When one out of every five sweaters in the world comes from a single town, that town is no longer just a production unit but a prism reflecting industry trends. On June 24, the 95th International Wool Textile Congress convened in Dalang, Dongguan, and the data and insights it revealed have drawn a clear roadmap for the wool industry's next steps.
Concentration of Capacity and the Logic Behind the Numbers
The congress disclosed that Dalang produces over 900 million garments annually, with the entire industrial chain's annual transaction volume exceeding 72 billion yuan. This scale is no accident; it is a typical example of the globalization and cluster effects of China's textile industry. Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, noted that China processes over 60 million tons of fiber annually and produces over 70 billion garments, accounting for more than 50% of the global total. This means that no matter how global consumption trends shift, China's textile industry remains the bedrock of supply chain stability. For the wool segment, Dalang's concentration allows buyers to complete the entire chain from raw materials to finished garments in one location, shortening lead times and reducing logistics costs.
The Intelligent Economy: From Efficiency Tool to Industry Transformation
The congress theme, 'Smart Weaving the Future: Wool for Health and Digital Life,' is no mere slogan but a direct response to the depth of technological penetration. Sun emphasized that AI is reshaping the industry's innovation paradigm. For example, at Jiangsu Yueda Textile's 'Lighthouse Factory,' smart manufacturing has reduced the number of workers per 10,000 spindles by about 70%, increased total labor productivity by over four times, and cut unit energy consumption by 15%. These figures show that intelligence is no longer a luxury but a matter of cost and efficiency survival. For wool enterprises, from AI-assisted design to digital employees, technological investment is shifting from optional to mandatory. The global AI market reached $757.58 billion in 2025 and is expected to exceed $900 billion in 2026, with the deep coupling of computing power and data reshaping corporate comparative advantages.
The Experience Economy: New Battlefield for Health Consumption and Brand Premium
Consumers' pursuit of health, emotional connection, and self-expression is changing the value composition of wool products. Sun stressed that the global consumer market is characterized by ecological restructuring, a return to human-centric values, and structural differentiation. The natural properties of wool fibers perfectly align with the health consumption trend, but turning this attribute into a brand premium tests a company's ability to build a complete narrative from product to story. As a famous industrial town, Dalang's path to brand building is worth noting: Anta, SHEIN, and others have entered the world's top 500 brands, while more SMEs need to leap from OEM to own-brand through digital tools. Public industry data shows that R&D investment intensity among China's textile enterprises above a designated size has risen from 1% in 2020 to 1.3% in 2024, providing a technological foundation for brand upgrades.
Industry Impact: Constants and Variables in the Global Supply Chain
Despite the global economy showing slow growth and high-frequency fluctuations—the IMF has lowered its 2026 global growth forecast to 3.1%—the stable development of China's textile industry still provides certainty for the global supply chain. From January to April 2025, the total profits of enterprises above a designated size rose 19.3% year-on-year, with a revenue margin of 2.9%. However, investment data shows divergence: fixed asset investment in textiles grew 10.8%, while that in apparel and chemical fibers fell by 10.3% and 14.5%, respectively. This suggests that capital is flowing into smart transformation and upstream materials innovation rather than simple capacity expansion. For foreign trade companies, this means focusing more on export opportunities for intermediate goods (e.g., fabrics, chemical fibers) rather than solely on final garment orders.