On January 22, 2018, an ‘experience- sharing’ meeting attended by the best companies in the manufacturing industry was held in Beijing. The meeting was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ((MIIT) and the China Federation of Industrial Economics (CFIE). During the meeting, the second “Model Enterprises and Championship Products of the Manufacturing Industry” list was released. Weiqiao Textile’s cotton products were awarded the “Manufacturing Industry Championship Product”.

Outlined in the "Made in China 2025" strategy, China aims to guide manufacturing enterprises to focus on product segmentation in an effort to nurture and raise more top global enterprises in the manufacturing industry, so as to move Chinese industries up to the medium-high end of the global value chain. According to the “Special Action of Cultivating and Improving Model Enterprises in The Manufacturing Industry ([2016] No. 105)” issued by the MIIT, after independent declaration by enterprises, recommendations from local industries and information authorities, CFIE, industry associations and government-owned enterprises, as well as expert review and online information disclosure, the second “Model Enterprises and Championship Products of the Manufacturing Industry” list was released. A total of 71 enterprises were selected in the list and 12 of them were from Shandong Province. Weiqiao Textile’s cotton products were awarded the “Manufacturing industry Championship Product”.

With the launch of the "Made in China 2025" strategy, the concept of “Made in China” has entered a critical period of transformation. Chinese manufacturing enterprises are in urgent need of upgrading from manufacturers of quantity to those of quality. In order to realize this transformation, China needs to develop a group of world-class giant manufacturing enterprises, and nurture a group of potential top global enterprises with a long-term focus on manufacturing-specific segments so as to lead their market development. To this end, MIIT and CFIE released the list of “Model Enterprises and Championship Products of the Manufacturing Industry” in two batches in January and November 2017 respectively.

The Model Enterprises of the Manufacturing Industry refers to companies which are devoted to a special product market segment for the long-term, own internationally leading production technology, while Championship Products refer to those ranked among the top in terms of global market share. The award has two criterions at the same time, namely “single” and “championship”. The “single” requires enterprises to focus on a certain area. The “championship” requires enterprises to have a strong market position and a large market share, especially a championship-class market position and technical strength in a certain segment.

The award encourages enterprises to adopt the spirit of "grinding the same sword for ten years", taking on a development path of focusing on developing expertise areas and quality, and helping enterprises integrate resources globally to lead the world industrial chain and enhance their competitiveness in the international manufacturing industry.