Annual transactions exceeding 20 billion yuan, tens of thousands of business entities, and products sold worldwide—these figures outline the scale of Honghe's knitwear industry in Jiaxing. Yet they don't fully explain why this cluster is repeatedly cited as a transformation model amid pressure on specialized markets nationwide. The launch of the 2026 Honghe Knitwear Season and the official operation of the Honghe Integrated Domestic-Foreign Trade Service Center deserve attention not for the event itself, but for a concrete upgrade path combining airport proximity and digital services that is moving from blueprint to operation.
From Trading Hub to Full-Chain Service Complex
With over five decades of history, Honghe's knitwear industry traditionally competed on speed and variety—quick style changes and broad category coverage. However, most businesses relied on low-price volume with limited added value. The newly launched service center, located on the third floor of Zhongchuang Market with roughly 4,000 square meters, signals a clear strategic shift: no longer just a physical space for matchmaking, but an integrated carrier for R&D, quality inspection, customs declaration, logistics, tax, and intellectual property services.
The trade section is divided into zones for Japan-Korea, Middle East, South America, and Russia-Europe-Central Asia, reflecting a shift from "what we produce" to "what you need." Traditionally, Honghe enterprises organized production according to domestic seasons and styles. Now, facing overseas preferences in sizing, colors, and patterns, they must achieve more precise supply-demand matching. For buyers, this zoning reduces time spent on factory visits and selection. For local factories, it forces the development of rapid response capabilities for overseas markets.
The Airport Economy as a Game Changer
The operation of international cargo routes at Jiaxing Nanhu Airport and the accelerated construction of the Airport New City provide crucial support for Honghe's strategic upgrade. Knitwear is highly seasonal, and delivery lead times directly determine order success. Airport proximity makes "small-batch, quick-response" production feasible—aftermarket orders can be shipped by air within days, which is hard to achieve with traditional ocean freight.
The synergy between the industrial cluster and the airport is reshaping the fulfillment logic of foreign trade orders. Previously, exports relied on ports in Shanghai or Ningbo. Now, local cargo routes reduce transit time and overall logistics costs. For cross-border e-commerce sellers, Honghe can serve as a pre-warehouse or flexible supply chain base, enabling rapid replenishment based on sales data and reducing inventory risk. The airport economy essentially redefines "time cost," a critical variable in the fashion industry.
From Selling Products to Selling Brands
The new center includes a dedicated brand section and IP guidance station, with an early warning mechanism for overseas IP risks. This detail deserves attention. In the past, Honghe enterprises often faced trademark squatting or design infringement when going abroad. Now, with a regional public brand and unified IP strategy, small and medium enterprises gain a protective shield. Meanwhile, the incubation section offers tiered development paths for individual workshops, small businesses, and larger enterprises, acknowledging differences in capacity and guiding gradual digital transformation and global expansion.
Industry experts' observation that specialized markets are evolving from single trading venues into full-chain service complexes—where the logic shifts from "produce, distribute, consume" to "consumer demand guiding upstream production"—highlights the broader significance of Honghe's experiment. If this "reverse customization" model works, it could be replicated in other textile and apparel clusters. However, hardware installation is just the first step. The key lies in whether the center can continuously attract professional service resources and truly engage SMEs.
Implications for Buyers and Exporters
Honghe's model essentially attempts to overlay modern service functions onto a traditional industrial belt, using regional branding and public services to lower barriers for enterprises to go global. For buyers, this means lower-cost access to compliance, quality inspection, and logistics resources, especially suitable for small-to-medium, high-frequency cross-border orders. For exporters, the combination of airport logistics and overseas exhibition zones may shorten the cycle from sampling to shelf, but it also demands stronger data analytics and rapid response capabilities.
For Buyers - Use the overseas market zones to select products by regional demand, reducing blind price comparisons. - Leverage the R&D center and third-party inspection for quality control and design reference. - Consider small trial orders using air freight to test market response before scaling.
For Exporters - Tap into the one-stop customs, logistics, and tax services to reduce overhead. - Utilize the regional public brand and IP warning mechanism to avoid infringement risks. - Explore "small-batch, quick-response" models to serve cross-border e-commerce replenishment.
The launch of the Honghe Knitwear Season offers a window into the transformation of textile clusters. Results will take time to verify, but the direction is clear: when cost advantages fade, the next round of competition will hinge on service integration and responsiveness to market shifts.