One out of every five sweaters in the world comes from Dalang, Dongguan. Behind this statistic lies an industrial ecosystem with annual transaction volume exceeding 72 billion yuan and annual garment output surpassing 900 million pieces. On June 24, the 95th International Wool Textile Conference opened here, and Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, delivered a speech that went beyond numbers to highlight a deeper shift: the growth engine of China's textile industry is transitioning from scale expansion to smart and experience-driven models.
Data Divergence and Resilience
From January to April 2025, revenue of textile enterprises above designated size fell 0.3% year-on-year, but total profit surged 19.3%, with a profit margin of 2.9%. This 'revenue down, profit up' divergence indicates that the industry is no longer relying on volume but on efficiency and added value. During the same period, retail sales of garments, shoes, hats, and knitwear by units above designated size totaled 512.13 billion yuan, up 8.1% year-on-year and expanding 5 percentage points from the previous year, showing active consumption.
On the foreign trade front, a 'textiles strong, garments weak' pattern emerged. From January to May, textile exports reached $59.48 billion, up 1.7%, while garment exports fell 1.6% to $57.24 billion. This reflects the resilience of intermediate fabric exports and the continued shift of final garment orders to Southeast Asia. Fixed asset investment also diverged: investment in the textile sector rose 10.8%, while that in garments and chemical fibers fell 10.3% and 14.5% respectively, indicating capital concentration in upstream weaving and dyeing.
Smart Economy's Industrial Landing
Sun Ruizhe explicitly proposed 'adapting to the development paradigm of the smart economy.' The global AI market reached $757.58 billion in 2025 and is expected to exceed $900 billion by 2026. This wave is reshaping every aspect of the textile industry. Jiangsu Yueda Textile's 'lighthouse factory' is a typical case: through smart manufacturing, labor per 10,000 spindles decreased by about 70%, total labor productivity increased fourfold, unit energy consumption dropped 15%, and processing costs fell 26%.
After introducing AI-assisted design, Semir Group improved overall design and R&D efficiency by 35%, with pattern design efficiency increasing over 200%. Bosideng reduced sample development costs by more than 60% using its 'AI aesthetic brain.' These figures show that AI is no longer a concept but a real cost-saving and efficiency-boosting tool. More notably, AI agents are spawning 'digital employees' and 'one-person companies.' In the first half of 2025, the number of newly registered individual businesses in China surged 47% year-on-year, and global humanoid robot shipments grew about 508%. This means future competition in textiles will not be about factory scale but about organizational efficiency driven by computing power and algorithms.
Experience Economy's Consumption Reconstruction
Parallel to the smart economy is the rise of the experience economy. Consumers no longer just 'buy a sweater'; they 'wear a lifestyle.' Health, emotional connection, and self-expression have become core demands. Social media accelerates information generation and dissemination, and product discovery and purchase decisions are increasingly intelligent. Sun Ruizhe noted that the global consumer market is characterized by ecological reconstruction, human-centric return, and structural fragmentation.
The implication for the wool industry is direct: wool, as a natural fiber, inherently carries health and sustainability labels. But how to make consumers 'see' these values through digital technology? For example, blockchain traceability allows every sweater's origin and processing history to be checked, and AR try-ons make online shopping more immersive. The conference theme 'Smart Weaving the Future: Wool's Health and Digital Life' precisely responds to this trend.
Geopolitical Pressure and Industry Resilience
The IMF has downgraded its 2026 global growth forecast to 3.1%, amid uncertainties from geopolitical conflicts, energy volatility, and shipping disruptions. Facing external pressure, China's textile industry is adopting a strategy of 'seeking efficiency internally and synergy externally.' On one hand, it enhances manufacturing competitiveness through smartization; on the other, it deepens global supply chain engagement through cross-border M&A and multi-brand operations. Companies like Hengli, Weiqiao, Erdos, and Shenzhou International have upgraded their 'going global' model from simple capacity transfer to full-scale cooperation in technology, brands, and channels.
Sun Ruizhe emphasized that China's textile industry processes over 60 million tons of fiber annually and produces more than 70 billion garments, accounting for over 50% of global output. This scale advantage cannot be replaced in the short term, but future competitiveness will depend on converting scale into a 'smart + experience' composite advantage.