Three days, 49 companies, over 20,000 visitors, and nearly 100 intended cooperations—these figures defined the 4th China Textile City Seoul Textile & Accessory Fair held from August 19 to 21. More telling than the numbers, however, is the scene of Korean local brands like Lotte Fashion, JAJU, and GSGM surrounding Keqiao exhibitors, and the spotlight on green recycled fabrics—a signal that Keqiao textiles are repositioning themselves within the East Asian supply chain.
Event Data and Category Structure
Co-hosted by Zhejiang China Textile City Group and the Korea Federation of Textile Industries, the fair brought together 49 Keqiao enterprises displaying over 10,000 fabrics, including knits, wovens, recycled eco-friendly, functional, and original printed varieties. The category mix focused on natural cotton, green recycled, sports functional, washed-down finishes, cotton-nylon blends, and embroidery, precisely matching the procurement needs of Korean women's wear, casual, fast fashion, and outdoor apparel. The fair attracted over 20,000 visitors and generated nearly 100 intended cooperations, with a vibrant atmosphere for trade negotiations.
Industry Impact: From Selling Fabrics to Embedding in the Chain
Behind these numbers lies a shift in Keqiao's textile export strategy. In the past, exhibitors often limited themselves to displaying samples and exchanging business cards. This time, prior to the fair, the Keqiao delegation visited leading Korean brands such as Hyundai and Donggwang International, researching popular colors, print trends, and sustainable procurement standards. This indicates that Keqiao enterprises are no longer passively waiting for orders but actively embedding themselves at the front end of Korean brands' supply chains, using pre-fair research to guide product development and turning "small-order, quick-response" from a slogan into an operational reality.
The prominence of green sustainable fabrics at the fair was no coincidence. As ESG concepts deepen in the Korean market, local apparel brands are increasingly demanding GRS- and RCS-certified fabrics. Many Keqiao companies brought recycled series fabrics with relevant certifications, which drew significant attention from buyers. This shows that beyond price and lead-time advantages, Keqiao fabrics are attempting to add value through environmental certifications—a "hard currency" that secures a stronger position in the East Asian supply chain.
The commercial value of offline exhibitions is also being reassessed. Fabrics are strongly physical products; online images cannot convey hand-feel, drape, or finishing techniques. At the fair, buyers could touch fabrics directly and discuss processes, sampling, and delivery face-to-face, quickly building trust. Shaoxing Fanda Textile's T/R fancy yarn fabrics and Yeshuai Textile's washed cotton-nylon blends both received sample requests and quotations thanks to physical displays. This underscores that in high-value fabric transactions, physical experience remains an irreplaceable trust anchor, and exhibitions are the most efficient carrier of this trust mechanism.
Company Feedback and Fair Iteration Direction
Exhibitor feedback also offers clues for fair improvement. Zhu Fei, head of Shaoxing Changran Textile, suggested strengthening invitations for precise overseas buyers and providing digital visitor directories or simple matchmaking services. Jin Jinghua of Shaoxing Dongcan Textile and Weng Jiani of Shaoxing Changdi Import & Export both emphasized the importance of face-to-face communication in building stable cooperative relationships. These frontline voices indicate that the fair's value is extending from "transaction matching" to "information feedback"—enterprises collect trend insights and customer pain points during intensive exchanges, feeding them back into R&D and overseas expansion.