On June 24, the 23rd Knitting & Textile Fair, the 10th Intangible Heritage Conference, and the 95th International Wool Textile Conference opened simultaneously in Dalang for the first time. This is not a scheduling coincidence but a concentrated signal that the industry is shifting from pure manufacturing to a dual-engine model of smart manufacturing plus culture. Dalang’s wool-knit supply chain generates over 72 billion yuan annually, with one in five sweaters worldwide made here, making its moves a bellwether for the global wool industry.
Background
As China’s first "Wool Sweater Town," Dalang has built a complete ecosystem spanning yarn R&D, knitting machinery, garment design, and market sales after 40 years. The core highlight of the "tri-event" is resource aggregation: the International Wool Textile Conference released the Dalang Wool Industry Global Index as a pricing and trend reference; the Knitting & Textile Fair focused on AI sweater models and high-tech fabrics; the Intangible Heritage Conference explored the integration of traditional craftsmanship with industrialization. The three events are expected to attract over 30,000 visitors, with keynotes, fashion shows, and trade matchmaking scheduled over three days.
Notably, the fair was moved from its traditional November slot to June for the first time, aligning with summer sourcing and autumn/winter R&D cycles. For buyers, earlier access to new products means more time for selection and sampling.
Industry Impact
On the upstream side, functional yarns stole the spotlight. Local company Nanxi Apparel demonstrated nano-scale waterproof, oil-proof, and stain-repellent yarns, alongside cooling, UV-blocking, warming, and antibacterial variants. Dalang develops nearly 10,000 new yarn varieties annually and holds two-thirds of China’s fancy-yarn patents, creating a scale barrier that makes it a go-to sourcing hub for functional yarns.
Equipment upgrades are equally significant. The town’s 150,000 computerized knitting machines and nearly 10,000 seamless knitting machines have achieved full digital coverage of core processes. The design-to-delivery cycle has shrunk from 7-10 days to 2-3 days, with product quality rates exceeding 99%. Leading companies like Xinhongfeng have widely adopted seamless machines and AI design tools, enabling scalable, small-batch, quick-turnaround supply chains—a boon for cross-border e-commerce and DTC brands.
On the design front, the OPC knitwear design agent, powered by AI models, can generate styles, create patterns, and automatically decompose process parameters. The fair’s AI customization zone offered a "2-hour instant garment" service, supported by Dalang’s ERP big-data system that integrates order, production, warehouse, logistics, and sales data. This closed-loop digitalization is reshaping transaction efficiency in the traditional wool-knit industry.
The deep embedding of intangible heritage elements is another key theme. Top Chinese fashion designer Wang Dong collaborated with local leaders like Yinxiang Caoyuan, Tongfa, Xinhongfeng, and intangible heritage inheritor Wan Gongxue to create 36 original knitwear pieces centered on the Qilin pattern. The "Qilin Blue" and "Beast Crimson" color themes were presented across three chapters—morning life, urban commute, and evening gala—showing that heritage can be systematically commercialized. The combination of Borunte’s high-precision robotic arms with wool-knit lion heads demonstrated the interactive potential of "AI + heritage."