On May 30 and 31, the 2026 Shanghai · Songjiang New Materials Industry High-Quality Development Conference and the Second Meeting of the First Academic Committee & Technical Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials (hereinafter referred to as the "State Key Laboratory") were held in Songjiang, Shanghai. Attendees included Zhang Xi, Director of the Academic Committee, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and President of Jilin University; Cheng Zhengdi, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee, Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and Professor at South China University of Technology; Sun Jinliang, Director of the Technical Committee, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Professor at Shanghai University; Peng Shou, Deputy Director of the Technical Committee, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Chief Scientist of China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd.; and 24 academicians in total. Also present were Wang Jing, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Songjiang District Committee and District Mayor of Songjiang District, Shanghai; Liu Shuhui, Party Secretary of DongHua university; President Xiang Yanxun; Vice Presidents Lu Weibing and Zhang Qinghua; as well as heads of relevant Shanghai municipal government departments, experts and scholars, enterprise representatives, heads of relevant university departments, representatives of the State Key Laboratory, and young faculty members, totaling more than 130 participants. The meeting was chaired by Zhang Xi and Zhu Meifang, Director of the State Key Laboratory and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
(Liu Shuhui delivers a speech)
Liu Shuhui stated in her address that Donghua University has always adhered to the "Four Orientations," focusing on major national strategies and the needs of economic and social development, and striving to overcome key core technologies and engineering challenges. In recent years, the university has actively aligned itself with Shanghai's construction of the "Five Centers" and Songjiang District's "2+4" modern industrial system, jointly building the Songjiang Science and Technology Innovation Base of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials with Songjiang District to promote the precise matching of innovation resources with industrial needs. This year marks the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the university is committed to pooling innovation synergy and looks forward to close collaboration with experts to drive the new materials industry toward higher-quality development.
(Xiang Yanxun delivers a speech)
In his concluding remarks, Xiang Yanxun expressed gratitude to the leaders, experts, scholars, and enterprise guests for their guidance and strong support. He noted that the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, as an important component of national strategic scientific and technological strength, has made positive contributions to advancing innovation and upgrading the advanced fiber materials industry in China. He emphasized the need to strengthen basic research and strive to produce more original innovation outcomes; to enhance university-local collaboration and integration between industry and education to further promote the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. He further stressed the need to strengthen resource support and talent cultivation, help young scientific and technological workers grow, and build a high-level research team, thereby contributing wisdom and strength to sci-tech self-reliance and self-strengthening, and to building China into a leader in science and technology.
(Xiang Yanxun delivers a speech)
Wang Jing stated in her address that the conference, themed “Gathering the Chain into Fiber, Innovating with Vision,” closely aligns with the practical needs of the new materials industry and represents a pragmatic action to serve the national strategy and shoulder the mission of scientific and technological innovation. Songjiang will actively build service platforms to support the development of high-level institutions such as the State Key Laboratory; optimize the industrial ecosystem by deepening the integration of “innovation + industry + finance + talent” and providing full-lifecycle precision services; and promote cooperation and synergy by leveraging the advantages of the Yangtze River Delta G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor for cross-regional integrated coordination, working with all parties to jointly build a highland for new materials industry development and create a future of high-quality development.
Zhang Xi and Sun Jinliang fully affirmed the laboratory's achievements. They proposed focusing on original fiber research and development, building independent brands, and supporting "0-1 Laboratories" to encourage disruptive innovation. They also called for consolidating traditional strengths, advancing the intersection of AI and fiber, developing specialized models and databases, and synergistically promoting both "AI for Science" and "Fiber for AI." Committee members and experts in attendance offered opinions and suggestions on refining disciplinary directions, gathering research talent, strengthening student training, enforcing strict and standardized management, and conducting exchanges and cooperation.
(The scene of the meeting)
At the meeting, Yan Feng, Deputy Director of the State Key Laboratory, delivered the annual work report covering research achievements and directional progress, team building and talent cultivation, and open exchange and operational management. Chen Zhigang, another Deputy Director of the State Key Laboratory, presented the 2026 work plan for open research programs and the Visiting Scholar Fund, along with the development plan for the journal cluster. Professors Dong Jie, You Zhengwei, Xiang Hengxue, Yang Jianping, and Zhu Liping delivered academic reports respectively on three research directions: high-performance fibers and composites, functional fibers and green manufacturing, and intelligent fibers and advanced applications.
（Unveiling of the Songjiang Science and Technology Innovation Base of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials）
（Cooperation projects of the “Chain Master Sci-Tech Innovation Alliance” under the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Fiber Materials Innovation Consortium are signed）
At the 2026 Shanghai · Songjiang New Materials Industry High-Quality Development Conference held on the afternoon of May 30, more than 100 representatives, including academicians and experts as well as delegates from the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center, the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology, Songjiang District, universities, research institutes, and chain-leader enterprises, gathered to explore new pathways for the high-quality development of the new materials industry. The Songjiang Science and Technology Innovation Base of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials (SKLAFM) was officially unveiled. The base will establish a full-chain system from source innovation to the commercialization of results, building itself into a distinctive hub for technology transfer and industrial innovation. On the same day, the first batch of projects under the “Chain-Leader Sci-Tech Innovation Alliance,” jointly initiated by the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center and the Jiangsu Jicui Institute of Advanced Fiber Materials, were launched. The alliance has already brought together more than 20 leading enterprises in the industry, striving to realize a new model in which chain-leader enterprises pose the challenges, research institutions provide the solutions, and the industrial chain collaborates to bring them to fruition.
