While the national home textile industry recorded a mere 0.96% revenue growth for large-scale enterprises, Haining's home textile sector surged by 9.2% in the first half of the year. This nearly ten-fold growth gap is not a simple regional variation but a clear signal of industrial model divergence. The 35th Haining Home Textile Expo confirmed this trend with striking figures: 250,000 square meters of exhibition space, over 2,500 source factories, and a 22.1% increase in first-day visitor traffic. Amid weak domestic and international demand, why is Haining bucking the trend? The answer lies in four decades of industrial evolution—from a single piece of fabric to a complete home, and then to an entire city.
Industrial Evolution: From Family Workshops to Fashion Manufacturing
Haining's home textile industry started in family workshops in Xucun Town, gradually building a pattern of "north home textiles, south garments, and digital in the middle." Today, Haining commands a market share of over 35%, ranking first nationally, and has been included in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "China Consumer Brand" list. The key to this leap lies in proactive positioning—shifting from low-end manufacturing to high-end design and production, and from single fabric supply to whole-home soft furnishing solutions.
This year, Haining Home Textile City was listed as a provincial pilot for professional market transformation, focusing on a "one center, four markets" layout to build an international fashion center and develop distinctive markets for national style, digital, and original designs. This means Haining is no longer content to be just a fabric distribution hub but aims to become a modern composite industrial ecosystem. For buyers, this transformation promises more concentrated design resources, richer product categories, and more efficient supply chain coordination.
Exhibition Upgrade: From Trading Venue to Trendsetter
The most noteworthy signal of this expo is the fundamental shift in its role. Previous editions were largely "fabric fairs," but this year's first-ever 2026/27 Home Textile Color Trend Zone and the country's first sofa fabric design week indicate that Haining is moving from product trading to trend definition. Four trend themes—"Earthly Origin," "Gilded Weave," "Cross-Domain Art," and "East-West Harmony"—from healing to minimalism, drama to cultural fusion, outline the direction for next season's home textile colors.
What does this shift mean for exhibitors? Huang Bense, general manager of Hong Kong Bense, put it bluntly: exhibiting elsewhere is costly and exhausting, while the Haining expo is at their doorstep and highly effective. The expo is no longer a three-day trading event but a comprehensive release of industrial services, covering trend release, design transformation, trade growth, and cultural heritage. For buyers, this means a single visit can complete the entire chain from trend insight to product selection, significantly improving decision-making efficiency.
Collaborative Innovation: Mutual Empowerment Between Universities and Industry
Haining's transformation is not a solo effort. Since 2020, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and Haining Home Textile City have jointly built platforms such as the Fashion Fabric Innovation Center and the Textile Intangible Cultural Heritage Creative Hall. Last year, they signed a project for the Haining Fashion Industry Technology Innovation R&D Center, bridging the gap from university research labs to industrial production lines. This university-industry collaboration provides sustained talent and technical support for original design implementation and traditional craft revitalization.
The unveiling of the International Silk Creative R&D Center during the expo further integrates silk aesthetics into the home textile industry. For factories, this means product development is no longer done in isolation but can leverage academic strengths to respond quickly to trends like consumption upgrading, digital empowerment, and green transformation. Haining's high growth in the first half is largely attributed to long-term investment in digital technological renovation and original design cultivation—fruits of collaborative innovation.