Li Lingshen first welcomed Sam Allen and his party, and said that the development of China's geosynthetics industry has benefited from China's infrastructure construction and the advancement of major projects. At present, the "Belt and Road" market has become a new engine for the development of China's geosynthetics and construction textiles. At the same time, the continuous expansion of application areas and the continuous innovation of technology and processes are also important factors in promoting the rapid development of the industry. In the future, it is hoped that the two sides can strengthen exchanges and cooperation to promote the development of the industry.
Li Guimei introduced the China Industrial Textiles Association and the industry. She said that for many years, the association has taken service innovation as the main line, and has continued to provide efficient and professional services through technical consultation, professional training, standard services, data services, information publicity, exhibitions and forums, etc., which has played an important role in helping enterprises and industries develop green and healthy. Geotechnical and architectural textiles are key areas of development in the industry. In 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on the High-quality Development of Industrial Textiles". The "Guiding Opinions" proposed five key tasks: scientific and technological innovation, structural upgrading, integration of industrialization and information technology, green development, and standard leadership. It determined the key areas of geotechnical and architectural textiles and injected a strong dose of confidence into the development of the industry.
Sam Allen introduced the work of IGS and the development of international geosynthetics. IGS has a 40-year history of development and is committed to the research and engineering development of geotextiles, geomembranes and their related composite products and related technologies. For many years, it has actively carried out professional training, technical exchanges, academic forums and other work, and has established academic exchange platforms such as professional journals and digital libraries. At present, IGS is expanding from academic research to industrial applications, while actively strengthening the extension of the industrial chain, paying attention to the sustainable development of the industry, and striving to create a society with credibility and international influence.
Nie Songlin mainly introduced the development status and trends of geotechnical building materials in China. He said that in terms of geotechnical materials, China is a major producer of polyester, and polyester products will still be the mainstream of the geotechnical materials market in the future. Among them, the current application proportion of filament polyester geotextile is relatively low, and there is a growth trend. Secondly, polypropylene geotextile has better resistance to chemical erosion. China currently has a certain production capacity, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Third, in order to meet the needs of engineering projects, geotechnical materials are developing in the direction of geotextile and geogrid composite materials. Fourth, polyester high-strength two-component geotextile has good tensile and tear resistance, air permeability and water permeability, and is widely used in soft foundation treatment drainage board membrane; in terms of building materials, polyester filament waterproof base fabric is an important building textile, with huge domestic production and consumption. Among them, glass fiber reinforced polyester filament composite base fabric further enhances product performance and is more widely used. Secondly, polyester/polyester, polyester/nylon coarse denier high-strength two-component base fabric using hot air bonding technology will be the fifth generation of products in the future, with high strength, good width, no need for dipping, and thin products.
Yang Yaolin, deputy director of the International Exchange Department of China Industrial Association, introduced the standards of China's geosynthetics. Geosynthetics have been on the track of rapid and standardized development in China, from new product research and development to engineering applications and market promotion. In December 2018, the association was approved as the domestic technical counterpart of the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee for Geosynthetics (ISO/TC 221), and established a domestic technical counterpart working group covering key industry manufacturers, application enterprises, testing and certification agencies, research institutes and universities. In 2019, it hosted the 16th plenary meeting and various working group meetings of ISO/TC 221. At present, 12 domestic experts have been recommended as ISO/TC 221 registered experts to participate in the specific work of each working group, and vote on or propose revision suggestions for ISO/TC 221 standards and resolutions under development on behalf of China.
The two sides also had in-depth exchanges on cooperation in important activities, education and training, standard services, information sharing, and sustainable development of the industry.