One out of every five sweaters globally comes from Dalang Town, Dongguan. This Pearl River Delta town, with an annual garment output of over 900 million pieces and a full-industry-chain transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan, hosted the 95th International Wool Textile Conference, serving as a fitting window to observe the transformation of the global wool textile industry.
Industry Anchor: Dalang's Scale and Resilience
Dalang's data is not an isolated case but a microcosm of the systemic strengths of China's textile industry. China's annual fiber processing volume remains stable at over 60 million tons, and annual garment production exceeds 70 billion pieces, both accounting for over 50% of the global share. Six consecutive years of exports exceeding $300 billion, especially the strong performance of intermediate products like chemical fibers and fabrics, provide predictable stability for the global supply chain. From January to April 2025, profits of China's textile enterprises above designated size rose by 19.3% year-on-year, with an operating profit margin of 2.9%, demonstrating profit recovery under pressure. Retail sales of garments, footwear, hats, and knitwear by units above the quota increased by 8.1% year-on-year, showing strong domestic demand support.
Technological Variable: From Workshop to Ecological Intelligence
The conference theme, 'Smart Weaving the Future: Wool's Healthy and Digital Life,' points to two parallel transformation lines: intelligent technology and green health. On the intelligent front, the digitalization rate of key links in China's textile industry has reached 63.2%, surpassing the national manufacturing average. In 2024, 30 textile enterprises were included in the 5G factory directory. A concrete example is Jiangsu Yueda Textile, whose 'Lighthouse Factory' reduced the number of workers per 10,000 spindles by approximately 70% through intelligent manufacturing, more than quadrupling total labor productivity, reducing unit energy consumption by 15%, and lowering processing costs by 26%. Semir's AI-assisted design system increased overall design and R&D efficiency by 35% and pattern design efficiency by over 200%. These figures indicate that intelligence is no longer a concept but a practical tool reshaping cost structures and production efficiency.
Consumption Restructuring: Health, Experience, and Stratification
Another key driver for the wool textile industry comes from the consumer side. The global consumer market is characterized by ecological restructuring, a return to human-centric values, and structural divergence. Consumers' demands for health and well-being, emotional connection, and self-expression are redefining the value proposition of wool products. The combination of the eco-friendly attributes of natural fibers with the traceability of digital technology creates new premium space. Meanwhile, the rise of the 'one-person company' and 'handcraft economy'—with new OPC registrations in China up 47% year-on-year in the first half of 2025—suggests that personalized, small-batch production models are supplementing large-scale manufacturing, placing higher demands on the flexible supply chain of the wool textile industry.
Investment Divergence: Uneven Capacity Expansion
Investment flows within the industry signal structural adjustments. From January to May 2025, fixed asset investment in the textile sector grew by 10.8% year-on-year, while the garment and chemical fiber sectors declined by 10.3% and 14.5%, respectively. This divergence indicates that capital is shifting from end-product garment manufacturing and upstream chemical fiber raw materials towards midstream textile processing, reflecting a cautious approach to capacity expansion and a strategic tilt towards technology-intensive segments.
New Globalization: From OEM to Ecological Participation
The globalization path of Chinese wool textile enterprises is upgrading. Brands like Anta and Shein have entered the world's top 500 brands. Companies such as Hengli, Weiqiao, Erdos, and Shenzhou International are deeply embedding themselves in local industrial chains through cross-border mergers and global layout. This shift from 'OEM' to 'brand + capacity' dual output means that China's wool textile industry is evolving from a provider of supply-side certainty to a co-builder of the global industrial ecosystem. Sun Ruizhe emphasized in his speech that against the backdrop of the IMF downgrading the 2026 global economic growth forecast to 3.1%, the industry needs to find new value fulcrums.