In times of sluggish market demand, blankets, as daily necessities, exhibit strong rigid demand. According to customs statistics, from January to October, China exported 382 million blankets, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%, earning US$2.05 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%, making it the only product among the 11 major categories of wool textile exports that maintained a simultaneous increase in volume and price. Maintaining a good development momentum in the face of difficulties also reflects the fact that China's blanket industry has already established certain advantages in terms of raw materials, equipment, and technology. Although the situation is relatively better, the development of the blanket industry still faces challenges and has great room for improvement. From December 14th to 15th, the Fourth National Blanket Industry Development Exchange Conference and the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Blanket Professional Committee, hosted by the China Wool Textile Industry Association and undertaken by Linyi Lvying Industrial and Trade Co., Ltd., was held in Linyi, Shandong Province. How to drive industry development through innovation, improve the added value of blanket products, expand the application fields of products, and implement brand strategies has become a topic of discussion among industry leaders, experts, and entrepreneurs. Export Growth Maintained, Domestic Market Needs Expansion Since the second half of last year, the international economic situation has continued to be sluggish, market demand has been insufficient, and the export growth rate of wool textile products has gradually slowed down. In the second half of this year, the cumulative export value showed negative growth. According to customs statistics, from January to October, the cumulative export of wool textile products was US$10.3 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.2%, and the year-on-year decrease in export volume was even greater. Under this situation, blanket exports increased by 2.6% year-on-year, and export earnings increased by 11.3% year-on-year. From the perspective of major export countries and regions, the export market share to the United States was 30%, a year-on-year increase of 3.13%; the market share of the 27 EU countries was 23%, a year-on-year decrease of 9%; the market share of Japan was 7%, a year-on-year increase of 9%; and the market share of the UAE was 4%, a year-on-year decrease of 15%. Overall, there were both rises and falls, both joys and sorrows. Peng Yanli, president of the China Wool Textile Industry Association, said that it is indeed difficult for blanket products to maintain a simultaneous increase in volume and price when market demand is sluggish. Professor Zhang Jinwu, deputy director of the Textile Department of Nantong Textile Vocational and Technical College, said that China's blanket production and export volume rank first in the world, and it has become the world's blanket production base. With the continuous improvement of blanket quality, continuous improvement of production processes, continuous improvement of the industrial chain, and continuous launch of brands, China's blanket industry has formed a certain competitive advantage. However, there are also problems such as low industrial level, strong export dependence, and weak independent innovation capabilities. With the increase in domestic production costs, the profit margin has declined. Peng Yanli also said that the blanket industry is currently mainly export-oriented. According to estimates, the proportion of domestic and foreign sales is 30% and 70%, respectively. Based on the valid data reported by 17 enterprises participating in the Association's recommendation activity of famous and high-quality products this year, the proportion of foreign sales in 2011 was 57% (62% in 2010). Under the pressure of sluggish international markets, the renminbi, rising labor costs, and various factor costs, blanket enterprises need to develop the domestic market. By guiding lifestyles, the domestic market share of blankets can be expanded. Product Diversification, New Materials and Technologies Help to Develop the Value Chain In order to review the achievements of blanket enterprises in technological innovation, expanding the use of raw materials, product research and development, improving product quality, and expanding market marketing, the China Wool Textile Industry Association organized the National Blanket Famous and High-Quality Product Recommendation Activity this year. This activity attracted the active participation of blanket enterprises nationwide, receiving applications for 60 products from 25 enterprises. The China Wool Textile Industry Association Secretariat organized an expert group to conduct qualification review, product intrinsic quality and technology assessment, and appearance quality comprehensive evaluation of the participating enterprises, and finally selected 16 products for the "Excellent Product Award" and 23 products for the "Product Award". At the National Blanket Development Exchange Conference, awards and certificates were presented to the winning products, and participants were organized to view the winning products. From the winning products, it can be seen that blanket development shows diversified characteristics. The raw materials used include traditional wool, acrylic, polyester, as well as cotton and hollow fibers; there are both heavy Raschel double-layer blankets and light cotton blankets. The patterns and designs also have different styles. However, overall, there has been no major breakthrough in application fields. Peng Yanli suggested that blanket manufacturers should increase R&D investment and improve product development capabilities to further improve product added value. Since most blanket enterprises are export-oriented, their R&D investment and new product development capabilities are relatively weak, and the added value of products is relatively low. During the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" period, a total of 50 scientific and technological achievements in the wool textile industry won the Science and Technology Progress Award of the China Textile Industry Association, but there were very few blanket projects. The average unit price of China's exported blankets is only US$5.36 per piece, which illustrates this point. How can we achieve innovation in blanket products and improve product added value? Shi Mei-wu, a professor-level senior engineer at the General Logistics Department's Military Supplies Equipment Research Institute, believes that brands and high added value are the products of the combination of science and technology