For every ten umbrellas sold in China, six use fabric made in Qiyang, Hunan. Behind this statistic lies a 1-billion-meter annual output driven by 4,800 high-speed water-jet looms at Dongjun Textile, and a county-level cluster that grew from nothing in just over a decade. Now that the outdoor economy has been written into the national 15th Five-Year Plan for expanding domestic demand, this inland county, known for umbrella fabric, is trying to convert its scale advantage into value advantage.
Scale base and structural weaknesses coexist
By 2025, Qiyang had gathered 159 textile enterprises, including 41 above-scale ones, achieving a total industrial output value of 8.094 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 17.94% of the city's industry. From 2023 to 2025, the industry's total output value grew at an average annual rate of about 11.5%. In terms of product categories, Qiyang has formed a strong supply capacity in umbrella fabric, bag fabric, tent fabric, and high-end elastic fabrics. The city has about 6,300 air-jet and water-jet looms, with an annual output of about 1 billion meters of umbrella fabric and about 300 million meters each of bag and tent fabric.
However, behind the scale, the structural pattern of "strong in the middle, weak at both ends" is clear. The upstream supply of nylon and other raw materials, as well as pre-weaving processing, is insufficient, restricting supply chain stability and cost control. Downstream, high-value-added outdoor end products such as down jackets and tents are scarce, meaning the bulk of profits still goes to brands and channels. The lag in auxiliary materials, public testing, industrial design, and brand channels further hinders the cluster's climb up the value chain.
Outdoor economy policy and location dividends
The national "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Domestic Demand and Promoting Consumption" lists the outdoor economy and sports consumption as key cultivation directions, bringing functional fabrics and scenario-based products into a policy dividend period. Qiyang's location advantages are also improving—it has integrated into the half-hour living circle of Yongzhou city center, the 1-hour economic circle of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan, and the 3-hour economic circle of the Pearl River Delta, and is about to enter the 1.5-hour economic circle of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The comprehensive factor cost is more than 10% lower than that of coastal textile hubs. Coupled with the first county-level customs service station in Yongzhou, an enterprise service center, and policies such as "move in with standard workshops" and flexible industrial land transfer, Qiyang has realistic competitiveness in undertaking industrial transfer from the coast.
Yan Yan, vice president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, speaking at the 2026 Qiyang Outdoor Sports Textile and Apparel Industry Promotion Event in Shanghai, suggested: strengthen the chain to achieve value leadership, innovate to activate new momentum, and integrate to expand development space. This means Qiyang should not just be a "supplier" of fabrics but extend to outdoor clothing and end equipment, and leverage local cultural tourism resources to deeply integrate textile manufacturing with event economy and outdoor consumption.
Leading enterprises and green accumulation
The story of Dongjun Textile is a microcosm of Qiyang's industrial upgrading. In 2012, it was a small grey fabric processing plant covering less than 100 mu and employing about 100 people. Today, it has built a complete industrial chain covering 16 processes from spinning, weaving, printing, dyeing to finishing, and has installed five DMF & toluene recovery towers, achieving near-zero emission of waste gas. Its umbrella fabric accounts for 60% of the domestic market and ranks among the top globally.
Beyond the leading enterprise, Qiyang has formed a clear enterprise echelon: Kaisheng Footwear produces 11 million pairs of NIKE sports shoes annually, Yian Sports holds a 33% global share of high-end helmets, and Shuofang Sports produces 10 million balls per year. Accumulated technologies such as water-free pigment printing, functional finishing, and composite processing provide a craft basis for the cluster to leap from "quantity" to "quality." This structure of "leading enterprises driving, SMEs supporting" is typical of national-level SME characteristic industrial clusters—Qiyang's functional fabric cluster was awarded this title in 2025, and Baishui Textile Town has become the only textile-themed industrial town in Hunan Province.
Policy evolution and the "1347" action framework
Qiyang's industrial policy has evolved in clear stages. During the initial phase (around 2020), the focus was on building nests to attract phoenixes, constructing standard workshops in batches, and implementing "park affairs handled in the park." In the growth phase (starting 2023), the "Three-Year Action Plan for the Development of Light Textile and Footwear Industry Clusters in Qiyang High-tech Zone (2023-2025)" was issued, establishing a chain-length system and industry alliances, coordinating sewage and reclaimed water facilities. In the upgrading phase (2025 onwards), the focus shifted to technological innovation and digital transformation, setting incentive clauses for exhibitions, foreign trade increments, and technical renovations, aligning with Hunan Province's "Smart Empowerment of Enterprises" action, and collaborating with Central South University to tackle outdoor functional fabric technologies.
The latest "1347" action framework anchors the overall goal of "building a nationally influential outdoor sports textile and apparel characteristic industrial cluster." For buyers, this means more outdoor end-product suppliers will emerge in Qiyang in the next three years. For factories, it implies that the thresholds for green dyeing and intelligent weaving will continue to rise.