With the textile industry standing as a pillar of its economy, Tongzhou district in Nantong, Jiangsu province has been making efforts to drive the transformation of traditional textile manufacturing.

One key initiative is the encouragement of technological innovation among enterprises.

Founded in 2003, Joeshome Textiles has been dedicated to sleep technology research and development. The company consistently explores ergonomic and health-focused textile technologies, innovating with new functional materials and offering products tailored to various age groups.

Joeshome invests over 5 million yuan ($690,005) annually in product research and development. This year, the company established China's first-ever Science and Technology Smart Sleep Environment Research Center, dedicated to developing smart health-focused sleep products.

"Our sales have surpassed 20 million yuan in the first quarter, marking a 27 percent increase from the same period last year. We aim to break the 100 million yuan sales mark this year," said Hang Weiping, chairman of Joeshome.

Another company leveraging technology for growth is Lansiu. Between 2018 and 2019, Lansiu invested 16 million yuan to establish a fully automated hanging production line with imported equipment and achieved the integration of information technology.

In 2022, the company initiated a digital factory project, leveraging the customer-to-manufacturer system to personalize and automate the entire process from consumer ordering to production, packaging, and shipping.

"After fully digitizing our processes, we've seen a more than 30 percent increase in production efficiency and an improvement in product quality," said Yu Jianhui, chairman of Lansiu.

Advanced intelligent equipment being used in Lansiu's factory. [Photo/WeChat account: wxtzfb]