Jiangsu Sunshine Group: more than a traditional textile company

Jiangsu Sunshine Group produces uniforms for the three services of the National Guard of Honor. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]

Jiangsu Sunshine Group won the national award for demonstrating technological innovation in 2017. It is the only company in Wuxi to be awarded this honor.

The company was founded in 1986 and now employs more than 16,000 people. Along with Heilan Group, it has given Xinqiao Village in Jiangyin, Wuxi the unique nickname "Town of Clothes".

The company dabbles in many industries, such as wool textiles, garments, biological pharmacy, real estate and thermal electricity. In the textile department, it has an annual production capacity of 3.5 million sets of high-grade men's suits and women's wear, as well as 35 million meters of superfine worsted wool fabrics.

Jiangsu Sunshine Group is the world's largest manufacturer of wool textiles and high-grade apparel, and the only enterprise in China's textile industry to win the honorary title of "World Brand" and "Garment Export Inspection Exemption". It is the supplier of over 100 world-famous clothing labels, including Armani and BOSS.

Jiangsu Sunshine Group incorporates nanotechnology, a new kind of manufacturing technology, into the textile industry to develop high-tech and competitive new products. Sixty percent of the company's textile profits come from these high-tech products, proving that the group has developed into more than a traditional labor-intensive company.

Jiangsu Sunshine Group produces 50 new cotton piece goods every day. The most common cloths are made of thousands of 160-meter-long strands of silk drawn from one gram of soft and permeable wool.

Modern production techniques are trending toward automation and intelligence, and traditional looms are becoming increasingly obsolete. It is now possible to draw a 500-meter-long strand of silk from one gram of wool, which is especially useful for women's scarfs and shirts.

As a flexible, warm, and permeable material, wool can also be used as furnishing fabric. Contrary to popular belief, today's wool fabrics are machine washable, antifouling, flame retardant, and have the ability to discharge oil, due to advances in wool-spinning techniques.

As part of the Belt and Road initiative, Jiangsu Sunshine Group has decided to expand production in Ethiopia by about a third by the end of 2018.