One out of every five sweaters in the world comes from Dalang, Dongguan. This knitting powerhouse, with 30,000 market entities and 200,000 employees, recorded a total industrial transaction value of 72 billion yuan in 2025. On June 25, the 10th China Textile Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference was held here, themed 'Heritage Symbiosis, Weaving the Future.' This was no ordinary industry gathering; it was a clear signal from a manufacturing heavyweight seeking a new engine for growth from ancient cultural heritage.
As the scale-driven dividends of the knitting industry near their peak, Dalang's choice is clear: stop competing solely on volume and instead use millennia-old textile heritage as the 'cultural chip' for the next value leap. This collision is rewriting the old relationship between 'manufacturing' and 'culture' in the textile sector.
A Two-Way Flow Between Industrial Muscle and Cultural Soft Power
Dalang's industrial foundation is solid. Starting from a processing base in the 1980s to producing 900 million sweaters annually, its supply chain completeness and speed are globally rare. The real challenge is how to transform these 30,000 entities from piece-rate OEM to high-value models with cultural premiums and brand moats.
The conference's focus was precise: heritage is not decoration, but a solution. Deng Xiaoding, a senior official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, explicitly stated that promoting the living transmission and innovative transformation of textile heritage is a key path for cultivating new productive forces and building a modern industrial system. This elevates heritage to a strategic industry level, not just a cultural preservation issue.
The released '2025/2026 China Textile Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Report' reviews a decade of progress, but its key signal is that heritage is moving from 'being protected' to 'being used.' The concurrently launched 'Heritage·Origin' young designer support program aims to solve the talent gap, empowering youth to transform ancient crafts into contemporary consumer goods.
From 'Single Product' to 'Lifestyle': The Commercialization Path
During the salon on 'Commercialization Paths for Textile Heritage,' practitioner cases revealed the core logic. The practice of Ninghang Batik in Danzhai, Guizhou, shows that 'letting artisans keep the roots and letting marketeers open the door' is key. Local Dalang firms like Impression Prairie (high-end cashmere) and Tongmen Apparel (blending Chaoshan hand-hook craft with computerized knitting) prove that heritage transformation isn't about simply slapping on a label, but requires systematic innovation in materials, form, and production.
Professor Guo Ruiping from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology provided a design methodology: the key is multi-dimensional cognitive reshaping, tailored to local conditions, focusing on contemporariness, fashion, lifestyle, and industrialization. For buyers and factories, heritage is no longer a vague concept but a toolbox of specific design languages, craft standards, and marketing narratives.
A notable trend is that heritage products are evolving from 'a single garment' to 'a lifestyle.' From single items to scenario-based solutions, the development of heritage IPs, museum cultural products, and Douyin's successful commercialization of Zhuang brocade all prove that when heritage truly enters daily life, its commercial value is fully unlocked.