One in every five sweaters globally comes from Dalang Town in Dongguan, China. This wool textile hub, with an annual output value exceeding 72 billion yuan and producing over 900 million garments, hosted the 95th International Wool Textile Conference on June 24. As the industry gathered to discuss 'Smart Weaving the Future: Wool's Health and Digital Life,' a core judgment emerged: China's wool textile industry is shifting from scale advantages to a new phase driven by technology and consumer insight.
Data Behind the Industry Tone
Data disclosed by Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, outlined the industry's fundamentals. From January to April 2025, the total profit of textile enterprises above designated size rose 19.3% year-on-year, while operating revenue dipped slightly by 0.3%. This contrast between 'revenue decline but profit growth' suggests companies are absorbing cost pressures through efficiency gains. Meanwhile, retail sales of garments, shoes, hats, and knitwear by units above designated size grew 8.1%, indicating active end-consumption.
Exports showed divergence: from January to May, total textile and apparel exports inched up 0.1%, with textile exports growing 1.7% but apparel exports falling 1.6%. This means intermediate goods (fabrics, yarns) still have global demand, while finished garments face fiercer competition. For wool enterprises, this is both a challenge—apparel orders moving overseas—and an opportunity: the technical added value of upstream products becomes a new battleground.
Technology Drive: From 'Manufacturing' to 'Smart Manufacturing'
Another key signal from the conference was that AI is reshaping wool production logic. China's textile industry has reached a 63.2% digitalization rate in key processes, above the manufacturing average. The 'Lighthouse Factory' case of Jiangsu Yueda Textile is telling: through smart manufacturing, labor per 10,000 spindles dropped by about 70%, total labor productivity increased more than fourfold, unit energy consumption fell 15%, and processing costs decreased 26%.
These figures mean wool enterprises compete not on scale alone but on unit efficiency. For clusters like Dalang, tech upgrades allow the same labor input to yield higher value-added products. AI-assisted design tools, such as Semir's system boosting R&D efficiency by 35% and pattern design by over 200%, are shortening product development cycles from weeks to days.
Consumption Divergence: Health and Experience as New Anchors
Global consumer markets show ecological restructuring, human-centric return, and structural divergence. Consumer stratification is accelerating, social media speeds information spread, and product discovery and decisions are becoming smarter. This requires wool enterprises to shift from 'selling products' to 'selling experiences.'
Wool, as a natural fiber, has inherent advantages in the health consumption wave. The conference theme 'Wool's Health and Digital Life' captures this trend. Consumers' demands for comfort, sustainability, and emotional connection (e.g., Chinese-style designs) are pushing brand upgrades. Companies like Anta and Erdos enhance brand recognition through multi-brand operations and global expansion, while the rise of 'guochao' (Chinese fashion) offers niche opportunities for smaller wool firms.
Practical Recommendations
For Buyers - Focus on suppliers with tech upgrades: prioritize those using digital quality inspection and smart scheduling for better delivery reliability and quality consistency. - Evaluate health and eco-certifications: traceability standards like RWS are becoming hard requirements for Western procurement; securing certified source factories reduces compliance risk. - Leverage AI tools for rapid selection: use AI design platforms to generate sample images, cutting decision cycles from weeks to days.
For Exporters - Strengthen intermediate goods exports: target garment manufacturing hubs in Southeast Asia and South Asia with high-value worsted wool yarns and functional fabrics, avoiding price wars on finished goods. - Deploy digital marketing: use social media and AI content tools to showcase smart factory processes to overseas clients, building trust and bargaining power. - Hedge geopolitical risks: with IMF lowering 2026 global growth forecast to 3.1%, diversify markets beyond single regions, exploring emerging markets like the Middle East and Africa.
As the global wool industry stands at the crossroads of technological revolution and consumption divergence, Dalang's example proves that traditional clusters can achieve value leap through digitalization and branding. For the entire industry, the next competition is not about 'who produces more,' but 'who produces smarter and more precisely.'