With an annual turnover of 440 billion yuan, nearly 8,000 curtain fabric enterprises, and cross-border online transactions reaching 800 to 900 million US dollars, Keqiao's position as an economic powerhouse "supported by a piece of cloth" was quantified at the 2026 annual meeting of the Home Textile Association's Fabric Branch. Yet beyond the numbers, the meeting signaled a transformative shift: the home textile fabric industry is moving from "scale expansion" to "value growth." This industry gathering in Keqiao, Shaoxing, served as a window into the deployment of new productive forces.
Event Background
On August 12, the 2026 annual meeting was held in Keqiao under the theme "Design Breakthrough, Tech Empowerment, and Global Symbiosis." Participants included industry association leaders, university experts, brand enterprises, and cross-border e-commerce platforms. Topics covered original design, health functions, AI digitalization, and global channels. While this appears as an annual routine, it is actually a collective calibration of the industry's development logic at the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Liang Pengcheng, Vice President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, emphasized that although production, sales, and exports grew steadily in the first half of the year, weak demand and trade fluctuations remain. He proposed three paths: tech empowerment, green upgrading, and consumption insight. Zhu Xiaohong, President of the China Home Textile Association, reviewed the achievements of the 14th Five-Year Plan, noting that the fabric industry faces profit pressure due to real estate downturn and rising raw material costs, with exports showing volume growth but price decline. These judgments imply that the old growth model reliant on real estate dividends and low-cost advantages is no longer viable, forcing the industry to find new value anchors.
Industry Impact
Keqiao's industrial data provides a practical footnote to this transformation. In 2025, the turnover of the China Textile City exceeded 440 billion yuan, with nearly 8,000 curtain fabric enterprises and an annual output value of nearly 70 billion yuan. Such a massive scale means any minor efficiency gain can yield substantial economic benefits. Therefore, the application of AI technology is highly anticipated. Zhao Lu, Global VP of Collov AI, pointed out that spatial AI can solve the high-cost pain points of sampling, real-scene shooting, and scene expression. By using world models for spatial analysis and material replacement, it can save hundreds of thousands of yuan in offline sampling and real shooting costs. For small and medium-sized fabric enterprises, this means that digital capabilities previously only affordable for large brands are now becoming accessible in a lightweight manner.
Original design is also elevated to a strategic level. Lin Shaowu, brand consultant at Tianyu New Materials, addressed the dilemma of price wars and product homogenization, proposing a return to real home scenarios. Targeting the 300 million people with sleep disorders and new demands like separate bedding, he suggested combining temperature control and antibacterial functions with healing colors, building a product matrix of image, profit, and traffic items. The logic is that when functionality becomes standard, design language and brand recognition are the sources of pricing power. Associate Professor Ji Feng from Donghua University showcased AI-based color matching and CNN fiber identification technologies, which are bridging the gap between lab and production, providing practical detection solutions for functional and digital fabrics.
The expansion of overseas channels is another significant signal. Zhang Xiaocun, partner at Modeng Media, shared TikTok platform data, covering over 150 countries with 2 billion monthly active users, with Southeast Asia and Latin America leading in home furnishing category growth. For nearly 8,000 curtain fabric enterprises in Keqiao, this means cross-border e-commerce is no longer exclusive to leading enterprises but an incremental market that SMEs can leverage. Tactics like immersive short videos, local influencers, and industrial belt traceability live streaming offer replicable paths for factories and brands.