One out of every five sweaters in the world is produced in Dalang, Dongguan—an industrial cluster with annual transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan. On June 25, the 10th Textile Intangible Heritage Conference was held here, sending a clear signal: intangible heritage is no longer just a cultural symbol, but a new quality variable for the upgrading of the knitting industry.
Data Foundation: The Industrial Logic Behind 72 Billion Yuan
Dalang's knitting industry began in the 1980s, evolving from a processing base into a cluster with 30,000 market entities and over 200,000 employees. In 2025, the total industry chain transaction value reached 72 billion yuan, with annual sweater production of about 900 million pieces. This scale makes Dalang not only a production center but also a pricing anchor in the global knitting supply chain.
Combining intangible heritage with such an industrial base rapidly expands commercial transformation space. Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, pointed out that textile heritage is an important resource for enhancing industrial value and promoting common prosperity. Local companies like Yinxiang Prairie (high-end cashmere), Tongmen Apparel (integrating Chaoshan hand-hook craft with computerized knitting), and Zhouhong Apparel (deep integration of aesthetics and knitting) show that heritage is not a cost burden but a core source of differentiated premium.
Mechanism Innovation: From 'Living Heritage' to 'Systemic Innovation'
The conference released the "2025/2026 China Textile Intangible Heritage Development Report," summarizing ten years of achievements. More notably, Deng Xiaoding from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed four suggestions: preserving fundamentals, cultural empowerment, scenario innovation, and collaborative governance. 'Scenario innovation' points directly to the need for heritage products to enter consumption scenarios, not just display cabinets.
Sun Ruizhe further deconstructed innovation directions in his keynote: integrating into the service economy to find value models; integrating into the smart economy to reshape value ecosystems; integrating into the science and innovation economy to create value leverage. This means future heritage products must go beyond handcraft premiums, incorporating digital design, intelligent production, and platform-based marketing. Professor Guo Ruiping of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology also demonstrated this, transforming solar terms, indigo dyeing, and Tibetan elements into knitting products, emphasizing that heritage transformation must be 'contemporized, fashionable, livable, and industrialized.'
Commercial Transformation: From Single Product to Lifestyle
In the salon on 'Commercial Transformation Paths,' practitioners shared real-world experiences. Ning Manli, Chairman of Guizhou Danzhai Ninghang Batik, proposed 'let those who understand craftsmanship keep the roots, and those who understand the market open the door'—a logic redefining the roles of 'artisan' and 'merchant.' Tao Yanjie of Yinxiang Prairie discussed moving from single products to lifestyle systems.
Douyin's case was particularly illustrative: during this year's heritage styling campaign, Zhuang brocade achieved commercial conversion through short videos and live streaming. This shows that heritage communication has shifted from runways to social commerce, demanding faster supply chain response and design iteration. For a cluster like Dalang, known for mass production, balancing the 'small batch, high value' nature of heritage with scale will be the core challenge ahead.