The Second Meeting of the Ninth Council of the Hunan Provincial Mould Association Was Successfully Held at SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE

On January 30, the Second Session of the Ninth Council of the Hunan Provincial Mould Association was held in SUNRISE The conference was held smoothly. All members of the association’s board of directors and representatives from member units gathered to review the achievements of 2025, discuss and plan the key tasks for 2026, and jointly explore the path for high-quality development of the province’s mould industry. As the president unit of the association, SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE took charge of the overall coordination of conference preparation and service support, ensuring that the meeting progressed in a pragmatic and efficient manner.

I. Summarizing the Past to Clarify the Future: Chairman Zhu Xiaoyong Presents the 2025 Annual Report

At the meeting, Zhu Xiaoyong, President of the Association and Chairman of SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE, delivered the 2025 Work Report on behalf of the Association, systematically reviewing the year’s work, objectively analyzing the existing shortcomings, and outlining the work plan for 2026.

1. Significant achievements in 2025

The report notes that in 2025 the association closely aligned its work with the core mission of “promoting reform, innovation, and development in the industry,” earnestly upheld the guiding principle of “providing three types of services,” and achieved positive progress in all areas of its activities: First, Strengthen the bridging role by establishing efficient communication channels among government, industry, and enterprises, thereby facilitating the integration of our province’s mold industry into the development of a leading hub for advanced manufacturing. Second, The association has expanded its membership base by precisely recruiting eight enterprises throughout the year, including Xiangtan Yifeng Foundry & Engineering and Hunan Jiangxin Intelligent Technology, further optimizing its membership structure to cover niche segments such as formwork and scaffolding manufacturing, intelligent equipment, and injection molding processing, thereby continuously enhancing its industry representation. Third is Strengthening the service foundation, the association completed the relocation of its office and the upgrade of its digital platform, delivering over 100 pieces of content throughout the year, including policy interpretations and supply-demand matching services. At the same time, it promoted the digital and intelligent transformation of member enterprises, such as SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE’s successful localization of CAD design software and its winning of the 8th Hunan Provincial Governor’s Quality Award, setting a benchmark for the industry.

2. Key Tasks for 2026 Clarified

With regard to the work for 2026, the report outlines five key priorities: One Yes Optimize membership services by planning to onboard more than 10 new organizational members and implementing tailored, “one enterprise, one policy” support measures to effectively address the key challenges facing business development. Second, Strengthen industrial collaboration by taking the lead in developing one to two industry group standards for the mold sector; in the first half of the year, jointly organize the Hunan Provincial Mold Industry Development Conference with multiple associations to promote the integration of resources across the upstream and downstream segments of the industrial chain. Third is Expand development opportunities and organize enterprises to participate in DMC2026. China International Mould Technology and Equipment Exhibition , organize an “Overseas Market Study Tour” to help enterprises connect with international resources; Fourth is Strengthen the talent base by collaborating with universities and vocational colleges to explore innovative talent-development partnerships, thereby alleviating the shortage of skilled professionals in the industry. Fifth is Strengthen internal capacity building, continuously refine systems and processes, and enhance the association’s standardized and professional service delivery.

II. Exchange and Discussion to Build Consensus: Jointly Exploring the Key Pathways for Industrial Development

Following the review of the annual work report, the delegates engaged in in-depth discussions on the pain points and challenges facing the development of the mold industry in our province, exchanging views and consolidating ideas on a range of issues:

1. Focus on “industrial agglomeration” and recommend accelerating the development of specialized mold industry parks.

Delegates generally agree that mold enterprises in our province are currently scattered across various locations, resulting in insufficient coordination along the industry chain and high costs in areas such as component procurement and technical collaboration. They recommend that the association take the lead in coordinating with relevant provincial and municipal authorities to promote the planning and development of a provincial-level specialized mold industrial park. This park would attract enterprises from niche segments—including casting production, component machining, mold design, and injection molding—to cluster within the same site, thereby achieving “resource sharing” through “physical agglomeration.” Such an approach would not only shorten the lead time for matching supply with demand but also enable the integrated and shared use of capital-intensive resources such as testing equipment and R&D platforms, gradually fostering a competitive industrial cluster.

2. Closely focus on “technological self-reliance” and promote the domestic substitution of design software.

Drawing on SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE’s previous experience in implementing domestic substitution for CAD design software, the delegates focused their discussion on the “bottleneck” issue surrounding mold design software. They noted that foreign design software not only entails high procurement costs but also poses risks such as data security concerns and delayed service response. SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE’s transformation initiative has provided a referenceable pathway for the industry. It was suggested that the association should subsequently collect and compile case studies of domestic software adaptation and solutions to technical challenges, organize specialized exchange activities, help more enterprises lower the barriers to digital transformation, and promote gradual self-reliance and controllability of design software among member companies.

3. Focusing on the “talent dilemma” and sparking heated debate over the challenges of talent development and retention

During the exchange, talent development emerged as a central concern among the delegates. Participants unanimously noted that cultivating skilled personnel in the mold industry is a lengthy process, typically requiring 5 to 8 years before an individual can independently assume core roles; for certain positions involving critical technologies, even more than a decade of experience may be necessary. At the same time, major OEMs and large manufacturing firms are aggressively recruiting talent by offering higher compensation and broader career opportunities, leading to severe talent drain at small and medium-sized mold enterprises. As one delegate put it: “Our company once invested 12 years in training a core mold design engineer from the apprentice level, only to see that engineer poached by an out-of-town OEM with a lucrative offer. Not only was our initial investment wasted, but the project’s timeline was also adversely affected.” Although all delegates recognized the urgency of the talent issue, the complexity of factors—including institutional collaboration mechanisms, the cost of retaining talent, and industry-wide salary benchmarks—prevented the formulation of a unified solution at the meeting. Moving forward, the association will take the lead in conducting a targeted research study to explore viable pathways for addressing this challenge.

III. Steadfast in Our Duties and Courageous in Taking Responsibility: SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE Supports Collaborative Development of the Industry

As the president unit of the association, SUNRISE AUTO MOULD&DIE will actively implement the spirit of this meeting, work with the association to advance key tasks such as the survey of the mould industry park, the sharing of experience in domestic software, and the special research on talent issues, join hands with all member units to pool industrial strengths, and contribute to building our province into a major national base for advanced manufacturing and promoting the mould industry to a higher level.