and art. In the development of new blanket products, it is necessary to reduce costs, increase efficiency, improve quality, create differentiation, and cater to the segmented market through technological innovation—improving the value of the existing value chain. It is also necessary to use new concepts, combine existing resources, create consumer desire, develop markets, establish new value chains, and create new value. Modern products convey two types of information to people: rational information includes product functions, materials, processes, etc., and sensory information includes product shape, color, aesthetics, usage methods, etc. In the development of new blanket products, sensory ergonomics knowledge should also be used to target consumer psychological needs and transform the feelings or images that consumers have about the product into design elements. He suggested that in terms of use, blanket products can be more abundant, they can be used as cold-weather bedding, summer quilts, indoor decoration, background lighting, military and police equipment, outdoor sports, pet supplies, car blankets, etc. In terms of appearance and feel, they can have elasticity or precious animal fur style, and can also have special functions, such as flame retardancy, antibacterial properties, and negative ion release. These can be achieved through the use of new materials and technologies. For example, by selecting different materials, designing different fineness and cross-sections, simulating the fluff and bristles of animal fur, using appropriate blended fiber methods to reasonably match fluff and bristles, imitating the overall structure of animal hair, and surface oil treatment, a feel similar to that of precious fur can be created, and imitation animal fur blankets can be developed. In addition, blankets for home decoration and furniture decoration can achieve rapid decoration, the plush surface gives a warm feeling, and the plush surface has good sound absorption and noise reduction effects, suitable for noise reduction requirements of residents living along streets, and can also be combined with negative ion processing and forest-like patterns to give people a feeling of a forest oxygen bar, and LED lights can be built in for soft lighting. Professor Zhang Peihua, director of the Knitting and Apparel Engineering Department of the Textile College of Donghua University, also put forward specific suggestions for developing functional blanket products based on an analysis of the characteristics of domestic blanket demand. Qiang Jianchun, general manager of Shanghai Hengyuanxiang Household Textile Products Co., Ltd., introduced Hengyuanxiang's successful practice of highlighting wool culture in product marketing, providing a reference for blanket product marketing. Energy Conservation, Emission Reduction, Clean Production, and Industrial Chain Cooperation Achieve Sustainable Development In the printing, dyeing, and finishing processes of blanket production, a large amount of energy and water is consumed, and wastewater is discharged. Therefore, for the blanket industry, energy conservation, emission reduction, and clean production are indispensable aspects of achieving sustainable development. In recent years, blanket enterprises have made unremitting efforts in energy conservation and emission reduction, and have achieved significant results. Surveys show that in 2011, the average industrial water consumption of 18 blanket enterprises was 220,000 tons per enterprise, a year-on-year decrease of 25%; the average wastewater discharge of 12 enterprises was 150,000 tons per enterprise, a year-on-year decrease of 41%. Peng Yanli said that the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to vigorously promote ecological civilization construction, adhere to the basic national policy of saving resources and protecting the environment, and strengthen the construction of ecological civilization systems. Resource consumption, environmental damage, and ecological benefits should be included in the economic and social development evaluation system, and a target system, assessment methods, and reward and punishment mechanisms that reflect the requirements of ecological civilization should be established. In accordance with this requirement, the blanket industry should summarize and promote good experiences and technologies and equipment in energy conservation and emission reduction, strive for policy support and rewards. In this regard, the Blanket Professional Committee will carry out some basic work, put forward guiding opinions, indicators, and basic data. The China Wool Textile Industry Association will strive to establish contact with government departments to help enterprises do a good job in energy conservation and emission reduction. In addition, industrial chain cooperation and win-win results are also the inevitable direction for the blanket industry to grow stronger. Peng Yanli believes that the advantage of the blanket industry lies in the high degree of domestication of raw materials and equipment. By fully utilizing this advantage, related industries can cooperate to improve equipment levels, develop applicable dyes and chemical auxiliaries, combine production, learning, and research, and accelerate the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, which will provide strong technical support for improving product varieties and quality, energy conservation and emission reduction, and improving production efficiency. Zhang Jinwu also suggested that in the existing blanket industrial chain, it is necessary to actively build a blanket enterprise technology innovation alliance. Through various long-term contractual arrangements and equity arrangements, the alliance members form a loose network-type organization that shares benefits and risks, which is an important way to improve the blanket industry. The meeting also elected members of the Blanket Professional Committee. Qian Chunsheng, chairman of Linyi Xinguang Blanket Co., Ltd. and director of the Blanket Professional Committee, introduced the work plan of the Blanket Professional Committee for 2013. Next year, the Blanket Professional Committee will organize research on the blanket market and regularly invite experts to conduct market analysis; conduct a comprehensive survey of the raw material consumption, equipment scale, output, and quality of blanket enterprises nationwide; advocate civilized production, civilized business, and service, and strengthen self-discipline in the blanket industry; organize blanket enterprises and dye and chemical auxiliary factories to cooperate, and promptly adopt new dye and chemical auxiliaries to promote the sustainable development of the industry.