for the visitors and representatives to gain a comprehensive understanding of the bamboo fiber products.

china textile                by  Wang Ting