One out of every five sweaters worldwide comes from Dalang Town in Dongguan, Guangdong. At the recently concluded 95th International Wool Textile Conference, this knitting hub in the Pearl River Delta once again became the industry's global focus. The core message from the conference is that the wool textile sector is at a critical juncture, transitioning from traditional manufacturing to smart and experience-driven economies, with China's resilient supply chain data providing a realistic backdrop for this transformation.
Industrial Heartland: Dalang's Scale Effect and Transformation Signals
Dalang's entire wool knitting industry chain has an annual transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan, with garment output surpassing 900 million pieces annually. This scale makes it a barometer for the global wool textile industry. Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, emphasized in his keynote that Dalang's growth is the result of both open cooperation and industrial agglomeration.
Deeper signals come from China's overall textile sector performance. From January to April 2025, while operating revenue of large-scale textile enterprises dipped 0.3% year-on-year, total profits surged 19.3%, pushing the operating profit margin to 2.9%. This reversal of 'revenue decline but profit growth' indicates the industry is extracting higher unit value through product mix upgrades, digital cost reduction, and supply chain optimization. During the same period, retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and knitwear by units above the designated size grew 8.1% year-on-year, accelerating 5 percentage points from the previous year, signaling a recovery in end-consumer confidence.
Technology Inflection Point: AI and Green Manufacturing Reshape Cost Curves
The conference's theme of 'Smart Weaving the Future' is not mere rhetoric. Real-world cases show AI generating quantifiable benefits across the wool industry chain. Jiangsu Yueda Textile's 'Lighthouse Factory' used smart manufacturing to reduce labor per 10,000 spindles by about 70%, boost total labor productivity by four times, cut unit energy consumption by 15%, and lower processing costs by 26%. Bosideng's 'AI Aesthetic Brain' reduced sample development costs by over 60%.
These figures mean that for wool enterprises, AI is no longer a future option but a tool determining cost competitiveness. From AI-assisted design to intelligent quality inspection, from flexible scheduling to digital employees, technology is shifting the wool industry from labor-intensive to knowledge-intensive. Meanwhile, the scaled application of green technologies like waterless dyeing and digital printing is rewriting the industry's environmental cost ledger, becoming a crucial bargaining chip against European and American carbon tariffs.
Consumer Shift: Value Reconstruction Under the Experience Economy
Global consumer markets are showing clear stratification. Consumers are no longer satisfied with warmth; health, emotional connection, and self-expression are new core demands. The natural, eco-friendly attributes of wool fibers align perfectly with this trend. The conference's dedicated session on 'Wool's Health and Digital Life' directly addresses this demand-side shift.
Social media's reach is accelerating product discovery and decision-making, demanding more from wool brands: not just good products, but compelling stories. Chinese brands like Anta and SHEIN entering the global top 500 list shows rising recognition of 'Chinese design'. Wool enterprises aiming for mid-to-high-end markets must deeply integrate brand narrative with consumer emotional appeals.
Risk Alert: Transmission of Global Trade Uncertainty
Despite strong domestic demand and profit data, the external environment remains tough. The IMF has downgraded its 2026 global growth forecast to 3.1%. Geopolitical conflicts, energy price volatility, and shipping disruptions continue to pressure export-dependent wool enterprises. From January to May 2025, China's textile and apparel exports grew only 0.1% year-on-year, with apparel exports falling 1.6%, indicating weak external demand.
More concerning is the ongoing regional restructuring of the global wool supply chain. The rise of developing countries is reshaping the industrial landscape. For Dalang and the entire Chinese wool industrial belt, the era of relying solely on scale advantages is fading. A new moat must be built through technology, branding, and green manufacturing.