The 11th China International Silk Conference was held in Shengze on November 7th, 2025. This conference, themed "Future Silk - Intelligence, Health and Sustainability", brings together industry elites and experts from home and abroad to jointly explore the cutting-edge development trends in the industry such as intelligent manufacturing, health functions, and green low-carbon, leading the silk textile industry towards a higher quality, more resilient and more sustainable future. Qian Youqing, the Party branch secretary and supervisor of the China National Silk Association, Xing Jijun, the former director-level science and technology counselor of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York, Shen Mingrong, the deputy secretary of the Party Committee and vice president of Soochow University, Yang Aiping, the deputy secretary-general of the China National Silk Association, and Chen Yu, the Party Secretary of Shengze Town, attended the opening ceremony of the conference.

Qian Youqing said in his speech that Shengze, as a thousand-year-old silk capital, carries the most profound cultural heritage and the most vibrant industrial base of Chinese silk. Keeping pace with the new era and playing a better role in the process of striving to achieve socialist modernization is an important issue that the contemporary silk industry must seriously consider. It is hoped that in the future, the silk industry will persist in applying modern technologies, comprehensively promote the transformation and upgrading of the silk industry, continuously exert efforts in strengthening basic research and enhancing original innovation capabilities, and rely on the technological advantages of universities and research institutions, as well as the integrated development of scientific and technological innovation and industrial transformation. Be able to adhere to the concept of sustainable development, consolidate the industrial foundation, continuously carry out silk innovation and promote green production technologies, focus on the upgrading of health demands, and further enhance the competitiveness of silk in related application fields. Be capable of promoting the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent in the silk industry in a coordinated manner, place the cultivation of silk talents in an important strategic position for development, build a number of internship bases and enterprise colleges based on the industry, and achieve precise matching of educational supply with scientific and technological innovation and talent demand. The China National Silk Association will continue to play the role of a bridge and link, fully support the in-depth integration of industry, academia and research, and contribute to the high-quality development of the industry.

Shen Mingrong said in his speech that Soochow University has established a complete innovation chain from fiber design to high-end product manufacturing. Relying on the "National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk", it focuses on the "bottleneck" problems in the industry and uses science and technology to empower the silk industry to continuously innovate and upgrade. Shengze is an ancient silk capital known for its daily production of tens of thousands of silk fabrics and its clothing and bedding covering the world. It is now a fashion capital with a complete modern textile industrial cluster and is also the closest and most sincere partner of Soochow University. At present, the silk industry is standing at a new crossroads. It is not only about cultural inheritance but also faces issues such as green environmental protection, intelligent manufacturing, and brand building. Soochow University will fully leverage its multi-disciplinary advantages and work together with experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs to jointly explore new paths for the high-quality development of the silk industry. We look forward to this conference serving as a bond Further deepen the collaborative innovation of "university - industry - region", transform wisdom into technology and technology into products, and let the new silk shine with new luster in the new era.

In his speech, Chen Yu said that Shengze is a major silk town in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta. It not only carries the thousand-year-old memory of "co-breeding sericulture and the sound of looms", but also continues to write the era's glorious chapter of "a hundred-billion-yuan industry, a hundred-billion-yuan market and a hundred-billion-yuan enterprise". It has a three-dimensional transportation network of water, land, air and rail, and ranks fifth among China's top 100 towns and sixth among China's top 1,000 towns. Shengze adheres to innovation-driven development, promoting the modernization and upgrading of traditional silk reeling techniques. It has achieved comprehensive coverage of intelligent weaving and digital printing and dyeing, and has innovatively broken through the cross-border application of silk protein in fields such as medical care and health preservation, and flexible electronics. We are grateful to the China National Silk Association for its long-term guidance and support to Shengze, as well as to Soochow University for its intellectual empowerment and in-depth collaboration among industry, academia and research. Shengze will continue to unswervingly focus on the silk textile industry, persistently promote industrial transformation and upgrading, and enable "Shengze Weaving" to go further and spread wider along the new era Silk Road.

After the opening ceremony, experts and scholars from home and abroad delivered keynote speeches on special topics, and various sub-forums shared themes related to the silk industry.

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