The red silk was unveiled, and applause erupted.
On the morning of March 19, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Xingguo Technology Innovation Research Institute officially opened in front of the newly completed building in Xingguo.
This also means that Xingguo's textile and apparel industry has officially welcomed a strong research &#34;partner.&#34;
Sitting in the audience, Li Kaitai couldn't hide his excitement; he raised his phone to capture this important moment. The day before the unveiling ceremony, he told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn), &#34;The arrival of the research institute will definitely be a turning point for Xingguo's textile and apparel industry.&#34;
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Scene of the unveiling ceremony of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Xingguo Technology Innovation Research Institute. Photo provided by Xingguo County Media Center.
In fact, Li Kaitai is one of the &#34;partners&#34; who arrived earlier for Xingguo.
By the end of 2024, the Jiangxi Xingguo International Denim Clothing Manufacturing Industrial City (hereinafter referred to as &#34;Industrial City&#34;) with a total investment of 5 billion yuan will officially start construction. Li Kaitai carries two labels: he is both the representative of the investment party for the Industrial City and a denim entrepreneur who has moved from Guangdong to Xingguo.
He jokingly refers to himself as &#34;a member of the Xingguo investment promotion team,&#34; and he is bringing along entrepreneur friends familiar with &#34;technology&#34; to invest, hoping to jointly build Ganzhou's first denim clothing factory that &#34;applies 5G+ industrial internet.&#34;
As the general manager of the Industrial City, he has spent the past two years &#34;recruiting&#34; various upstream and downstream denim enterprises for research, hoping that this industrial city can soon become a full-chain industrial cluster integrating weaving, printing and dyeing, washing, garment manufacturing, and trade, as officially positioned.
Going back in time, in 2015, after years of working outside, Xingguo entrepreneur Wen Jianhua decided to return home to invest in building a factory, becoming one of the earliest batch of returnee entrepreneurs. After returning to Xingguo, he invested in establishing a washing industrial park, allowing all processes of denim production to be completed locally.
For Xingguo, the three individuals are industrial &#34;partners&#34; who &#34;shook hands&#34; with this red land at different times. Although their roles are different, they have all contributed in their own ways to the textile and apparel industry in Xingguo, adding an indispensable piece to the puzzle.
Bosses Follow Workers
The day before the unveiling ceremony, Li Kaitai hosted friends from Zhongshan, who are also denim entrepreneurs.
He understands exactly what they are thinking. Is the policy stable? Is labor good? How about taxes? Is the export tax rebate smooth? These were all questions he asked one by one when he came to Xingguo for an inspection four years ago.
In 2022, when he first walked into a workshop in Xingguo, he was stunned. The workshop was filled with workers. He hadn't seen such a scene in Guangdong for a long time.
Upon further inquiry, he learned that there are over 200,000 people engaged in the textile and apparel industry in Xingguo County, with more than 60,000 garment workers staying locally. Li Kaitai said this was extremely attractive to him
&#34;If there are no people, it doesn't matter how beautiful the factory is.&#34; After more than 30 years in the denim industry, this is his deepest realization.
In 1995, after graduating, he followed the trend and entered a clothing factory in Guangdong. Two years later, he was promoted to a management position, and this experience helped him understand the ins and outs of the clothing industry.
In 2002, Li Kaitai finally opened his first denim company in Zhongshan. Six years later, he opened a second one in Foshan. There are three major bases in the national denim industry: Zengcheng in Guangzhou, Dayong in Zhongshan, and Jun'an in Foshan. He occupies two of them alone.
But in recent years, he has clearly felt the changes.
&#34;In the past, workers followed the boss; now, the boss follows the workers.&#34; He said this with a certainty that comes from experience. Labor costs in the Pearl River Delta are rising, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit workers. In Xingguo, over 60,000 textile workers can find employment right &#34;at their doorstep.&#34;
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Signing ceremony for the investment in the Jiangxi (Xingguo) International Denim Clothing Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park project. WeChat public account &#34;Xingguo Release&#34; image
&#34;Locally, it's called going to work; outside, it's called working.&#34; At this point, Li Kaitai's tone slightly rose.
In July 2024, Li Kaitai, along with three other Bay Area companies, signed a strategic agreement with Xingguo. On December 17 of the same year, the Xingguo International Denim Clothing Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial City officially broke ground. The project has a total investment of 5 billion yuan, covers an area of about 800 acres, and has a total construction area of over 1 million square meters. It will build a full-chain denim industrial city integrating weaving, printing and dyeing, washing, garment manufacturing, and trade.
Public reports indicate that at the signing ceremony, Li Jianguo, the secretary of the Xingguo County Party Committee, stated that the successful signing of this project will play a &#34;milestone&#34; role in demonstrating and promoting the upgrading and digital transformation of the Xingguo denim clothing industry, as well as leading and promoting the innovative development of the county's denim clothing industry and forming new productive forces.
