With an annual output value of nearly 70 billion yuan and cross-border e-commerce transactions of 800-900 million USD, Keqiao's curtain and fabric industry has reached a critical inflection point. The 2026 China Home Textile Association Fabric Branch Annual Meeting held in this industrial cluster signaled that the competitive landscape is shifting from mere production capacity to a combination of design, data, and global channel capabilities.
Industrial Cluster: Scale Advantages and Transformation Leverage
Keqiao's industrial scale is unmatched nationally. In 2025, the China Textile City recorded a transaction volume of over 440 billion yuan, with nearly 8,000 curtain and fabric enterprises forming a complete upstream-downstream supply chain. This density enables rapid sampling and fast product iteration, but it also intensifies homogenization. Liang Pengcheng, Vice President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, noted that while production, sales, and exports grew steadily in the first half of the year, the industry faces weak demand and trade fluctuations. The implication is clear: scale-driven growth has peaked, and the cluster's advantage must now translate into agile market response rather than mere volume.
Zhu Xiaohong, President of the China Home Textile Association, highlighted more pressing challenges during the '14th Five-Year Plan' review: the real estate downturn has compressed demand from new home decoration, while rising raw material costs have eroded already thin margins. Exports show a trend of volume growth but price decline, indicating that Chinese fabrics still compete on quantity rather than value. However, Keqiao's complete supply chain acts as a buffer, allowing companies to test new materials and processes locally before expanding overseas through initiatives like the 'Silk Road Keqiao · Fabrics Worldwide' program. This 'front-store, back-factory' model is difficult for other scattered production areas to replicate.
Technology Pathways: AI and Functionality Redefining Product Value
The most disruptive signals came from the technology front. Donghua University Associate Professor Ji Feng demonstrated an AI-based color matching system that uses a massive dye database to solve digital printing color deviation issues, replacing the reliance on veteran craftsmen's experience. More notably, a fiber polarization image library combined with CNN deep learning enables non-destructive, rapid fabric composition identification, challenging traditional chemical testing methods. For exporters, shorter testing cycles mean faster capital turnover. These technologies are not confined to laboratories; they are ready for commercialization in curtain enterprises.
Another key trend is spatial AI. Collov AI's world model can generate realistic effect images in minutes, compressing the lengthy process of sampling, photography, and post-production. This transforms the sales logic from selling fabric to selling complete spatial solutions. Functional fabrics with phase-change temperature control and nano-modification cater to the 300 million people with sleep disorders and the rise of home offices, upgrading curtains from shading tools to components of healthy living. The ultimate goal is to help companies escape price wars and establish differentiation through data and functionality.
Market Restructuring: Going Global is No Longer Optional
With domestic soft furnishing growth slowing, overseas expansion has become the primary incremental market. TikTok's coverage of over 150 countries and 2 billion monthly active users offers small factories a low-barrier path to global reach. Southeast Asia and Latin America are leading in home category growth, indicating consumption upgrades where demand shifts from basic functionality to aesthetic and smart features. Strategies such as immersive short videos, local influencer collaborations, and live-streaming from the Keqiao industrial belt are rebuilding trust in foreign trade—moving from trade show orders to content-driven brand awareness. Notably, the three-tier product matrix (basic, functional, co-branded) requires rapid supply chain iteration, which Keqiao's cluster is well-positioned to support.