In 2022, facing the new challenges posed by Covid-19 epidemic, and adhering to the purpose of “Communication & Cooperation, Development with Concerted Efforts”, International Silk Union (ISU) maintained close contact with relevant government departments, industry organizations, enterprises and colleges, so as to serve the development of the international silk industry. There were Eleven aspects of work have been carried out in a targeted manner, making positive contributions to promoting the sustainable development of the silk industry.
1. Organize and promote the life cycle accounting of sericulture & silk products
Since the release of the “Proposal for the Comprehensive and Objective Assessment of Life Cycle of Silk Products” in 2021, the sustainable development of silk has been continuously concerned by ISU. On January 18, 2022, the “LCA Working Group Meeting of Full Industry Chain of Sericulture & Silk” was organized and held, inviting more than fifty experts, scholars and corporate representatives from seven countries and regions including China, Italy, France, Brazil, India, Japan and Pakistan. The consensus on “System Construction and International Promotion of Life Cycle Account of Sericulture & Silk Products” was reached. Moreover, as a cooperative unit, ISU jointly undertook the “2022 Central Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Special Fund (Sericulture & Silk) Project” with Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU) and Soochow University, carrying out carbon accounting for silk products. With the comprehensive support of governments, organizations and enterprises from all over the world, the project well advanced, and phased exchanges and sharing were maintained. Among them, a series of meetings were organized by the Union, including, seven “Exchanges on the LCA of Sericulture & Silk of entire Industry Chain in China”, five “Exchanges on the LCA of Sericulture & Silk of entire Industry Chain in China and Italy”, one “International Exchange on Life Cycle Database of Sericulture & Silk”. ISU also participated in twice for the “Make the Label Count” about the natural fiber sustainability initiative. In 2022, experts from the project team selected seventeen silk enterprises in the silk production chain, including sericulture, reeling and weaving, printing and dyeing, to carry out carbon footprint accounting, published four related papers in international scientific and technological journals, applied for four patents of invention, one software copyright, and drafted one group standard.
2. Carry out in-depth investigation and research on the high-quality development of silk industry
In order to grasp the development pattern and trend of international silk industry and explore the development path and countermeasures of China's silk industry, ISU secretariat profoundly participated in the 2022 strategic research and consulting project of Chinese Academy of Engineering’s “Research Project on Silk Industry High-quality Development in the Context of ‘the Belt and Road Initiative’” . The secretariat investigated into Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hunan and Guangxi in China, organized more than ten exchanges such as Zhejiang Symposium, Jiangsu Symposium, Nanchong Symposium, Huzhou Symposium, and Symposium on the Development Status and Core Technology’s Innovation Routes of Industrial Rearing of Silkworm”, participated in five international exchanges in Italy, France, India and other countries, investigated more than thirty companies, and organized nearly one hundred experts to carry out consulting services more than fifty times.
The industrial structure, development scale and technical bottlenecks of the main silk production areas and clusters were systematically mastered by the project team. Furthermore, the key research and analysis have been performed, focusing on industrial rearing of silkworm, the biomedical application of sericulture and silk materials, the digitization, intelligence, and green manufacturing of the silk industry, the technical standard system and the green low-carbon development strategy of silk industry, the competitiveness of the silk industry and the international cooperation strategy.
3.Organize to hold “2022 International Think Tank Forum on Silk High-Quality Development and the International Silk Union Chairman Meeting”
In order to stay abreast of the new dynamics of the global silk industry’s development paradigm, explore the green and low-carbon development route of the silk industry with focus on the new research, new technologies and new achievements in the field of silk, and on the international engagement role and cooperation in the industry, so as to facilitate the high-quality development of the silk industry, on December 21, ISU organized and held the “2022 International Think Tank Forum on Silk High-Quality Development and the International Silk Union Chairman Meeting”. ISU chairman Zhang Guoqiang and relevant government departments, industry organizations, enterprises and research institutes, totally more than 100 representatives from China, Italy, France, Brazil, Japan, India, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, the Philippines and other countries and regions, attended the meeting online through the Zoom video platform, and more than 6,500 people watched the conference live.
