Organized by China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA), the Asia Wipes Summit (AWipes 25) with the theme “Together for a Same Goal” was held in Shanghai on April 2-3. More than 300 delegates attended the conference, featuring seventeen presentations and three panel discussions.

Li Lingshen, vice president of China National Textile Apparel Council, said in his welcome speech that in recent years, the continuous innovations in China’s nonwovens industry from raw materials, process to finishing technology have given wipes new functions and more optimized consumer experience, and continuously meets the diverse needs of consumers and the requirements of sustainable development.

Mark Snider, chief market and industry analyst of INDA, shared the Wipes in North America and Global Trends in the Wipes Market 2025 by video presentation. His presentation provided a detailed introduction and analysis of wipes in North America, supply and demand, product changes and trends for North America, as well as the wipes trends for global wipes, and discussed the challenges and opportunities for the development of the wipes industry.

Sustainable and environmental-friendly have always been the hot concepts at the Chinese nonwovens events in recent years. At the AWipes 25 conference, several speakers introduced sustainable fibers for wipes to the attendees.

This time, lyocell fiber was another hot concept among delegates and speakers. Compared with viscose, lyocell fiber performs better in many aspects. Many delegates agreed on the point that lyocell fiber will play a much more important role in the wipes industry in the future.

According to CNITA, AWipes is the first high-level international conference of the Asian wipes industry. The first edition was held in April 2021. AWipes 25 was the fourth edition.

Li Guimei, president of CNITA shared the newest updated statistics on China’s nonwovens industry in her keynote speech. The domestic market demand has recovered to a growing stage in 2024, she said. China’s overall nonwovens output achieved a year-on-year increase of 5.1% to 8.56 million tons in 2024 (2023 output: 8.14 million tons), which has doubled compared with the output of 10 years ago.

Nonwoven wipes remain active in quality improvement, product innovation and application expansion in China. In addition to traditional wipes, toilet moist tissue, anti-fog glasses wipes and other wipes for special use continue to emerge, and wipes tend to be functional and diversified.

The wipes export value increased by 23.3% year on year to $930 million. The export volume grew by 40% to 661 thousand tons. Major export destinations include the US, Philippines, Australia, Thailand and Japan.