One in every five sweaters worldwide is made in Dalang, Dongguan. This industrial cluster, home to 30,000 knitting-related market entities and employing 200,000 people, saw its total annual transaction value exceed 72 billion yuan in 2025. When an industrial engine of this scale meets textile intangible cultural heritage (ICH) spanning millennia, the chemical reaction goes far beyond a single fashion show or conference.
On June 25, the 10th Textile Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference was held at the Dalang Knitting Trade Center. This event, jointly organized by the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and the Dalang Town Government, did not stop at the usual 'culture sets the stage, economy plays the lead' formula. Instead, it tackled a hard-core proposition: how can ICH become a real variable in the knitting industry's leap from 'manufacturing' to 'intelligent manufacturing'?
Event Background: Why Dalang?
This is the first time the Textile ICH Conference has been held in a specific industrial town rather than a major city or cultural landmark—a signal in itself. Dalang's knitting industry started in the 1980s as a processing base for foreign companies and grew over four decades into the world's largest knitting cluster. Its supply chain completeness—from yarn, design, and knitting to finishing and sales—has few domestic rivals.
However, Dalang's volume advantage has not fully translated into brand premium. While one in five sweaters globally comes from Dalang, most products still serve the OEM or mid-to-low-end market. Deng Xiaoding, a second-level inspector from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, offered four suggestions at the conference: preserve the core, empower with culture, innovate in scenarios, and collaborate in governance. All point to the same core: using ICH as a cultural IP to inject irreplaceable differentiated value into knitting products.
CNTAC President Sun Ruizhe's keynote report was more systematic. He defined textile ICH as 'a vital resource for enhancing industrial value' and 'an important carrier for increasing cultural influence.' This means ICH is no longer just an exhibit in a museum or a master craftsman's unique skill; it can be industrialized, standardized, and commercialized.
Industry Impact: How Cultural Empowerment Lands
Two results released at the conference—the 2025/2026 Textile ICH Development Report and the 'ICH·Original Creation' Young Designer Support Program—offer a pathway from 'knowing' to 'doing.' The report systematically reviews annual achievements, while the young designer program directly addresses the 'who will do it' problem. The crisis of ICH succession is essentially a lack of participation channels and commercial returns for young people. This program provides an expected market outlet through platforms like Beijing Fashion Week.
More noteworthy are the practical examples from local Dalang companies. Impression Park focuses on high-end cashmere, Tongmen Fashion combines traditional Chaozhou hand-crochet with computerized knitting, and Zhouhong Fashion emphasizes deep integration of aesthetics and knitting technology. These cases show that ICH transformation is not simple 'pattern pasting' but a systematic reconstruction from yarn selection and fabric structure to garment silhouette.
Professor Guo Ruiping from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology showcased series like 'White Dew Turns to Frost' and 'Autumn Equinox with Indigo Dyeing.' Her core point: the key to ICH transformation is a multi-dimensional cognitive upgrade, focusing on contemporization, fashion, lifestyle integration, and industrialization. This actually points to the root cause of many failed ICH commercialization projects—treating ICH as a static symbol rather than a living system that can evolve with technology, aesthetics, and consumer habits.
Another detail worth noting is Douyin's role in ICH commercial transformation. The ByteDance representative shared a case of the 'ICH Fashion' campaign, where Zhuang brocade achieved rapid market conversion through short videos and livestreaming. This suggests that the channels for ICH dissemination and sales have fundamentally changed; the traditional trade fair + ordering model needs to complement content e-commerce and social e-commerce.