China Rubber Products Association Rubber Products Branch investigates Jihua Rubber

On April 30, a delegation from the Rubber Products Branch of the China Rubber Association went to Jihua Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. to conduct research and exchange activities. Led by Secretary-General Song Yan, the delegation had an in-depth dialogue with Jihua Rubber General Manager Long Jinxiang and other core management. During the exchange, the development of Jihua Rubber was carefully outlined: its predecessor can be traced back to the 3517th Factory of the Chinese People's Liberation Army established in 1951. As the first batch of military material production bases in New China, the factory was responsible for the research and development and manufacturing of military clothing, rubber shoes and raincoats. After more than 70 years of industrial upgrading, the company has built a three-dimensional business system of military-civilian integration and domestic and foreign trade coordination. Its "3517" brand has become a well-known Chinese trademark with its military quality. Its products cover 31 provincial administrative regions in China and are exported to more than 40 overseas markets such as Europe, America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Zhou Jiangfan, director of Jihua Rubber's Technology R&D Department, focused on the company's technology layout during the discussion, focusing on the three major areas of shoemaking process innovation, special sealing material research and development, and polymer functional material industrialization. After the research team visited the intelligent production line, the two sides held a special discussion on the pain points of the industry. Jihua Rubber admitted that the current market competition has entered a white-hot stage, and product homogeneity has led to frequent price wars. Enterprises are under great pressure to break through technical barriers and open up emerging markets. In particular, it is urgent to establish a more flexible innovation mechanism in terms of balancing the R&D cycle of high-performance materials and the speed of market demand response.

In response to the concerns of enterprises, Secretary-General Song Yan combined industry big data with policy guidance to put forward strategic suggestions. He emphasized that Jihua Rubber should deepen the "industry-university-research-use" collaborative innovation model, accelerate the transformation of technological achievements through joint university laboratories and national scientific research platforms, and focus on the layout of cutting-edge fields such as bio-based rubber materials and intelligent sensor seals. At the same time, it is recommended that enterprises build a global market monitoring system to accurately capture opportunities in subdivided tracks such as green tires and environmentally friendly rubber shoes under the "dual carbon" goals, and make full use of special support funds to upgrade digital workshops and create a benchmark for green smart manufacturing in the industry. According to the Carbon Black Industry Network, this suggestion is highly consistent with the "14th Five-Year Plan" technological transformation plan that Jihua Rubber is promoting, and the two parties have reached a preliminary intention for subsequent special docking.