Chinese group Zhejian Aixiner Stockings to resume nylon yarn production at the former Nylstar factory

The Chinese business group Zhejian Aixiner Stockings will resume nylon yarn production at the former Nylstar factory in Blanes (Girona, Catalonia). The production plant, which entered insolvency proceedings in 2023, will thus recover its traditional industrial activity as a supplier for the textile sector. The factory will initially employ 35 workers, most of whom previously worked at Nylstar.

The project to relaunch textile sector production by Zhejian Aixiner Stockings in Blanes has been supported by ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment, the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Ministry for Business and Labour, as well as by the Directorate-General for Industry.

The Chinese group produces high-quality stockings and socks, mainly for the Chinese market. Its production had traditionally relied on Nylstar’s hyaluronic nylon yarns. "As a former client and great admirer of Nylstar, Aixiner understood that losing the brand meant losing the origin of quality in the global luxury hosiery industry," said Jian Yuan Ping, CEO of the group. "This operation, therefore, represents a cultural and historical responsibility toward preserving European know-how", he added.

According to Jian Yuan Ping, Zhejian Aixiner Stockings intends "to modernize industrial processes with advanced technology and to drive sustainability". He also highlighted "the company’s commitment to promoting local employment and strengthening the international supply chain for high-end nylon yarns".

With its base in the Chinese city of Zhejian, its Blanes factory will be the group’s first production site outside China, where all its current manufacturing operations are located. The Nylstar production plant in Blanes was founded in 1922 to manufacture high-quality nylon yarns for leading international brands.

In 2023, Nylstar entered insolvency proceedings and ceased production. The reindustrialization project emerged after the group ACIN Actividades Industriales Costa Brava took over the Nylstar facilities as part of the reindustrialization task force promoted by the Directorate-General for Industry and the insolvency process. ACIN, which specializes in waste management and recovery, continues to develop a project for the remaining Blanes facilities that is compatible with maintaining textile production.