Sunshine Group president shares insights on manufacturing industry

Chen Lifen, president of Jiangsu Sunshine Group and a third-time deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, shares her insights on the manufacturing industry. [Photo/wxrb.com]

"The pursuit of quality products is both a responsibility and a mission for manufacturers," said Chen Lifen, explaining her understanding of this year's Government Work Report presented by Premier Li Keqiang on March 5.

Chen, a third-time deputy to the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, is the president of Jiangsu Sunshine Group, the world's largest manufacturer of wool textiles and high-grade apparel.

As a leader in the domestic wool textile market, Sunshine has been focusing on quality improvement since its establishment, and last year it became the first enterprise in the province to win the China Quality Award, according to Chen.

Enterprises should be responsible and provide quality products and services to consumers, while public awareness of quality should be raised in order to promote supply-side structural reform, she added.

Chen also suggested implementing a quality index system that involves the government, industry and products, as well as improving the quality management and assessment system.

Incentive policies rolled out by the local government have given enterprises a motivation to develop, Chen said, adding that her company will strive to lead the way in becoming a globally-competitive intelligence-oriented textile manufacturer.

In 2016, Sunshine Group planned to invest $500 million into the first phase of a whole-industry-chain plant in Ethiopia, an African country participating in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. The plant will produce wool textiles, as well as western-style suits and shirts.

The plant is expected to be completed by the end of June and begin operating around Oct 1. The production capacity will be about one third of the company's headquarters in Jiangyin city.

Sunshine Group, founded in 1986, dabbles in many industries, such as wool textiles, garments, biological pharmacy, real estate and thermal electricity.