One out of every five sweaters in the world is made in Dalang. This wool-knitting town in Dongguan produces over 900 million garments annually, with a total industrial chain transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan. As the 95th International Wool Textile Conference convenes here, these numbers reveal more than just cluster power—they underscore the urgency for China's textile industry to shift from 'scale dividends' to 'paradigm dividends' in the global supply chain.
Industry Foundation: Structural Pressures Beneath Scale Advantages
China's textile industry retains a solid foundation. Annual fiber processing exceeds 60 million tons, and annual garment production surpasses 70 billion pieces—both accounting for over half of global totals. Exports have remained above $300 billion for six consecutive years, with intermediate products like chemical fibers and fabrics providing key support to global supply chains. From January to May 2025, total textile and apparel exports reached $116.73 billion, up 0.1% year-on-year, with textile exports alone at $59.48 billion, up 1.7%, demonstrating resilience in intermediate goods.
However, profit structures are diverging. From January to April 2025, revenue of above-scale enterprises fell 0.3% year-on-year, but total profits surged 19.3%, pushing the operating profit margin to 2.9%. This suggests a brutal shakeout—high-efficiency, high-value-added enterprises are squeezing out low-end capacity. Meanwhile, retail sales of garments, footwear, and knitwear totaled 512.13 billion yuan, up 8.1%, indicating consumer recovery. But investment diverged sharply: fixed-asset investment in textiles grew 10.8%, while apparel and chemical fibers fell 10.3% and 14.5%, respectively. Capital is fleeing terminal manufacturing and upstream raw materials, concentrating on intermediate goods.
Intelligent Impact: From 'Lighthouse Factories' to 'Digital Employees'
The IMF has downgraded 2026 global growth to 3.1%, with geopolitical conflicts and energy volatility amplifying uncertainty. In this context, AI has become a key variable for the wool industry. The global AI market reached $757.58 billion in 2025, up 18.7%, projected to exceed $900 billion by 2026. The intelligent economy is moving from concept to industrial infrastructure.
Quantified results are already visible in textiles. Yueda Textile's 'Lighthouse Factory' reduced labor per 10,000 spindles by 70%, boosted total labor productivity by over four times, cut energy consumption by 15%, and lowered processing costs by 26%. Semir's AI-assisted design system improved design efficiency by 35% and pattern design efficiency by over 200%. Bosideng's 'AI Aesthetic Brain' reduced sample development costs by over 60%. These figures indicate that the ROI of intelligent transformation is shifting from 'optional' to 'mandatory.'
More profound changes are in organizational form. IDC predicts billions of AI Agents will enter the workforce by 2030. Global humanoid robot shipments grew 508% in 2025. For the wool industry, this means the entire process—from raw material sorting, spinning, weaving to finishing—will undergo human-machine collaboration restructuring. Enterprise cost structures will shift from 'labor plus equipment' to 'computing plus energy.' By 2030, global data center electricity demand will rise 175% from 2023, posing new green constraints for the already energy-sensitive textile sector.
Experience Economy: A New Narrative for Wool—'Health and Digital'
The conference theme—'Intelligent Weaving the Future, Wool's Health and Digital Life'—precisely captures consumer shifts. Global consumption is characterized by ecological restructuring, human-centric return, and structural divergence. Consumers demand products with health attributes, emotional connection, and digital interactive experiences, beyond basic warmth. Social media accelerates information dissemination, making product discovery and decision-making increasingly intelligent.
For the wool industry, brand building must upgrade from 'origin stories' to a dual-drive of 'technology plus culture.' Companies like Anta and SHEIN have entered global brand rankings, while Hengli, Weiqiao, Erdos, and Shenzhou International deepen global cooperation through cross-border acquisitions. More noteworthy is how SMEs leverage digital tools to reach niche markets. The rise of one-person companies and 'handcraft economy'—with new individual businesses in China up 47% in the first half of 2025—indicates that personalized, small-batch production is dismantling traditional mass-manufacturing logic.