Summary of the 2011 Annual Meeting of All Directors of the Laundry and Dyeing Committee

On August 6, 2011, the "China Commercial Federation Laundry and Dyeing Professional Committee Senior Work Meeting and the 2011 Annual Laundry and Dyeing Committee Full Directors Meeting" was held in Beijing. More than 30 directors of the Laundry and Dyeing Committee and special guests attended the meeting. Relevant leaders including An Huimin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Commercial Federation, Wang Lianzhong, Director of the State-owned Assets Management Office of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and Song Guanglan, Director of the Association Office of the SASAC, attended the meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Pan Wei, Executive Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Laundry and Dyeing Committee. He first reported on the Secretariat's work of the Laundry and Dyeing Committee in 2011.

Director Wang Shuyuan delivered the report "Creating a New Situation in the Laundry and Dyeing Industry with the Spirit of Reform and Innovation." The report pointed out that after more than 20 years of rapid development, China's laundry and dyeing industry has flourished with a promising situation, prominently reflected in the continuous expansion of market scale and gradual improvement of service capabilities; overall level rising rapidly, with leading enterprises innovating and developing; industry standards becoming increasingly standardized, and market operation becoming healthier and more orderly; the structure of practitioners tending to be reasonable, and the quality of personnel continuously improving; association organizations continuously improving, becoming a strong driving force for industry development. However, it must also be recognized that during the rapid development process, long-accumulated contradictions and problems have become increasingly prominent. Therefore, it is necessary to establish and improve laws and standards to achieve standardized development; increase efforts in technological progress and transformation to promote energy saving and emission reduction; advance talent development strategies to improve the overall quality of practitioners; promote brand development strategies to cultivate industry brands; leverage the role of associations to strengthen industry self-discipline; enhance international exchanges and cooperation to promote brand enterprises to "go global"; innovate technology to enhance the vitality and dynamism of the laundry and dyeing industry.

At the meeting, Chen Youqing, Chairman of Jiangsu Sea Lion Machinery Group Co., Ltd., Feng Mei, Secretary-General of Shanghai Laundry Industry Association, Zhang Rongyao, Chairman of Beijing Rongchang Technology Service Co., Ltd., and Guo Jidong, Chairman of Beijing Riguang Fine Group Co., Ltd., respectively made brief key speeches. They reviewed past work and summarized their successful experiences, such as strong support from relevant leaders, departments, and industry associations, the concept of scientific development, advanced technical equipment, and firm social responsibility. They also pointed out current problems and confusions faced by the laundry and dyeing industry: First, increased enterprise costs and taxes have led to heavy burdens on enterprises, affecting the quality and level of laundry services. Second, there is a general shortage of technical personnel in the industry, causing difficulties in recruitment, which has become a bottleneck restricting the development of the laundry and dyeing industry. Third, the lack of unified management and industry standards has resulted in low operational levels and service quality, increasing laundry disputes that directly harm consumer interests and seriously affect the image of the entire laundry and dyeing industry. In response to these issues, the representatives proposed the following suggestions: First, actively respond to the national call for energy saving and emission reduction, increase efforts in technological progress and transformation, follow the path of green washing, and promote energy saving and emission reduction. Second, hope the association actively appeals to relevant government departments to reduce taxes and increase support to effectively reduce enterprise burdens. Third, the association should cooperate with the government and enterprises to run schools jointly, cultivate professional laundry talents, solve the problems of "difficulty in recruitment" and "labor shortage" in enterprises, and improve the overall level of practitioners on the basis of increasing the total talent supply in the laundry industry. Fourth, relevant national departments should formulate industry norms and suggest unified objective standards to reduce washing disputes and promote the healthy and orderly development of the laundry market. Fifth, strengthen unity and cooperation, create national laundry brands, and revitalize the national laundry industry.

During the free discussion session of the meeting, participants discussed the development trends of the laundry industry, current problems faced by laundry services and washing equipment industries, enterprise tax burdens, and suggestions for the future work of the association. Everyone spoke freely, and many attendees expressed that in response to the problems faced by the laundry industry, opportunities should be seized to enhance independent innovation capabilities, innovate laundry technology and service concepts, explore new ideas for industry development, strengthen unity and cooperation, revitalize national brands, and improve the overall level of China's laundry industry.

Director Wang Lianzhong fully affirmed the work done by the Laundry and Dyeing Committee in recent years during his speech, pointing out that the committee has made positive contributions to industry standardization, standard formulation, and skill competitions with the development concept of serving the industry, government, and enterprises, greatly promoting the development of the laundry and dyeing industry. In the future, the committee should further clarify development plans, guide and help enterprises achieve scientific development under national policy requirements, and fulfill social responsibilities; laundry enterprises should persist in continuous innovation, including process technology innovation, business model innovation, and transformation path innovation, improve independent innovation capabilities, continuously strengthen their own strength, and raise the overall level of the laundry and dyeing industry. Song Guanglan, Director of the Association Office of SASAC, expressed active support for the development of the laundry industry and the work of the Laundry and Dyeing Committee.

In his speech, Secretary An Huimin pointed out that laundry and dyeing is an industry with great development potential, which can do much in benefiting, facilitating, and serving the people, promoting domestic demand, and achieving social harmony. The development of the laundry and dyeing industry depends on the joint efforts of enterprises. Regarding current development, laundry enterprises should actively make development plans and strategic goals, seize opportunities, and enhance motivation. In the next five years, the commercial service industry will enter a golden period of development. Therefore: First, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional laundry industry, optimize industry structure, and comprehensively improve the service level and market competitiveness of the laundry industry. Second, eliminate backward washing equipment with high energy consumption, low technological content, and non-compliance with environmental standards, vigorously advocate environmentally friendly washing equipment with a high degree of automation, gradually increase the share of e-commerce, and significantly improve informatization. Third, continuously extend chain-operated convenient laundry stores to residential areas and communities to make washing of daily clothes more convenient. Fourth, actively explore effective ways of training practitioners, strengthen vocational skills training, improve the comprehensive quality of practitioners, and enhance service quality and washing level. Fifth, effectively improve their own strength, seize development opportunities, expand service scope, and enhance innovation capabilities. Regarding the current heavy tax and burden on laundry enterprises, Secretary An said that the chamber of commerce is conducting extensive research and actively advising relevant national departments to appropriately reduce taxes and effectively reduce enterprise burdens.

Everyone unanimously felt that through the communication and discussion at this meeting, they learned a lot of information, gained much experience, and strengthened their confidence in the development of the industry.