As the global textile industry stands at a triple crossroads—efficiency versus resilience, point-specific empowerment versus full-chain reshaping, and consensus versus binding constraints—a major industry event set to define the next five years is about to unfold in Keqiao, China's textile capital. On November 6, 2026, the 9th World Textile Merchandising Conference will gather decision-makers and innovators from over 60 key textile countries and regions. Behind this conference lie Keqiao's H1 GDP growth of 7%, a 16% rise in foreign trade exports, and a 9.1% surge in the China Textile City's transaction volume—proof that the digital intelligence wave has moved from concept to tangible results.
Event Background
Since its inception in 2018, the World Textile Merchandising Conference has been held eight times, becoming one of the most influential exchange platforms in the global textile sector. This edition, themed "Interconnection Across Warps and Wefts: Smartly Enabling a New Global Textile Future," coincides with the eve of the 15th Five-Year Plan. At the press conference, Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, proposed three initiatives: reshaping industry boundaries through digital intelligence, leading a sustainable future through the integration of digital and green technologies, and safeguarding industry security through open collaboration. These proposals correspond to real shifts: industrial layout moving from efficiency-first to a balance of safety and resilience, AI evolving from single-point applications to full-chain penetration, and green standards transitioning from voluntary commitments to trade entry requirements.
Keqiao, known as the "International Textile Capital," provides data that substantiates the conference theme: H1 regional GDP reached 122 billion yuan, up 7.0%; foreign trade exports from January to July totaled 110.34 billion yuan, up 16%; and the China Textile City's total transaction volume hit 268.36 billion yuan, up 9.1%. Behind these figures lie the dual engines of a hundred-billion-level industrial scale and a four-hundred-billion-level market turnover, as well as the implementation of policy packages such as "one project, one mechanism, one pilot, one action." For buyers, Keqiao's growth momentum signals strengthening supply chain stability; for foreign trade companies, the 16% export growth reflects both recovering global demand and enhanced local industrial competitiveness.
Industry Impact
The conference will release the "2027 World Textile Industry Trend Outlook" and showcase replicable case studies on core issues such as industrial resilience, low-carbon transformation, and deep application of digital intelligence. Notably, Yan Yan, Vice President of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation, proposed a five-dimensional development path—technological innovation, value upgrading, green low-carbon, ecosystem collaboration, and global governance—mapping a route for China's textile industry to shift from "scale advantage" to "rule advantage." Among these, original technology breakthroughs in high-performance fibers, intelligent textiles, and digital twin manufacturing will directly alter the evaluation criteria for fabric procurement. Meanwhile, the international alignment of green standards and carbon accounting systems means export enterprises must proactively manage their carbon footprint to avoid losing market access in future trade barriers.
Keqiao's "three world-class" goals—world-class large market, world-class industrial base, and world-class science and technology innovation platform—further refine the transformation path. Market renovation and the integration of "market+" business models will affect merchants' channel structures and customer engagement methods. Full-chain upgrading and digital intelligence empowerment require factories to increase investment in equipment automation and management digitalization. Pan Jianhua, Chairman of Zhejiang China Textile City Group, revealed that the "15th Five-Year Plan" will likely focus on market digital infrastructure, cross-border trade services, and supply chain finance—changes that will reshape the transaction habits and capital turnover patterns of small and medium-sized buyers.