Producing 900 million sweaters annually, with one in five sweaters worldwide coming from its workshops, Dongguan's Dalang—a knitting cluster with a GDP of 47.37 billion RMB—is now playing a new card: integrating intangible cultural heritage (ICH) with manufacturing. On June 24, the 10th Textile ICH Conference, the 23rd China (Dalang) Knitting Products Fair, and the 95th International Wool Textile Organization Congress kicked off simultaneously. The triple-event convergence signals a critical shift: as manufacturing scale hits a ceiling, cultural empowerment is becoming a new growth variable.
Industrial Foundation and Transformation Pressure
Dalang's manufacturing capability is undisputed. Behind its 47.37-billion-RMB GDP lies dense knitting machinery, a mature supply chain, and a vast export network. Yet the global wool textile industry is undergoing systemic change: consumers increasingly demand health, self-expression, and emotional connection, making pure cost competitiveness unsustainable. Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), noted at the venue that enterprises must convert technological innovation into product experience and cultural resources into brand value. This means Dalang's manufacturing edge must be overlaid with cultural depth to maintain pricing power in international markets.
Pathways for Cultural Empowerment
The most significant change at this conference was the shift from "displaying ICH" to "using ICH to transform manufacturing." The signing of the Textile ICH Standard and Certification Agreement, jointly promoted by the CNTAC ICH Office and CTC Beijing (Dongguan), marks the beginning of quantifiable industry standards for ICH products. For buyers, this is directly impactful: concepts like "hand embroidery" and "plant dyeing" were previously difficult to standardize, leading to inconsistent quality. With certification, ICH-element products will enjoy more stable quality control and traceability.
Another agreement, the Textile ICH and Knitting Product Innovation and Development Strategic Cooperation, is more operational. Signatories include the Dalang town government, local enterprises like Impression Prairie, Tongfa Knitting, Xinhongfeng Apparel, and Lanmei Textile, as well as China's Top Ten Fashion Designer Wang Dong and ICH inheritor Wan Gongxue. This "government + enterprise + designer + inheritor" quadruple collaboration aims to open the entire chain from ICH pattern extraction, original design, industrial production to market launch. For example, the unicorn pattern used in the fashion show was authorized by Wan Gongxue as a patented design, directly transformed into a design symbol for knitted products rather than remaining a display item.
Transmission Effects on the Supply Chain
- For upstream yarn suppliers: ICH techniques like plant dyeing and hand embroidery impose stricter requirements on yarn material and dyeing stability, potentially driving demand for differentiated yarn categories.
- For mid-stream factories: Batch production of ICH elements requires adjustments to knitting processes and quality inspection workflows. The standardization certification system means factories must invest in quality control upgrades.
- For downstream brands and buyers: "Wearable cultural assets"—knitted products with ICH certification—may command higher premiums in markets like Europe, the US, Japan, and South Korea, especially among consumers who value sustainability and craftsmanship.