China's textile and garment industry stands at a critical turning point. The 'Textile and Garment Excellent Brand Cultivation Action Plan (2026-2028)', recently jointly issued by five ministries, sets a quantitative target for the first time: cultivating at least 25 excellent brands within three years, while simultaneously launching research on an evaluation index system. This marks a shift from broad guidance to systematic, scientific precision in the industry's brand strategy.
Sun Ruizhe, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), interprets this plan as a new approach to top-level design: excellent brands are not a simple accumulation of numbers, but require breakthroughs in three dimensions: technology, fashion, and green development. This means that over the next three years, industry resources will tilt towards enterprises with technological accumulation, cultural heritage, and sustainable practices.
Institutional Transformation of Brand Cultivation
The launch of this action plan reflects the urgent need for the textile industry to transform from 'scale leadership' to 'value leadership'. China's textile and garment industry has the world's most complete industrial chain, with deep manufacturing foundations, but its brand premium capacity has long been insufficient. The joint issuance by five ministries integrates key resources such as industrial policy, talent cultivation, market supervision, communication promotion, and intellectual property protection, building a systematic institutional environment for brand growth.
The key lies in the simultaneous construction of an 'evaluation index system'. In the past, brand selection relied heavily on subjective judgment or market reputation, lacking quantifiable scientific standards. The new plan requires establishing a set of indicators to measure the 'excellence' of brands, meaning brand building will shift from experience-based to data-driven. For buyers and factories, this means a more transparent and comparable reference framework for selecting future partners.
Strategic Opportunities for Industrial Clusters and Enterprises
For textile industry clusters such as Keqiao, Shengsze, and Nantong, this plan provides a clear path for transformation and upgrading. Small and medium-sized enterprises in these regions have long focused on OEM and order-based production, with weak brand awareness. The 'incubation mechanism' and 'brand building diagnostic services' proposed in the action plan will provide these enterprises with a ladder from product to brand leap.
Sun Ruizhe emphasizes that brand building is a long race requiring faith and perseverance. This means short-term investments may not immediately translate into market returns, but in the long run, enterprises with brand premium capabilities will occupy a stronger bargaining position in international trade. For foreign trade companies, especially in the context of current global supply chain restructuring, excellent brands are not only a moat in the domestic market but also a passport for international competition.
Practical Path for Implementation from Six Aspects
CNTAC plans to promote the implementation of the plan from six aspects: establishing a brand incubation mechanism, conducting brand building diagnostic services, promoting brand stories, building a public service platform, promoting the integration of cultural tourism and brand consumption, and increasing brand talent cultivation. These six measures form a complete closed loop from incubation, diagnosis, dissemination to empowerment.
Worth noting are the 'brand story collection and promotion' and 'deep integration of cultural tourism activities and brand consumption'. The former requires enterprises not only to have good products but also to tell good stories—excavating cultural roots and innovative practices to move consumers with genuine emotion. The latter points to experiential consumption, allowing brands to enter life scenarios and enhance user connections through immersive experiences. This is particularly important for terminal consumer categories such as home textiles and apparel.