One out of every five sweaters globally is produced in Dalang, Guangdong. This town, with an annual garment output exceeding 900 million pieces and a full-industry-chain transaction value surpassing 72 billion yuan, recently hosted the 95th International Wool Textile Conference. As natural fibers meet digital technology, the wool textile industry is undergoing a deep restructuring from manufacturing logic to value logic.
Resilience Behind the Numbers
Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), disclosed key data in his keynote speech: China's annual fiber processing volume remains above 60 million tons, with annual garment production exceeding 70 billion pieces, accounting for over 50% of the global total. The textile industry has maintained export values above $300 billion for six consecutive years. These figures reflect the combined effect of scale and system advantages.
Notably, from January to April this year, revenue of textile enterprises above designated size fell 0.3% year-on-year, but total profit surged 19.3%, with a profit margin of 2.9%. Profit growth far outpaced revenue growth, indicating that the industry is offsetting external pressures through quality improvement and product structure upgrades. Meanwhile, retail sales of garments, shoes, hats, and knitwear by units above designated size grew 8.1% year-on-year, signaling a clear recovery in consumer demand.
Smart Manufacturing and Green Transformation: Two Parallel Tracks
The conference theme, 'Smart Weaving Future: Wool's Health and Digital Life,' directly points to the dual drivers of industry transformation. On the smart manufacturing front, the digitalization rate of key links in China's textile industry has reached 63.2%, higher than the national manufacturing average. In 2024, 30 textile enterprises were included in the 5G factory list. For example, Jiangsu Yueda Textile's 'Lighthouse Factory' reduced labor per 10,000 spindles by about 70%, increased total labor productivity by more than four times, and cut unit energy consumption by 15%.
On the green manufacturing front, technologies such as non-aqueous dyeing and digital printing are accelerating adoption. Anoky's construction of an ecosystem spanning 'dyes → inks → digital printing → AI design → IP cultural creativity' exemplifies the deep integration of green processes with digital creativity. This means green is no longer a cost burden but a new threshold for brand premium and supply chain access.
How the Intelligent Economy Rewrites Wool Textile Rules
Sun Ruizhe emphasized that artificial intelligence is reshaping the textile industry at three levels: production and organization, factors and models, and systems and ecosystems. The global AI market is expected to reach $757.58 billion in 2025, up 18.7% year-on-year. In China, daily token calls have exceeded 140 trillion, up more than 40% from the end of last year.
Specific to wool textiles, AI-assisted design systems have improved Semir's design and R&D efficiency by 35% and pattern design efficiency by over 200%. Bosideng's 'AI Aesthetic Brain' has reduced sample garment development costs by more than 60%. These figures show that AI has moved from concept to actual cost reduction and efficiency improvement. For wool textile companies, the ability to quickly adopt AI tools will directly determine their competitiveness in design response speed and small-batch, fast-reaction capabilities.
Experience Economy Creates New Consumption Scenarios
The global consumer market is characterized by ecological restructuring, a return to human-centric values, and structural differentiation. Consumers' demands for health, emotional connection, and self-expression are growing. Social media accelerates information generation and dissemination, making product discovery, comparison, and decision-making fully intelligent.
This means wool products cannot remain limited to thermal functionality. As a natural fiber, wool has inherent advantages such as breathability, temperature regulation, and biodegradability. Under the dual trends of healthy consumption and green responsibility, its value needs to be redefined and communicated. Brands must shift from 'selling fabric' to 'selling lifestyles,' and from 'production-oriented' to 'experience-oriented.'