By the end of March this year, four industrial buildings in the industrial city had already risen. According to plan, trial production is expected to begin in June this year. Production equipment has been ordered from all over the country, and everything is progressing rapidly.
Li Kaitai said that when he initially chose Xingguo, he focused on three aspects: the local &#34;willingness,&#34; talent base, and regional advantages.
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Li Kaitai participating in an exhibition with his employees, with Li Kaitai being the third from the left. Photo provided by the interviewee
&#34;Confidence is gold.&#34; He said that Xingguo has listed textiles and clothing as its primary industry, focusing on two growth poles: denim clothing and workwear, concentrating resources and efforts on development. For entrepreneurs who, like him, have investment intentions, this is not just a policy but also a reassurance
With &#34;willpower,&#34; there must also be people.
Public data shows that there are currently over 3,000 various textile and garment production entities in Xingguo, producing nearly 100 million garments annually.
With both people and industry in place, regional advantages must also be considered.
Xingguo is located in Jiangxi, adjacent to the three coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. Li Kaitai calculated that it takes him two and a half hours to reach Shenzhen, and only five to six hours to get to the Greater Bay Area. &#34;This place is like the backyard of three major coastal garment provinces,&#34; he describes Xingguo.
In his view, the transfer of the textile and garment industry is like a river, with its own flow direction. From abroad to Hong Kong, from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, and then from Shenzhen to Dongguan, Foshan, and Zhongshan. &#34;Now, it's time to move inland,&#34; Li Kaitai said, &#34;The transfer of industry is a trend.&#34; And Xingguo happens to be at this juncture.
&#34;I am also a member of the investment promotion team&#34;
This also explains why Li Kaitai has already invested 400 million to &#34;pump&#34; into Xingguo and has taken on the role of general manager of the industrial city. He jokingly refers to himself as &#34;a member of the Xingguo investment promotion team,&#34; and over the past two years, he has been &#34;recruiting&#34; various denim enterprises for research.
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A model of the industrial city. Photo by Dinaer, The Paper.
In his vision, the industrial city can cover the entire process from &#34;a strand of cotton yarn to a pair of jeans.&#34; Li Kaitai's company mainly focuses on garment manufacturing, washing, and foreign trade, positioned in the midstream of the industrial chain. Therefore, he actively seeks &#34;allies&#34; to introduce enterprises involved in weaving, dyeing, button-making, zippers, sewing threads, and tags, aiming to lengthen and complete the industrial chain. &#34;The formation of the industrial chain cannot rely solely on the midstream's growth,&#34; he said. &#34;When the upstream and downstream naturally connect, the 'cake' everyone shares will be bigger.&#34;
Unlike the two companies he established in Guangdong, Li Kaitai's entrepreneurial approach in Xingguo is somewhat different. He has teamed up with friends familiar with &#34;technology&#34; to invest in a brand new denim factory, targeting the path of &#34;applying 5G + industrial internet.&#34;
He explained that the application of 5G in garment factories is gradually becoming more common, but it is far from widespread. Equipment needs to be updated, workers need training, and the investment cost is not low, which deters many enterprises. However, once implemented, work efficiency can be improved by at least 40%.
The partner he is working with is an &#34;old hand&#34; who has been navigating the &#34;5G + industrial internet&#34; field for several years. Li Kaitai said, &#34;Everything is difficult at the beginning, but they have persevered. Working with him can help the industrial city avoid some detours.&#34;
Washing is a key process in the production of jeans. The traditional method relies entirely on workers' experience: how much material to pour, whether the water temperature is sufficient, all depends on a pair of eyes and hands. Once &#34;5G + industrial internet&#34; enters the factory, everything will be different. Water volume, temperature, and weight will all be standardized. With fewer reworks and color corrections, efficiency will naturally improve.
&#34;We came to Xingguo not to build a few buildings,&#34; Li Kaitai said this with a serious tone. He stated that they are aiming for the Xingguo textile and garment industry to move towards high-end and digital goals
When he heard that The Hong Kong Polytechnic University was going to establish a research institute in Xingguo, he was taken aback. He knew that this also meant that a more upstream industrial carrier was joining the denim industry in Xingguo.
He said that the research institute could develop various new types of fabrics, filling the gap in research and development for clothing companies. &#34;They handle the R&amp;D at the front end, and our factory is responsible for implementation.&#34; This is how he understood this collaboration.
&#34;Not a sunset industry&#34;
Like Li Kaitai, another &#34;partner&#34; is also full of expectations for the research institute.
Two days before the unveiling ceremony, Wen Jianhua specifically returned from Jiangmen, Guangdong to participate. His thoughts aligned with Li Kaitai's. In his view, the establishment of the research institute could bring qualitative changes to the denim industry in Xingguo.
Wen Jianhua, head of Xingguo Changyu Industrial Co., Ltd., was one of the pioneers who ventured out of Xingguo in the 1990s. He first entered a Hong Kong-funded clothing company and, with his diligent work ethic, was promoted to production manager a few years later, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the entire process from raw material procurement to production management.
