In the first half of 2026, China's printed and dyed fabric exports delivered a mixed performance: total value reached $35.175 billion, up 1.99% year-on-year, but growth slowed by 0.92 percentage points from Q1. More notably, category divergence emerged—woven fabrics saw volume growth but price decline, while knitted fabrics grew in both volume and price. This structural shift is reshaping exporters' competitive strategies.
Signs of Divergence Behind the Data
Customs data show that woven printed and dyed fabric exports totaled $19.156 billion, up only 0.62%, with volume reaching 20.811 billion meters, up 1.98%, and average price falling 1.08% to $0.92/meter. This typical "volume-for-price" model reflects weakened pricing power in low-end woven products and rising price-war risks.
In contrast, knitted fabric exports reached $16.019 billion, up 3.69%, with volume of 3.3759 million tons, up 3.43%, and average price edging up 0.25%. The simultaneous rise in volume and price indicates that knitted products, driven by functional and comfort demands, have gained added value and stronger resilience to market fluctuations.
This divergence implies that the export path relying solely on scale expansion has hit a ceiling. Product mix upgrading is now key to maintaining growth quality. For buyers, price downside for woven fabrics may narrow, while knitted fabrics' cost-performance advantage is becoming more prominent.
Regional Market Restructuring and FTA Dividends
In H1, exports to the top ten markets totaled $19.141 billion, up 4.86%, outpacing the overall growth rate by 2.87 percentage points and accounting for 54.42% of total exports. Among them, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia together accounted for 32.79%, up 1.81 percentage points from Q1, as Southeast Asia's garment capacity expansion continues to drive upstream fabric demand.
Cambodia led growth with a 13.92% surge, while Vietnam grew only 0.52%, and Egypt and Brazil declined. This country-level divergence warns exporters against over-reliance on single markets and underscores the need for dynamic order assessment.
FTA dividends continued to be released: exports to ASEAN reached $12.577 billion, up 3.06%, accounting for 35.76% of total; exports to RCEP members hit $13.044 billion, up 2.74%. Regional supply chain synergy effectively offset weak Western demand. For foreign trade firms, deepening FTA markets is not just a short-term tactic but a medium-to-long-term strategy.
H2 Pressure and Domestic Demand Hedge
The IMF forecasts global economic growth to slow from 3.5% in 2025 to 3% in 2026, with goods trade volume growth falling to 3.5%. New US Section 301 tariffs, the EU's removal of the de minimis exemption, and rising ESG green barriers are intensifying order diversion and pushing up export costs.
Against this backdrop, domestic demand becomes a critical buffer. In July, the State Council issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption," with policies gradually taking effect. China's super-large market advantages—huge population, growing middle-income group, and rising per capita GDP—offer ample potential in home textiles, sportswear, and industrial textiles, providing long-term development space for the dyeing and printing industry.
However, structural contradictions persist domestically, with supply exceeding demand, and the foundation for stable domestic sales is not yet solid. Enterprises must balance domestic and export shares to avoid over-dependence on any single market.