Brand building is evolving from a corporate individual effort to a national strategy. The 'Textile and Apparel Excellent Brand Cultivation Action Plan (2026-2028)', jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments, has for the first time set a clear quantitative target for brand cultivation in the textile and apparel industry: cultivate at least 25 excellent brands in three years. This number implies that industry resources will be concentrated on brands with real potential, rather than merely pursuing quantitative expansion.
Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, pointed out in his interpretation that the textile and apparel industry is currently undergoing a transformation from 'scale leadership' to 'value leadership.' In the past decades, China's textile industry has dominated the global market with manufacturing scale and cost advantages, but the lack of brand premium capacity has become increasingly prominent. The core logic of this plan is to convert manufacturing heritage, cultural resources, and market space into brand competitiveness through systematic institutional design and resource integration.
Policy Implementation Path: Six Measures to Build a Brand Ecosystem
The implementation of the plan is not just a document but has a clear execution framework. Sun Ruizhe introduced six key tasks that the China National Textile and Apparel Council will focus on, covering the entire life cycle of brand cultivation. First, establish a mechanism for brand entry into a cultivation pool, forming a tiered and dynamically managed brand incubation system. This means brands will no longer operate in isolation but enter a 'cultivation pool' for continuous support.
Second, carry out brand diagnosis services, with professional forces 'taking the pulse' of enterprises. This measure directly addresses industry pain points: many small and medium-sized enterprises have manufacturing capabilities but lack brand strategies. Diagnosis services can help them identify weaknesses and avoid blind investment. Meanwhile, the promotion of brand story collection and the establishment of public service platforms will integrate scattered design, technology, and channel resources, lowering the threshold for brand growth.
The deep integration of cultural tourism activities with brand consumption is an innovative point worth noting. By bringing brands into consumer scenarios, emotional connections can be established through immersive experiences, which hold greater long-term value than traditional advertising. Finally, the construction of a brand talent cultivation system aims to solve the long-standing talent gap in the industry where 'manufacturing is understood but branding is not.'
From Experience to Science: Indicator System Reshapes Brand Measurement Standards
The plan explicitly proposes to simultaneously conduct research on evaluation indicator systems, which may be the most impactful long-term measure. In the past, brand value assessment often relied on market reputation or third-party rankings, with inconsistent standards and strong subjectivity. The new indicator system will drive brand building from empirical judgment to scientific measurement, making 'excellence' quantifiable and traceable.
For buyers and foreign trade enterprises, this change means a significant increase in transparency for brand selection. For example, fabric buyers can quickly identify suppliers with outstanding performance in technological innovation, environmental protection, and cultural heritage through unified brand evaluation indicators, reducing transaction costs. For foreign trade enterprises, brands that meet the indicator system requirements are more likely to gain trust from international buyers, especially against the backdrop of increasingly stringent supply chain sustainability requirements in European and American markets.
Industry Impact: Resources Concentrate on Top Brands, SMEs Need to Find Their Niche
The implementation of the plan will accelerate the concentration of industry resources on top brands. Although the target of 25 excellent brands is limited in number, it will create a demonstration effect, driving brand awareness upgrades across the entire industry chain. For small and medium-sized textile enterprises, this means they must reassess their positioning: either become suppliers to excellent brands or take a differentiated path to build specialized and new brands in niche areas.
At the same time, the plan's emphasis on 'quality first, selecting the best among the strong' will force companies to increase investment in technology research and green production. Sun Ruizhe specifically mentioned in his interpretation that the growth of excellent brands requires technological innovation to solidify quality foundations, Eastern aesthetics to enrich cultural heritage, and responsible development to enhance brand warmth. These three points essentially outline three paths for corporate brand building: technology-driven, culture-driven, and responsibility-driven.