An annual conference has put both the anxiety and the way out for the home textile fabric industry on the table. On August 12, the 2026 China Home Textile Association Fabric Branch Annual Conference was held in Keqiao, Shaoxing, releasing a set of key signals: Keqiao has nearly 8,000 curtain and fabric enterprises, with an annual output value of about 70 billion yuan and cross-border online transactions of 800-900 million USD. But on the other side, the industry faced profit pressure in the first half of the year, with exports showing volume growth but price decline. The scale advantage remains, but the quality of growth has already flashed a yellow light.
Industry Foundation: Keqiao's Strength and Hidden Concerns in Data
Keqiao's industrial thickness is visible. In 2025, the turnover of the China Light Textile City exceeded 440 billion yuan, with nearly 8,000 curtain and fabric enterprises, an annual output value of nearly 70 billion yuan, and cross-border online transactions of 800-900 million USD. These figures show that Keqiao, as an 'economic powerhouse supported by a piece of cloth,' has a supply chain completeness that is rare nationally and even globally. However, it is worth noting that the trend of volume growth with price decline indicates that the low-price competition path is eroding profit margins. For buyers, this is both an opportunity to negotiate prices and a warning of supply chain risks—when factory profits are too thin to support quality investment, the ultimate bearer is the buyer.
Transformation Path: From 'Selling Fabric' to 'Selling Space'
The conference theme 'Design Breakthrough, Technology Empowerment, Global Symbiosis' directly points to the transformation direction. The industry consensus is that the traditional growth model has peaked, and it must shift from single-product manufacturing to overall soft furnishing solution service providers. This means that home textile enterprises are no longer just selling a piece of curtain fabric, but selling the atmosphere and function of a space. Original design was repeatedly emphasized. Lin Shaowu, brand consultant of Tianyu New Materials, proposed focusing on new demands such as 300 million people with sleep disorders and separate bedding, combining temperature control and antibacterial functions with healing colors, and building a product matrix of image products, profit products, and traffic products. This approach enlightens buyers: when selecting products, don't just look at unit price, but also whether the product has design language and functional differentiation; otherwise, it is easy to fall into homogeneous price wars.
Technology Variables: AI and Functional Fabrics from Lab to Factory
Technology is becoming a key variable in changing cost structures. Associate Professor Ji Feng from Donghua University shared applications of AI intelligent color matching and fiber polarization image libraries—the former solves the color difference problem in digital printing, and the latter uses deep learning to non-destructively identify fabric composition, replacing traditional chemical testing. This means the cost of sampling and testing is expected to drop significantly. Zhao Lu, Global VP of Collov AI, pointed out that spatial AI can realize one-click real-scene generation, saving hundreds of thousands in offline sampling and real shooting costs, with commercial soft furnishing as the priority landing track. For small and medium factories, these technologies are no longer remote lab concepts but lightweight solutions that can be implemented within three months. However, it must be清醒 that fabric physical data is the long-term core asset of an enterprise; technology is just an amplifier, and without data accumulation, AI cannot exert its power.
New Overseas Channels: Industrial Belt Opportunities Behind Traffic Dividends
Globalization is no longer the exclusive domain of leading enterprises. Zhang Xiaocun, partner of Modern Media's home textile business, shared data showing that TikTok covers 150+ countries with 2 billion monthly active users, and the home furnishing category in Southeast Asia and Latin America leads global growth. The Keqiao industrial belt can fully leverage immersive short videos, local influencers, and source live streaming to turn factory scenes into traffic entrances. The cross-border product matrix is divided into three layers: basic, functional, and co-branded. This layered approach is particularly valuable for small and medium foreign trade enterprises—first use basic products to drive volume, then functional products to increase profits, and finally co-branded products to build brand. But note that traffic dividends come and go quickly, and supply chain response speed and quality stability are the foundation for repeat purchases.
Policy and Industry: 15th Five-Year Plan, New Quality Productivity is a Survival Issue
Liang Pengcheng, Vice President of China National Textile and Apparel Council, emphasized in his speech that this year is the opening year of the '15th Five-Year Plan,' and the industry saw steady growth in production, sales, and exports in the first half of the year, but pressures from weak demand and trade fluctuations remain. Zhu Xiaohong, President of China Home Textile Association, proposed six development goals, including improving the global diversified supply chain, deeply tapping domestic soft furnishing renewal demand, activating new quality productivity through AI and industry-academia-research integration, building independent brands of Chinese home textile aesthetics, implementing full-chain carbon footprint standards, and laying out healthy sleep laboratories. These goals mean that in the next five years, the industry's competition dimension will shift from price and output to design, brand, green, and technology. For factories, once carbon footprint standards are implemented, enterprises that do not meet environmental requirements will directly lose export qualifications; for buyers, choosing suppliers with design capabilities and green certification will be key to avoiding policy risks.