One in every five sweaters worldwide is produced in Dalang Town, Dongguan. This wool knitting hub, with annual transaction volume exceeding 72 billion yuan, recently hosted the 95th International Wool Textile Conference, showcasing China's textile industry transition from scale-driven to digital-driven growth.
Industrial Coordinates: Scale and Resilience of the Dalang Model
Dalang's industrial data carries strong signal significance. The town produces over 900 million garments annually, with a full-industry-chain transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan. Behind these figures lies a highly concentrated manufacturing system and a well-developed supply chain. More notably, Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, disclosed at the conference that China's annual fiber processing volume exceeds 60 million tons, and annual garment production exceeds 70 billion pieces, accounting for over 50% of global totals. For six consecutive years, China's textile exports have exceeded $300 billion, with strong exports of intermediate goods like chemical fibers and fabrics providing fundamental support for global supply chain stability.
These numbers mean that despite rising trade frictions and geopolitical volatility, China's textile industry has not experienced the feared 'decentralization' decline. Instead, it continues to provide stability through scale and systemic advantages. Dalang's wool knitting cluster is a microcosm of this logic—it is not just a production base but a ballast for the global wool supply chain.
Technology Variable: How AI and Smart Manufacturing Rewrite Cost Structures
The conference theme 'Smart Knitting Future: Wool Health and Digital Life' directly targets the core industry variable. Case studies presented at the event show that AI's penetration into the wool industry has moved from concept to tangible cost reduction and efficiency gains. Jiangsu Yueda Textile's 'Lighthouse Factory' reduced labor per 10,000 spindles by 70%, increased total labor productivity by over 400%, cut unit energy consumption by 15%, and reduced processing costs by 26%. These figures clearly indicate that smart manufacturing is no longer an option but a competitive necessity.
More profound is the restructuring of the industry chain. Companies like Anuoqi are building complete ecosystems from 'dyestuff to ink to digital printing to AI design to IP cultural creativity,' transforming process parameters and production data into manageable and tradable digital assets. This means traditional wool enterprises must redefine their core competitiveness—not just production capacity, but data-driven flexible manufacturing and rapid design iteration.
Industry Divergence: Investment Hot and Cold Reflect Transition Pains
Investment data from January to May this year shows clear structural divergence: fixed asset investment in the textile industry grew by 10.8% year-on-year, while garment and chemical fiber industries fell by 10.3% and 14.5%, respectively. This divergence reflects different adaptation speeds to technological change across the chain. The textile sector (especially intermediate goods like fabrics and wool) attracts more capital due to clearer ROI from smart manufacturing upgrades, while garment and chemical fiber sectors face weak terminal demand and overcapacity, leading to cautious investment.
For buyers, this means supply chain stability is shifting. Suppliers investing in smart manufacturing will offer better cost control and on-time delivery, while those clinging to traditional methods may be squeezed out of high-quality orders.
New Global Consumption Paradigm: Experience Economy Drives Upgrade
Sun Ruizhe highlighted that global consumer markets are showing 'ecological reconstruction, human-centric return, and structural divergence.' Rising demand for health, emotional connection, and self-expression, accelerated by social media, means wool's basic warmth function is no longer sufficient. Brands must integrate natural fibers' sustainability and digital personalization into product narratives.
The inclusion of Anta, Shein, and others in the 2026 GYBrand World Top 500 shows rising global recognition for 'Chinese design' and 'Chinese brands.' More notably, companies like Hengli, Weiqiao, and Erdos are transforming 'Made in China' into 'Made Globally' through cross-border M&A and global capacity layout, requiring wool supply chain partners to have multi-country compliance and multi-standard production capabilities.