A cluster producing 900 million sweaters annually—one of every five sweaters globally—is betting on intangible cultural heritage to redefine pricing power. On June 24, 2025, Dongguan's Dalan town simultaneously launched the 10th Textile Intangible Heritage Conference, the 23rd China (Dalan) Knitwear Trade Fair, and the 95th International Wool Congress. This triple-event convergence signals that the OEM-dominated knitwear hub is shifting from volume expansion to value creation through cultural empowerment.
Industrial Base Meets Cultural Leverage
Dalan's GDP reached RMB 47.37 billion in 2024, with its knitwear industry as the absolute backbone. Behind the 900 million sweaters lies a complete chain from spinning, weaving, dyeing, to garment manufacturing. However, global sweater trade has long been a buyer's market, squeezing profit margins for Dalan's OEM factories. Introducing heritage elements is essentially a strategy to create differentiated premiums in a commoditized market.
A key signing at the conference was the 'Textile Heritage Standard and Certification Cooperation' agreement. Previously, heritage products and knitwear each had their own quality certification systems, creating a barrier for 'heritage knitwear' to enter mainstream retail channels. The new standard incorporates craft traits of heritage techniques—such as hand-embroidered stitch density and plant-dye fastness—into the quality testing framework. This means buyers can now quantify 'cultural added value' with measurable indicators.
From Runway to Factory Floor: Industrializing Heritage
The opening gala, themed 'Heritage Symbiosis, Weaving the Future,' featured three chapters—Lin Qi, Lin Xing, Lin Yao—with core design symbols derived from local Dalan kylin motifs. The motifs, provided by folk artist Wan Gongxue (winner of the Shanhua Award), are patented. Participating local firms like Impression Plains, Tongfa, Xinhongfeng, and Lanmei did not simply print the motifs onto sweaters; they integrated heritage crafts into production through plant-dyed cashmere, Song brocade, and Xiangyun silk crossovers.
For buyers, this has two implications: first, products with patented motifs are inherently protected against copying; second, while heritage processes add 15%-25% to unit costs, retail prices can rise 40%-60%, and consumers show higher willingness to pay for 'cultural stories' than for ordinary knitwear.
Quality System Upgrades and Channel Restructuring
Other major signings included the 'Dalan Knitwear Industry Quality Service System Co-building Strategic Cooperation Agreement' and the 'Dalan Knitwear—Brand Supply-Demand Service Cooperation.' The former aims to upgrade inspection capabilities—Zhonglian Pinshen Dongguan Company will build a full-process traceability system from yarn to garment, especially covering quality control of heritage processes. The latter directly connects factories with brands, reducing intermediate layers.
Meanwhile, the entry of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Smart Manufacturing Center and Jiangyin Hengxiang Weaving signals Dalan's extension into high-end knitted fabric sectors. Jiangyin Hengxiang specializes in technical functional fabrics; this partnership will fill Dalan's gap in technical textiles, enabling combinations like 'heritage + functionality'—for example, combining antibacterial or moisture-wicking properties with hand embroidery, meeting Western outdoor brands' demand for differentiated products.