One out of every five sweaters globally comes from Dalang, Dongguan. This woolen textile hub, with an annual garment output exceeding 900 million pieces and a full-industry-chain transaction volume surpassing 72 billion RMB, hosted the 95th IWTO Congress in late June. The key signal from the congress is clear: the rules of competition in the wool industry are being rewritten—green transformation is no longer an option but a prerequisite determining the landscape of supply chains for the next decade.
The Anchor of Global Consensus
The core achievement of this congress was the global launch of the IWTO Green Paper on wool. Positioned as a critical lever for industrial transformation, its release reflects the industry's anxiety over losing data sovereignty. Existing public data is accused of deliberately exaggerating wool's negative environmental impact, leading to misperceptions among younger urban consumers about natural fibers. The Green Paper marks an industry shift from passive response to proactive narrative-building, aiming to provide verifiable evidence of wool's low-carbon and circular advantages through a unified traceability data system across the entire supply chain.
For buyers, this means carbon footprint data will gradually replace traditional price indicators as the entry threshold for supplier selection. The Dalang town party secretary's emphasis on 'intelligent, green, and brand-oriented transformation' aligns with the Green Paper's advocacy for standard-setting, creating a closed loop from production base to market.
The Resilience Logic of Industrial Clusters
Dalang's woolen textile industry, developed over forty years and exporting to over a hundred countries, demonstrates remarkable resilience amid rising trade protectionism. The president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council noted in his keynote that China possesses the world's largest wool processing capacity, importing large volumes of raw wool and exporting finished products. Dalang's complete ecosystem—from raw material processing and product design to manufacturing and commercial circulation—forms an irreplaceable industrial moat.
Notably, the congress featured a dedicated segment for young wool professionals, where dozens of representatives from different countries shared their backgrounds. This design sends a clear signal: global wool collaboration relies not only on existing corporate networks but also on building intergenerational knowledge transfer and personal connections. For foreign trade enterprises, engaging with such youth networks means securing collaboration resources for the next five to ten years in advance.
Green Standards and Market Access Linkage
The representative from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed four directions: joint standard-setting, innovation-driven growth, green foundation, and open pathways. These four points follow a coherent logic—standards form the industry language, innovation is the engine of transformation, green credentials prove value, and openness is a prerequisite for survival.
Future steps for the Green Paper include customizing carbon footprint accounting standards for different production regions, establishing durability standards for wool, and building an alliance for natural fibers. These actions will directly impact export compliance costs. Currently, only a few enterprises participate in the Green Paper projects, and the industry urgently needs a unified voice and resource investment. For Dalang and other Chinese wool clusters, proactively aligning with these standards will help circumvent future green trade barriers in markets like the EU.
A New Supply Chain Narrative from the Plateau to the World
During the congress's thematic sessions, a Tibetan company presented its 'platform + workshop + school' model, leveraging highland yak down and local wool resources while balancing intangible cultural heritage preservation with sustainable supply chain development. This case demonstrates that green transformation is not limited to carbon reduction in large factories. Niche, high-value-added natural fiber supply chains can also gain international market premiums through traceability and cultural storytelling.
The FAO representative emphasized in a video address that behind every strand of wool fiber lies a farming family caring for livestock and land. This perspective, uniting producers, industry leaders, and government bodies, is becoming the new value proposition of the global wool industry.
Industry Impact and Practical Pathways
Based on information from the congress, three significant changes are expected in the wool industry over the next three years: first, carbon footprint accounting will shift from voluntary reporting to quasi-mandatory requirements; second, competition among industrial clusters will move from cost comparison to the ability to align with standard systems; third, youth talent networks will become new infrastructure for cross-border cooperation.