2023, The 2023 International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) Shaoxing Keqiao Conference in China was successfully held from November 4th to 6th. Nearly a thousand representatives from textile industry organizations, enterprises from over 60 countries and regions, domestic experts, large enterprises and institutions, and government representatives from textile industry clusters attended the grand event.

As an important part of this conference, the International Textile Federation presented a series of important annual awards on November 6. The Sustainable Trade Terms Initiative (STTI), initiated by the China National Textile And Apparel Council and joined by 15 industry organizations from 11 countries, won the International Textile Federation International Cooperation Award in 2023. Sun Ruizhe, President of the International Textile Federation and the China National Textile And Apparel Council, Juan Par é s, Vice Chairman of the International Textile Federation and Chairman of the Jury, and Christian Schindler, Secretary General of the International Textile Federation, presented awards to the winners. Yan Yan, Director of the Social Responsibility Office of the China Textile Federation, represented STTI to receive the award.

Director Yan Yan thanked all parties, including the International Textile Federation, for their strong support of STTI in her acceptance speech. She stated that STTI aims to improve procurement practices in the clothing industry. The importance and uniqueness of STTI lie in the fact that this is the first time that global clothing and textile manufacturers have taken the initiative to drive change and create improvement across the entire industry and globally.

For a long time, poor procurement practices have made it difficult for manufacturers to create sustainable businesses and have also hindered the creation of better working conditions and environments. STTI was founded by some association members of the STAR Network and the International Apparel Federation (IAF) in 2021. In September 2021, STTI released the White Paper on the Definition and Application of Business Compliance, introducing the concept of business compliance to the industry and defining it as "procurement behavior that does not cause significant and unavoidable harm to manufacturers.". At present, this concept has become the baseline standard and shared understanding for promoting sustainable procurement practices in the global textile and clothing industry. It has also defined the most urgent procurement practices that manufacturers around the world want to see improved. STTI is currently in its third phase, which focuses on introducing better contracts and collaborating with brands, retailers, and representative groups to carry out pilot projects to improve procurement practices. It is committed to establishing a uniquel appeal mechanism for bad procurement behavior.

The International Cooperation Award of the International Textile Federation was first presented in 2022. It aims to recognize the progress made in international cooperation in the textile industry based on the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainble Development as a value judgment. It is awarded to companies/organizations or individuals who have significantly improved the textile manufacturing industry through international cooperation.