Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), recently interpreted the 'Textile and Apparel Excellent Brand Cultivation Action Plan (2026-2028)' jointly issued by five ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The plan sets a quantitative target of cultivating at least 25 excellent brands within three years and initiates research on an evaluation index system. This policy marks a formal shift for China's textile brand building from experience-driven to scientifically measured approaches.
Policy Background and Strategic Positioning
The textile and apparel industry serves as a pillar of China's national economy, a foundation for livelihood improvement, and an advantageous sector for international cooperation. The plan emerges against the backdrop of building manufacturing, quality, and brand power. Sun noted that cultivating internationally competitive excellent brands is an inherent requirement for driving the industry from scale leadership to value leadership.
The plan integrates industrial policies, talent cultivation, market supervision, communication promotion, and intellectual property protection to build a systematic institutional environment. The target of 25 brands is not a mere quantity setting but guides the industry to concentrate quality resources on brands with potential, heritage, and responsibility—cultivating benchmarks that can carry cultural confidence, demonstrate technical strength, and lead consumption trends.
Industry Transformation and Brand Cultivation Path
China's textile industry is accelerating transformation toward technology, fashion, and green sectors. Excellent brand growth requires innovation to solidify quality, Eastern aesthetics to enrich cultural depth, and responsible development to enhance brand warmth. The evaluation index system will shift brand building from empirical judgment to scientific measurement.
Sun emphasized that brand building is a long-distance run requiring faith and perseverance. The industry's deep manufacturing foundation, rich cultural resources, and vast market space give it full capacity to cultivate world-class brands. This means the industry needs deep cultivation rather than short-term quantity growth.
Promotion Strategies by Industry Organizations
CNTAC will implement the plan through six measures:
- Establish an incubation mechanism for excellent textile and apparel brands with dynamic management
- Conduct in-depth brand diagnostic services for precise enterprise guidance
- Collect and promote brand stories to explore cultural roots and innovation practices
- Build public service platforms integrating design, technology, and channel resources
- Integrate cultural tourism activities with brand consumption for immersive experiences
- Strengthen brand talent cultivation to build professional teams with design, management, and international vision
These measures form a closed loop from screening and diagnosis to empowerment and communication. For industrial clusters, this means resources will concentrate on brands with potential, and enterprises with cultural heritage and technical accumulation will gain more policy support.
Industrial Impact and Practical Suggestions
The plan's impact on the supply chain will be profound. For fabric and yarn suppliers, the branding trend will drive upstream enterprises to improve product quality and innovation to meet high-end brand needs. For garment processing enterprises, brand cultivation may shift order structures toward high-value, small-batch, multi-variety types.
For Buyers - Prioritize suppliers in the brand incubation database for better product stability and innovation - Use brand diagnostic services to assess supply chain brand suitability and optimize cooperation - Plan co-development with excellent brands to lock in scarce production capacity and design resources
For Foreign Trade Enterprises - Use brand cultivation indicators as criteria for customer screening and negotiation to reduce credit risk - Combine brand story promotion to develop localized narratives in overseas markets and enhance brand premium - Monitor the release of evaluation index systems, benchmark international brand standards early, and upgrade quality management systems
Brand building requires long-term investment, but for the textile industry, this is an unavoidable strategic choice. Enterprises that seize the policy window and systematically enhance brand value will gain advantages in the next round of industrial reshuffling.