To investigate the current state of China's sericulture and silk industry, enhance exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and French silk enterprises, and facilitate interactions among members of ISU, a delegation visits China from May 19 to 21, 2024. The delegation includes Xavier Lepingle, Vice Chairman of ISU and Vice President of UNITEX, CEO of Holdings Textile Hermès(HTH); Alexandra Thuriot, Quality Director of HTH; and Thierry Lanier, Director of Research and Development of HTH. They are accompanied throughout the visit by Zhang Guoqiang, Chairman of ISU, Bian Xinger, Deputy Secretary-General, and Pepper Liu, Secretary.

On May 19-20, Zhang Guoqiang, Chairman of ISU, Chairman of Cathaya Group, Luo Binghua, Vice President of Cathaya Group, Huang Ran, Deputy General Manager of Cathaya Holdings Ltd., and Zhu Zhengxian, Deputy General Manager of Cathaya Holdings Ltd. and Chairman and General Manager of Baoshan Cathaya Silk Co., Ltd., accompany CEO Xavier Lepingle and his team. They visite the Cathaya Group's mulberry and silk reeling bases in Baoshan, Yunnan, the mulberry base in Yayun, Zhejiang, and the weaving base in Lin'an, Hangzhou, as well as the dyeingand printing base in Xiasha, Hangzhou. They deeply explore the high standards, scalability, and intensive construction and production management of the high-quality organic full-industry chain bases in Yunnan and Zhejiang, mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing technologies for poverty alleviation, the integration of sericulture research and cultural-tourism education, and the development of new sericulture silk products and its innovations. At the headquarter of Cathaya, they gain a deep understanding of Cathaya Group's development history, strategy, current status, and future plans.

On the morning of May 21, Jin Yao, Chairman of Shengzhou Mulsun Modern Cocoon Industry Co., Ltd., He Ruimin, Executive Vice President, and Jin Feng, Director of Research and Development, accompany Chairman Zhang Guoqiang and CEO Xavier Lepingle to inspect the full-process production workshop of the Phase II all-instar artificial feed factory-base sericulture. They conduct in-depth discussions on the breakthrough development of factory-base sericulture and its differences from traditional mulberry cultivation and sericulture.

On the afternoon of May 21st, Jin Xiaotuan, Chairman of Hangzhou Honghua Digital Technology Co., Ltd., along with his team, accompany Chairman Zhang Guoqiang and CEO Xavier Lepingle to visit the Fuyang Factory. They observe demonstrations of precise positioning and double-sided digital printing equipment manufacturing and applications, as well as the use of supporting production equipment such as sizing, washing, and color fixing. They engage in in-depth discussions about the rapid development and technological innovation of digital printing equipment.

During the visit, Chairman Zhang Guoqiang and Vice Chairman Xavier Lepingle hold a discussion meeting. Chairman Zhang Guoqiang warmly welcomes and thanks Vice Chairman Xavier Lepingle and the colleagues from HTH for their visit. He also presents the preparation plan for this year's ISU Chairman Meeting and international forum. Chairman Zhang hopes that Vice Chairman Xavier Lepingle would provide valuable insights on the relevant inspection companies, the development of the Chinese silk industry, and the future work priorities of ISU. He aims to establish a continuous communication mechanism at the industry level, actively promote mutual visits and cooperation among enterprises, and continuously enhance the internationalization, innovation, and sustainability of ISU's services, meeting the development needs of China and other countries' silk industries.

Vice Chairman Xavier Lepingle expresses gratitude for the meticulous arrangements by the secretariat of ISU and agrees with Chairman Zhang Guoqiang's viewpoints. He emphasizes the profound impression from the inspection on the high-end organic integrated supply chain base of Cathaya Group, the industrialized factory-base sericulture at Mulsun, and the new digital printing technology at Honghua. Lepingle hopes to use this as a new starting point to enhance deep exchanges among technical teams of enterprises through multiple channels, jointly promoting technological progress and a shared value chain in the global silk industry. He aims for cooperation and mutual benefit in non-competitive areas at the industry level. Additionally, specific suggestions are made for the proposals and topics of the ISU Chairman Meeting and international forum.

During the inspection, both parties engage in extensive discussions on the future development trends of the global sericulture industry, the changing trends of the silk producing countries and silk production, pricing and quality stability of raw silk materials and promoting the establishment of its general international standards, technological innovation in sericulture and silk products, sustainable and traceable organic silk, and the informatization and intelligent development of the whole silk industry chain. They collectively anticipate maintaining and enhancing the robust vitality of the silk industry!