Li Xin, director of Foreign Trade Division, Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, delivered a speech for the conference. The chairman meeting passed the ISU work report in 2022, ISU secretariat introduced the “Statistics on ISU Activities Participation of Member Units”. There were six guests from Italy, France, India, Iran, the Philippines and Thailand shared the development trends of silk industry in their countries.The International Think Tank Forum on Silk High-Quality Development set three sessions, including academician's report, high-quality reports, and sustainability reports. ISU invited Academician Chen Wenxing of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as 9 experts and scholars from China, Italy, Japan, Brazil and India to share the important progress and achievements in high-quality and sustainable development of silk in various countries.
4. Organize member units to participate in the “International Sericultural Commission Congress”
Last year, ISU signed a Memorandum of Cooperation jointly with International Sericulture Commission (ISC) aimed at strengthening exchanges in information exchange and resource sharing. On September 8, ISU support the ISC held the 26th International Sericultural Commission Congress in Romania. Focusing on the theme of “Seritech - the New Concepts in Sericulture”, a total of eight sub-sessions were set up, including Mulberry, Bombyx mori, Non-mulberry silkworms, Bacology of silkworms/Silkworms in Research, Post-cocoon technology, Economy management and marketing in sericulture, Sericulture in non-textile industry, and Silk processing. More than one hundred experts from China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Cuba, Egypt and other countries and regions were invited to give special reports and papers. From the perspective of policy support, development scale, variety cultivation of silkworm and mulberry, industrial chain, technology research and development, etc., the participants had in-depth exchanges on the development trend of sericulture and silk industries in various countries. Representatives from ISU member units of Zhejiang Cathaya Group, Hangzhou Textile Machinery, Guangxi Huahong, Shengzhou Mulsun Biotech, Brazil Bisa Overseas, etc., attended the meeting. Zhang Guoqiang, chairman of ISU, and Jin Feng, R&D manager of Shengzhou Mulsun Biotech, were invited to give a keynote report.
5. Organize member units to participate in the “2022 International Network of Silk Cities and Metropoles”
On November 17, ISU support Intersoie French, the ISU vice-chairman unit, to hosted the “2022 International Network of Silk Cities and Metropoles”. The conference was held simultaneously online and offline. Como (Italy) was invited as the honored city. More than fifty industry experts and city representatives from China, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, India, Uzbekistan and other countries and regions participated in the conference. At the meeting, the basic situation and operating mechanism of the city network were introduced. Focusing on the two major themes of “Culture, creation and development of territories: what is the place for the silk in the industry” and “How can we promote the industry to a young public”, Zhang Guoqiang, chairman of ISU, academician Chen Wenxing, vice chairman and director of Education Research Professional Committee of ISU, and Stefano Vitali, vice chairman of ISU, were invited to give a keynote report. As well, ISU secretariat invited guests to participate in the “2022 International Think Tank Forum on Silk High-Quality Development and the International Silk Union Chairman Meeting”.
6.Support to hold the “Crossover and Integration: Acadermic Symposium on Museum Characteristic Development”
In order to further promote the museum's characteristic and high-quality development, and promote the museum's integration and empowerment for the silk fashion industry development, on December 30, ISU supported the vice chairman unit China National Silk Museum(CNSM) to hold an online “Crossover and Integration: Acadermic Symposium on Museum Characteristic Development”. More than 100 scholars and representatives from China, the United States, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Thailand, other countries and regions participated in the conference through Tencent, and more than 20000 people watched the conference live through Sina Weibo and live broadcast platform. The opening ceremony was presided over by Ji Xiaofen, curator of CNSM, Chen Wenxing, vice chairman of ISU, academician of the CAE Member, president of ZSTU, and Liu Shuguang, chairman of the China Museum Association, addressed the conference respectively. The symposium was held in the morning and afternoon, respectively hosted by Zhang Chengming, deputy curator of CNSM, and Li Qizheng, secretary-general of ISU, president of Periodicals Agency of ZSTU. A total of 12 experts and scholars were invited to give keynote speeches, which provided constructive ideas for the future development of the museum around the current situation and direction of the textile clothing theme museum.
