The transfer of textile production capacity from eastern China to the southwestern border regions is becoming a tangible reality. On July 21, the construction of a 60,000-ton annual capacity knitted fabric project by Yunnan Bohaihai Textile Co., Ltd. officially commenced in the Kaiyuan Green Textile Science Park. With a total investment of 650 million yuan and covering an area of 294.79 mu, the project plans to build 20 modern intelligent knitting fabric production lines. Once fully operational, it is expected to achieve an annual output value exceeding 1 billion yuan, annual tax payments of over 14 million yuan, and directly create more than 1,200 local jobs.
This scale of investment is considered medium-to-large for textile projects in Southwest China, reflecting not just a single company's expansion ambition, but also the structural transformation of the entire textile industry landscape.
Driving Forces of Industry Relocation: Energy Costs and Cross-border Access
The project's investor, Guangzhou Delaika Textile Co., Ltd., is one of the top ten fabric traders in Guangzhou's Zhongda Market, with annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan. The move from the core commercial hub of Guangzhou to Kaiyuan in Yunnan is no coincidence. Xu Yanjie, General Manager of Bohaihai, highlighted the key considerations during the launch ceremony: the cost advantages in steam and electricity from abundant local clean energy, and the strategic location near Kunming and the Hekou port.
For energy-intensive categories like knitted fabrics, energy costs often account for 20% to 30% of production costs. Leveraging Yunnan's abundant hydropower and clean energy, Kaiyuan can provide stable and relatively low-cost heat supply for the dyeing and finishing processes, directly translating into cost competitiveness. Meanwhile, the Hekou port is a crucial land route to Vietnam and ASEAN. With the RCEP in effect, tariff reductions and customs facilitation further amplify this location advantage.
This means Bohaihai's layout in Kaiyuan is essentially building a synergistic industrial chain of 'domestic weaving + Southeast Asian garment manufacturing.' Fabrics produced in Yunnan can be quickly exported via Hekou to garment processing bases in Vietnam and Cambodia, then re-exported to European and American markets, with logistics and time costs significantly lower than direct exports from Guangdong.
Filling the Gap in High-end Knitting Capacity: Park Infrastructure is Key
Dong Shuxiu, Vice President of the China Dyeing and Printing Association, noted during the ceremony that the textile industry is accelerating its transition towards green, low-carbon, and smart manufacturing, with Southwest China being a core destination for domestic textile industry relocation. The Bohaihai project is seen as a landmark project for regional green textile transformation, filling a gap in the local high-end knitting industry chain.
The uniqueness of the Kaiyuan Green Textile Science Park lies in its status as the only industrial park in Yunnan Province that is fully equipped with textile dyeing and printing capacity. In 2023, the park was integrated into the planning of the Hekou Border Industrial Park, meaning enterprises within the park can benefit from multiple policy overlays related to border opening and cross-border cooperation. For a dyeing and printing project requiring substantial steam and wastewater treatment capacity, the park's infrastructure is often decisive for successful implementation.
From a national perspective on industrial gradient transfer, Bai Limin, Deputy Director of the Industrial Park Office of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, emphasized that this project is a high-quality carrier for the orderly transfer of eastern textile capacity. As eastern regions face increasing pressure from land, environmental, and labor costs, southwestern border areas are becoming new destinations for industrial relocation due to their advantages in energy, location, and policy.
Practical Impact on Buyers and Foreign Trade Companies
The Bohaihai project is expected to be completed and operational within 2 to 3 years, adding 60,000 tons of high-end knitted fabric capacity to Southwest China. For downstream buyers, this means an additional fabric supply source close to the Southeast Asian market. Garment factories located in Vietnam or Laos, which previously relied on fabrics from Guangdong or Jiangsu, will see logistics distances from Kaiyuan significantly shortened, potentially reducing delivery lead times by 3 to 5 days.
For foreign trade enterprises, the cumulation rules of origin under RCEP allow fabrics produced in Yunnan and exported to ASEAN to more flexibly meet tariff preference conditions. Furthermore, the deployment of intelligent management systems like MES and ERP within the park will enhance the capacity for flexible customization and high-value-added fabric manufacturing, helping companies escape homogeneous competition and enter more profitable niche markets.