Eurasian geotextiles started a new chapter of communication

The first EurAsian Geotextiles Symposium（EAGS， 2017） was held in Beijing Regent hotel on June 7 - 8. Organized by China Industrial Textiles Industry Association （CNITA） and European Nonwovens Association （EDANA）， it has been strongly supported by 16 international organizations， including the International Textile Manufacturers Association （ITMF）， International Association of Geosynthetic Materials （IGS）， the International Society for Geosynthetic Materials China Committee （CCIGS）. As the first grand gathering， the symposium attracted about 200 attendants from 14 countries and areas. Past President of China National Textile and Apparel Council （CNTAC） Wang Tiankai， the party secretary and secretary-general of CNTAC Gao yong， President of CNTAC Sun RuiZhe， vice President of CNTAC Xu Yingxin and Duan Xiaoping also attended the meeting.

Geotextile is an important category of industrial textiles， and it is also important for the construction of high quality engineering. With the implementation of infrastructure construction and“the Belt and Road Initiative” strategy during the period of 13th Five Year Plan， Asian and European geotextiles market will maintain rapid growth. The first Eurasian Geotextile Symposium made a threedimensional analysis of geotextile and architectural fabrics from the perspectives of engineering design， raw material supply， products manufacturing， engineering application and service， and built a platform for academic exchanges and business negotiation， to strengthen the exchanges of technology， information and market resources.

Pierre Wiertz， the general manager of EDANA and Li Lingshen， VP of China National Textile and Apparel Council and President of China Nonwovens & Industry Textiles Association， made short welcome speeches as host， respectively. Pierre Wiertz reviewed the course of the meeting and emphasized the importance of geotextiles. Also he stressed that the geotextiles was not only indispensable for infrastructure construction， but also beneficial to environment with less pollution and destruction. He firmly believed that the symposium would bring new opportunities and new ideas with the Belt and Road Initiative， just with the same wishes of President Li， to fully reach consensus and to enhance understanding and cooperation.

Li Lingshen in his keynote speech “Technology and Application of China Geotextiles” pointed out that industrial textiles has become not only the industry of sustaining economic growth and restructuring， and also a part of the strategic emerging industries and high-tech industries. By 2016， the proportion of fiber processing in the three areas of clothing， home textiles and industrial textiles was 45.57%， 27.68% and 26.75%. China is the largest producer， consumer and trading nation of industrial textiles in the world nowadays. He referred the most important technology innovations and strategic opportunity as well as the goal and the direction of development during 13th Five Year Plan （2016-2020）. In front of a variety of new development opportunities， Li Lingshen put forward four suggestions of optimizing development environment of industry， increasing the fiscal and taxation financial policy support， treasuring talent cultivation， as well as strengthening the innovation and application expansion. President Li ended his splendid speech with the expectation of “The mutual cooperation and exchanges between China-EU geotextiles industry will improve rapidly under the principal of integration， coordination and sharing”.