The Anhui Provincial Joint Key Laboratory for Fibers and Products for Cold-Resistant Clothing was established in 2023 by Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile Co., Ltd. in collaboration with Anhui Agricultural University. The laboratory is dedicated to research in the field of new textile materials, achieving breakthrough progress in high-performance, lightweight, cold-resistant, and environmentally friendly fiber fabrics, waterproof and breathable fiber membranes, and biomimetic high-insulation new materials.

Recently, at the Anhui Provincial Joint Key Laboratory for Fibers and Products for Cold-Resistant Clothing, Liu Yuanyuan and colleagues from Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile Co., Ltd. conducted tensile and other performance tests on a new textile material. This new material will be used to make specialized thermal clothing for firefighters in extremely cold regions.

"This material has triple functions of high flame retardancy, high insulation, and heat resistance. Through extensive data comparison and experimental analysis, the material's performance now meets the requirements. After pilot production, it can proceed to mass production," said Liu Yuanyuan. This leading industry innovation is about to be successfully transformed from the "laboratory" to the "production line."

Leveraging scientific research talents from universities and technical talents from enterprises, jointly tackling core technologies, incubating, piloting, and mass-producing in factories, promoting the industrialization of innovative achievements — Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile has explored the secret to "winning the market."

Innovation Brings Sweet Benefits to Traditional Enterprises

Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile was originally a traditional enterprise solely engaged in the production and sales of household textiles such as "four-piece sets." As competition in the textile industry intensified, the company found it difficult to expand its market, and its development once fell into difficulties.

How to break through the difficulties? By climbing higher with help and upgrading with intelligence, the company revitalized itself by introducing scientific and technological innovation resources from universities and research institutes.

In 2017, through the mediation of the local government, Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile successfully "partnered" with Academician Yu Jianyong, a professor at Donghua University and the leader of the national key discipline of Textile Science and Engineering, establishing an academician workstation and forming a research and development team led by the academician.

With a market-driven, government-promoted, university-led research, enterprise-focused application, and financial support, the "government-industry-academia-research-application-finance" cooperation model has brought benefits to Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile. Since then, the company has also deeply cooperated in industry-university-research with more than 10 universities and research institutes including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Anhui Agricultural University, and Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, forming professional R&D and design teams.

Supported by a high-level scientific and technological talent team, the company found a new path for innovation and research: by overcoming technical difficulties in new textile materials, it has enhanced the technological content of its products and transformed from a traditional cotton textile enterprise into a functional new textile materials company.

Currently, the company has been granted 72 domestic patents and copyrights, registered 89 scientific and technological achievements, and received multiple national-level titles such as National High-Tech Enterprise, National Intellectual Property Demonstration Enterprise, and National Specialized and New "Little Giant" Enterprise.

The company's leading product, goose down-like high-insulation wadding technology, fills a domestic gap and was used as filling material for cold-resistant clothing at the Beijing Winter Olympics; the cold-resistant firefighter protective equipment is a key product for addressing industry weaknesses and a key technology breakthrough product, as well as one of the province's first batches of new material products, holding a 63% market share in similar products nationwide, ranking first domestically; new textile materials that are waterproof, flame retardant, and insulating are widely used in firefighting and extremely cold environments; the anti-static safety protective fleece exceeds national standards in all indicators and is highly favored in special operation fields...

Promoting More Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation

Based on the development foundation of Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile, in January last year, the Anhui Provincial Joint Key Laboratory for Fibers and Products for Cold-Resistant Clothing was established at Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile with a total investment of 12 million yuan. The laboratory currently gathers 40 R&D personnel and has built one pilot production line each for goose down-like high-insulation soundproof materials and heating fibers and waterproof breathable fiber material products.

"The laboratory is dedicated to the research and continuous production of high cold-resistant fiber fabrics and waterproof breathable composite fabrics and finished products, as well as high-performance lightweight cold-resistant environmentally friendly fiber fabrics," Liu Yuanyuan explained. The goal is to jointly tackle technical challenges such as the contradiction between breathability and warmth of fiber materials and the difficulty of simultaneously achieving breathability and high hydrophobicity, apply for 5 to 6 invention patents, add 2 to 3 new products annually, and directly increase the industrialized output value of scientific and technological achievements by more than 50 million yuan by the end of 2025.

Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile continues to advance into the "high-precision and cutting-edge" field while maintaining its traditional "four-piece set" foundation. Currently, the company owns eight major production bases producing more than 100 products including yarn, printed fabrics, home textile "four-piece sets," quilts, clothing, masks, and functional high-insulation materials. The company has established cooperation with many well-known domestic enterprises, with an annual output value exceeding 300 million yuan.

"The textile industry is an ancient industry; although traditional, it is by no means outdated," said Zhang Li, chairman of Jixiang Sanbao High-Tech Textile. Going forward, the company will continue to "partner" with universities and research institutes, fully leverage high-level R&D platforms such as the Anhui Provincial Joint Key Laboratory for Fibers and Products for Cold-Resistant Clothing, equip more complete industrial-end development, testing, and production equipment, promote the transformation of more scientific and technological achievements, and empower the transformation and upgrading of the new textile materials industry.