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In the production workshop of Xingguo Changyu Industrial Co., Ltd., workers are packing denim clothing. Photo by Zheng Wen, The Paper.
In 2003, he sensed the opportunity in the denim industry and opened his own factory in Zhongshan, Guangdong. A year later, due to cost advantages, he relocated to Jiangmen, close to denim industrial clusters in Shunde and Xintang, and quickly established a foothold.
Daring to explore and try, he boldly formed a foreign trade team two years later and began attending trade fairs abroad. Wen Jianhua said that at that time, not many denim manufacturers were participating in exhibitions themselves, and he was among the early ones. &#34;Those European and American clients were all accumulated by us from 0 to 1.&#34; His words carried a sense of calm after a long journey.
But the farther he went, the more he couldn't let go of one place. In 2015, he made a decision: to return to Xingguo.
This decision was driven by the call of the Xingguo County government's investment promotion, as well as his hometown sentiment. At the same time, he had conducted on-site research and found that Xingguo had a talent base, cost advantages, and policy support.
He calculated that the comprehensive cost of producing the same output of denim in Xingguo was about 10 percentage points lower than in the Pearl River Delta.
&#34;We were the first denim enterprise to go into production in the southern area of the entire economic development zone.&#34; Wen Jianhua recalled that it took only a year from building the factory to officially starting production.
However, after he returned, he encountered a tricky problem. Xingguo did not have a decent washing factory, and batches of denim had to be sent back to Guangdong for washing after being sewn in the workshop, which was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and increased costs.
Seeing the &#34;breakpoint&#34; in the industrial chain, with the support of relevant government departments, Wen Jianhua gritted his teeth and decided to establish a modern Henghai garment washing industrial park, allowing all processes of denim production to be completed locally in Xingguo.
This precisely filled the key &#34;puzzle&#34; of Xingguo's denim industry. Since then, more and more large and small denim enterprises have begun to settle in Xingguo, including some of Wen Jianhua's friends
Now, his factory is one of the larger ones among Xingguo denim enterprises. It produces hundreds of thousands of pairs of jeans each month, with foreign trade accounting for about 70%. Last year, affected by tariffs, the output value reached over 100 million yuan, peaking close to 300 million yuan.
But he is also keenly aware that relying on volume for success is not a long-term strategy; it is essential to keep pace with the times.
The arrival of the research institute has opened up new possibilities for him. As a world-class research university, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's textile science and engineering discipline has ranked among the top three globally for several consecutive years.
&#34;Industry, academia, and research are now linked together,&#34; he said. The research institute can develop new materials and technologies and also identify new trends, while Xingguo's factory can implement these research findings.
From a more macro perspective, at the unveiling ceremony, a statement by Li Jianggui, the secretary of the Xingguo County Committee, expressed Xingguo's eagerness for the research institute.
He said that the textile and apparel industry is a traditional industry in Xingguo, which has developed a complete industrial foundation over the years. Currently, the entire county is making every effort to promote the transformation of the industry towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, &#34;more than ever needing the empowerment of cutting-edge technology.&#34;
In other words, for Xingguo, collaborating with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is not just about introducing a research institution but also about building a &#34;core engine&#34; for industrial innovation.
The unveiling is just the beginning. On the day of the unveiling ceremony, it was &#34;officially announced&#34; that the research institute has launched its first batch of 11 research projects, mainly focusing on the fields of workwear and denim clothing, covering topics such as system development, smart wearables, and green low-carbon initiatives.
&#34;The textile and apparel industry is not a sunset industry.&#34; Wen Jianhua said that clothing is the top priority in daily needs. He stated, &#34;Denim is an enduring product; from the first pair of jeans produced in the American West 200 years ago to today, it remains popular.&#34;
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A white yacht sailing in the &#34;blue sea.&#34; Photo by Dinaer, The Paper.
In the exhibition hall on the first floor of the industrial city, there hangs a painting. In the painting, a white yacht is riding the waves on a blue sea. Upon closer inspection, the &#34;blue sea&#34; resembles the stitching of denim.
Three &#34;partners&#34; boarded this ship at different points in time. During the journey, nostalgia, opportunities, and innovation were stirred up.
Subtle changes have quietly occurred. As Li Kaitai has realized, he used to say &#34;go to Xingguo,&#34; but now it has naturally changed to &#34;return to Xingguo.&#34;
A single word change has already answered many questions

The Jiangxi Xingguo denim industry welcomes a new "partner." The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Xingguo Institute of Technological Innovation was inaugurated on March 19, marking the beginning of research cooperation in the Xingguo textile and apparel industry. Li Kaitai, as the representative of the investment party for the industrial city, plans to invest 5 billion yuan to build a denim apparel manufacturing industrial city, aiming to create a full-chain industrial cluster. The denim production in Xingguo has been localized, attracting multiple entrepreneurs to return home for investment, promoting local economic development

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