7.Support the establishment of the “ZSTU Silk Public Welfare Development Fund”
On October 26, ISU supported ZSTU to launch the “ZSTU Silk Public Welfare Development Fund”. Through the joint participation of representative enterprises, institutions and individuals in the international silk industry, it was expected to provide support for talent training, scientific research, academic publishing, scientific and technological cultural exchanges and public welfare activities in the silk industry, thereby promoting the virtuous circle and sustainable development of the silk industry, and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the international silk industry. The fund has supported the development of short videos of popular science, science and technology activities, faculty fellowship award and other projects in silk.
8. Edit and publish the ISU proceedings “ISU NEWS”
In order to spread international silk industry information and share new ideas, new technologies, and new achievements in the silk industry, in 2022, ISU created the proceedings “ISU NEWS”. As an internal industry journal sponsored by ISU and the China National Silk Information Center, it aimed to focus on silk development from an industry perspective, share the development trends of international sericulture ans silk, and ultimately become an crucial exchange platform for the international silk industry. In 2022, focusing on the high quality and sustainable development of silk, emphasizing innovation and development such as intelligent manufacturing, green and low-carbon emission reduction, and cross-integration of industries, “ISU NEWS” shared more than fifty industry information with cutting-edge, scientific and industrial characteristics. In order to enrich the source of articles, ISU secretariat has established continuous cooperation in journal information sharing with ISC and Ufficio Italiano Seta (UIS) and other organizations.
9. Publicize the ISU member units and key silk enterprises
In order to investigate the operation of the industry and strengthen service effectiveness, in 2022, ISU secretariat visited nearly 20 Chinese member units such as Yayun Sericulture Base of Cathaya Group, High Fashion International, Wensli Group, Jin Fuchun Group, Shengzhou Mulsun Biotech, Zibo Dayanfang Silk Group and so on. Besides, more than 20 representative silk companies in Zhejiang, Hunan, Guangxi, Sichuan and other places were investigated, and their operation and development situation have been publicized by the platform of World Silk Website. Simultaneously, in terms of silk textile talent training, information resource sharing, platform co-construction, project research, and exchange of visits, ISU secretariat has also actively carried out in-depth exchanges and cooperation with member units such as the China Textile Engineering Society (CTES).
10. Newly develop seven ISU member units from six countries and regions
In 2022, ISU secretariat continued to expand new member countries, absorbing seven representative organizations and enterprises from six countries and regions such as China, India, Spain, Uganda, the Philippines and Hong Kong, China, namely, Shengzhou Mulsun Biotech Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Jasan Holding Group Co., Ltd., Nilima Silks Private Limited, Philippine Textile Research Institute, Visit València, Afro Silk Co., Neo-Concept Group. So far, more than one hundred and forty companies and organizations from twenty-seven countries and regions have joined ISU, including China, Italy, France, Switzerland, Brazil, Poland, Japan, Turkiye, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, the United States, Australia, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Laos, Iran, Pakistan, Romania, Spain, the Philippines, Uganda and Hong Kong, China.
11. Optimize the construction of ISU secretariat and publicity matrix
On a regular basis, ISU secretariat reported to relevant government departments on the work of union. As well, the secretariat has been supported by policies and platforms such as the 2022 Support Policy of Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Industry Development, the National Base for International Science and Technology Cooperation in Textiles and Consumer-Goods Chemistry, and the Huzhou Research Institute of ZSTU. In 2022, although in the stage of normalizing the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic, the secretariat actively promoted the work through conference systems, video recording, live broadcast, websites, mailboxes, social software and other channels. Therefore, a total of more than 1,300 emails were sent and received throughout the year, which led to the establishment of an exchange platform for member units to smooth international industrial exchanges.
In 2022, the ISU official website “World Silk Website” published a total of 77 articles, with 27,000 readings. The official WeChat account “World Silk Website” published 138 articles, with 65,000 readings, and accumulated 8,244 followers. Some important ISU activities have also been promoted on self-media platforms such as Headline, Sohu, Baijia and Penguin. Since its inception in 2019, it has accumulated 651,000 readings. The three thematic columns of “Huzhou Reporter Station of World Silk Website”, “ISU NEWS” and “Silk Fashion Grand” have been established.