One out of every five sweaters worldwide is made in Dalang, Dongguan. This woolen knitting town, which rose during China's reform and opening-up, produced over 900 million garments in 2024, with a total industrial chain transaction value exceeding 72 billion yuan. But signals from the 95th International Wool Textile Conference indicate that the wool industry is at a turning point from 'quantity' to 'quality.'
Industry Fundamentals: Scale Advantage Remains, but Profit Structure Has Shifted
Data from the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) reveals the industry's current reality. From January to April this year, revenue of textile enterprises above designated size fell 0.3% year-on-year, but total profit rose 19.3%, with a profit margin of 2.9%. This suggests that companies are compensating for sluggish revenue growth through cost control, product upgrades, and efficiency gains.
Investment data further reveals internal divergence: textile industry fixed-asset investment grew 10.8%, while the garment and chemical fiber sectors fell 10.3% and 14.5%, respectively. This indicates capital is flowing from traditional apparel manufacturing and chemical fiber production toward textile segments focused on fabric innovation, smart manufacturing, and green technology.
Intelligent Economy: From 'Ten Thousand Spindles' to 'Unmanned Workshops'
The conference theme 'Weaving the Future with Intelligence' is not just rhetoric. Public cases show that Jiangsu Yueda Textile's 'Lighthouse Factory' reduced its labor force per 10,000 spindles by about 70%, quadrupled labor productivity, cut energy consumption per unit by 15%, and lowered processing costs by 26%. This data implies that for woolen enterprises, smart transformation has shifted from an option to a necessity.
AI is penetrating every link of the wool industry chain—from AI-assisted design systems (e.g., Semir's 35% efficiency gain) to robotic autonomous folding and AI-powered 'aesthetic brains' (Bosideng's sample development cost reduced by over 60%). Technology is redefining cost structures and value creation methods.
Notably, the global AI market reached $757.58 billion in 2025, projected to exceed $900 billion by 2026. For traditional manufacturing like wool textiles, this means computing power, algorithms, and data are becoming new production factors, deeply coupling with the traditional 'energy-capital-labor' mix and reshaping comparative advantages.
Experience Economy: Consumer Segmentation and Brand Value Reconstruction
The global consumer market is experiencing ecological restructuring, human-centric regression, and structural differentiation. Consumer stratification is evident, with health, emotional connection, and self-expression becoming core demands. For the wool industry, the simple 'warmth' function no longer suffices; the 'health' and 'sustainability' attributes of natural wool need to be reactivated.
Chinese brands are accelerating internationalization. Anta and Shein have entered the global top 500 brands, while Hengli and Erdos are deeply involved in global cooperation through cross-border M&A and multi-brand operations. This offers new ideas for industrial clusters like Dalang: transitioning from pure OEM to brand operations and global supply chain management.
Global Supply Chain: Certainty Amid Uncertainty
Although the IMF has downgraded its 2026 global growth forecast to 3.1%, China's textile industry has maintained exports exceeding $300 billion for six consecutive years, providing stable support for global supply chains. From January to May this year, textile and apparel exports reached $116.73 billion, with textile exports up 1.7% and apparel exports down 1.6%. This 'strong intermediates, weak finished goods' structure reflects a global supply chain restructuring: China is shifting from 'world factory' to 'global supply chain hub.'
For wool enterprises, this means export strategies need adjustment: intermediates (yarn, fabric) remain highly competitive, but finished products (sweaters, coats) require stronger branding and channel capabilities.