The Council of the Eurasian Women’s Forum held a presentation on the women’s role in the textile industry during an exhibition in Shanghai, offering an insight into the industry’s development, as well as outlining new opportunities for strengthening Russia-China cooperation, the senator said.
The Council of the Eurasian Women’s Forum held an off-site session. Organised by Women in the Textile Industry project team as part of the SinoCorrugated 2025 international exhibition in Shanghai, the event was designed to inform a wide range of potential partners about the project’s opportunities.
Galina Karelova, who chairs the EWF Council, reported on the initiative by saying that the event in Shanghai included a presentation of this project and its achievements. The participants outlined new opportunities for stepping up cooperation on introducing the latest solutions and making innovative products in both countries.
Russia’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yekaterina Priyezzheva, Secretary General of the China Cotton Textile Association Li Jie, as well as members of the Russian and Chinese business communities took part in the event.
The senator went on to say that over 100,000 people visited the exhibition and toured over 700 stands and exhibits from all over the world, discovering technology, services and products in various sectors, including the textile, pulp-and-paper, and other industries.
Galina Karelova said that the two countries have achieved meaningful progress in the textile industry and have a lot of potential in this sector. “The Russian textile industry has been steadily expanding and its growth rate exceeded 17 percent over the past five years. It benefited from innovative solutions created in related industries, including the chemicals and pulp-and-paper sectors. This paved the way for creating new eco-friendly materials. In particular, the 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum featured a presentation of an eco-friendly material made from wood pulp. It can be used to make various materials, and foreign investors were eager to learn more about it,” the parliamentarian pointed out.
She went on to say that women have been making a meaningful contribution to developing the textile industry. In China, they account for over 65 percent of the sector’s workforce, while this indicator for Russia is about 80 percent. “The EWF Council’s project Women in the Textile Industry serves as a networking platform for women working in the private sector and government institutions and helps ensure that the country has the raw materials it needs, while also attracting investment and promoting international ties,” Galina Karelova noted, adding that the agreement on exchanging best practices and introducing new technology in the textile industry between the Women in the Textile Industry project team and one of China’s leading makers of textile equipment demonstrated the effectiveness of these efforts.
“Efforts to fulfil this agreement and new joint projects will make a meaningful contribution to expanding and strengthening Russia-China ties. This session will serve as a new impetus for these initiatives,” Galina Karelova said in conclusion.