One out of every five sweaters globally is made in Dalang, Dongguan, a wool town with an annual transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan. The 95th International Wool Congress held there sent a clear signal: China's textile industry is acting as a stabilizer in global market volatility through its systemic advantages.
Data Reveals Industrial Resilience
Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, disclosed key data at the congress: from January to April this year, profits of textile enterprises above designated size surged 19.3% year-on-year, while revenue only dipped 0.3%. This indicates significant profit recovery, with profit margins rising to 2.9%. Meanwhile, retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and knitwear from units above designated size reached 512.1 billion yuan, up 8.1% year-on-year, accelerating 5 percentage points from the previous year.
On the export front, structural resilience is evident. In the first five months, total textile and apparel exports hit $116.73 billion. Textile exports grew 1.7% to $59.48 billion, while apparel exports fell 1.6% to $57.24 billion. China has maintained annual textile exports above $300 billion for six consecutive years. The strong flow of intermediate goods like chemical fibers and fabrics provides stable raw material supply for downstream factories worldwide.
AI Rewrites the Competitive Rules
The congress theme "Smart Weaving the Future" is not just a slogan. Sun pointed out that AI is reshaping the industry on three levels. On the production side, smart manufacturing has delivered quantifiable efficiency gains: Jiangsu 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%. In R&D, AI-assisted design systems have increased Semir's overall design efficiency by 35% and pattern design efficiency by over 200%. Bosideng's "AI Aesthetic Brain" reduced sample development costs by over 60%.
Deeper change lies in the reorganization of the industrial ecosystem. Anonuo expanded from dye production to digital printing, AI design, and IP cultural products, creating a closed loop from "dye to ink to digital printing to AI design." This cross-sector integration is becoming a new paradigm: process parameters and production data are transformed into callable data assets, with AI agents embedded in design, manufacturing, and carbon reduction. The global AI market is expected to exceed $900 billion by 2026. Textile industry's smart transformation essentially deep-couples "computing power, data, and manufacturing," restructuring cost structures.
Experience Economy and Consumption Divergence
Global consumer markets are undergoing ecological restructuring. Consumers are increasingly segmented, with health, emotional connection, and self-expression becoming core demands. This challenges traditional mass production models, making flexible, fast-response, high-value-added supply chains a new necessity. Dalang, as a wool industry cluster with an annual output of over 900 million garments, can unlock greater value by integrating digital design and flexible manufacturing.
The Deep Logic of Brand Globalization
The internationalization of Chinese textile companies has evolved from simple capacity transfer to brand and ecosystem export. Companies like Hengli, Weiqiao, Erdos, and Shenzhou International have deeply embedded themselves in global supply chains through cross-border M&A, global layout, and multi-brand operations. Anta and SHEIN have entered the GYBrand World's Top 500 Brands, signaling rising global recognition of Chinese design and brands. This "going global" no longer relies on cheap labor but on technology, brand, and supply chain integration.