China's textile and apparel industry stands at a critical turning point. The 'Action Plan for Cultivating Excellent Brands in Textile and Apparel (2026-2028)', recently jointly issued by five ministries, sets a hard quantitative target for the first time at the national level: cultivate at least 25 excellent brands within three years. Behind this number lies a fundamental shift in how industry resources will be screened.
Policy Targeting: From Quantity to Quality
The core logic of the plan is 'quality first, selecting the best from the best'. Sun Ruizhe, President of CNTAC, made it clear in his interpretation that the simultaneous development of an evaluation index system is precisely to turn 'excellence' from a vague concept into a quantifiable standard. For an industry long accustomed to measuring success by output and export volume, this represents a deep restructuring of the evaluation system.
From an industrial logic perspective, China's textile industry has already topped the global scale in the past decade—producing over 70% of the world's chemical fibers and leading textile and apparel exports for years. Yet weak brand premium has been a persistent pain point. The 'excellent brand' cultivation plan essentially forces a shift from 'manufacturing capability' to 'brand assets'.
Industry Transmission: Technology, Fashion, Green
Sun emphasized that the growth of excellent brands must be rooted in technological innovation for quality, Eastern aesthetics for cultural depth, and responsible development for brand warmth. These three points are not empty slogans but a precise summary of the industry's transformation path.
For upstream fabric suppliers, this means downstream brand clients' demand for functional and sustainable fabrics will accelerate. The past competition model based purely on weight and width is fading, replaced by hard requirements for technical barriers and environmental certifications. Clusters like Keqiao and Shengze already see companies investing in recycled fibers and bio-based materials, a proactive response to this trend.
For midstream processing, the brand cultivation plan will push order structures towards 'small batch, high value-added'. The overcapacity problem under traditional large-order models may further diverge—quality capacity concentrates on brands with potential, while low-end OEM faces fiercer price competition.
Implementation Path: Six Levers and Industry Role
CNTAC, as the industry organization, plays a key hub role in implementation. The six work directions proposed by Sun, including establishing a cultivation mechanism, conducting brand diagnosis services, and building public service platforms, essentially construct a brand incubation 'ecosystem'.
Particularly noteworthy are the 'brand story collection and promotion' and 'deep integration of cultural tourism and brand consumption' initiatives. This reflects policymakers' recognition that the weakness in textile branding lies not only in product power but also in the lack of cultural narrative and consumption scenarios. Compared to international luxury brands with centuries of heritage, Chinese brands need to leap from 'manufacturing label' to 'cultural symbol' in a much shorter timeframe.