While the global textile industry is still digesting inventory cycles and demand divergence, Keqiao in Zhejiang has presented a set of counter-trend growth figures: H1 GDP reached 122 billion yuan with 7.0% growth, exports from January to July totaled 110.34 billion yuan, up 16%, and the China Textile City's turnover hit 268.36 billion yuan, up 9.1%. These numbers were released at the Shanghai press conference for the 9th World Fabric Merchants Conference, but their significance goes far beyond a trade show preview—they suggest that a new industrial paradigm driven by digital intelligence and green transition is taking shape in Keqiao.
Event Background
The 9th World Fabric Merchants Conference will be held on November 6, 2026, in Keqiao, Shaoxing, under the theme "Interconnection of Warps and Wefts, Intelligent Future of Global Textiles." Since its inception in 2018, the platform has been held eight times, adhering to the principles of joint consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. This edition is particularly significant as it falls at the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, and the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has explicitly listed the textile industry as a key sector for "optimization and upgrading." The combination of policy signals and industry cycles makes this conference a window into the recalibration of global textile development.
Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), offered three observations: industrial layout is shifting from efficiency-first to a balance of security and resilience; artificial intelligence is moving from single-point empowerment to full-chain reshaping; and green development is evolving from a consensus to a binding constraint. These statements outline the new competitive tracks for the global textile industry over the next five years—those who can forge resilience through openness, define standards through collaboration, and build responsibility through green and intelligent practices will gain the upper hand in the next round of value chain distribution.
Industrial Impact
Keqiao's industrial confidence stems from its "hundred-billion-level industrial scale and four-hundred-billion-level market transaction volume," but the quality of its growth structure is more noteworthy. Export growth (16%) significantly outpaced GDP growth (7%), indicating that international market demand remains robust, but with higher requirements for supply-side responsiveness, low-carbon compliance, and digital services. The 9.1% growth in the China Textile City's turnover suggests that offline professional markets, after weathering e-commerce disruptions, are regaining pricing power through integrated "market+" business models and the "Full of Textiles" global network.
For buyers and foreign trade enterprises, the three highlights of the conference offer direct reference value. First, over 60 textile-focused countries and regions will send institutions, associations, and leading enterprises to Keqiao, allowing buyers to compare multi-regional supply chains in one venue, reducing cross-border sourcing costs. Second, the conference will release the "2027 World Textile Industry Trend Outlook," which is a bellwether for planning next year's procurement or capacity layout. Third, over ten parallel activities will form a linkage matrix, creating a closed loop from trend release to technical matchmaking, making participation more efficient than single-point industry meetings.
Another signal not to be overlooked is that artificial intelligence is moving from concept to workshop floor. Yan Yan, Vice President of CNTAC, outlined five dimensions of effort, with high-performance fibers, intelligent textiles, and digital twin manufacturing listed as key areas for original technology research, while emphasizing the use of industry-level industrial internet platforms to break down data barriers across the supply chain. This implies that the competitive divide in textiles over the next two years may not be about cheaper labor, but about who can use data to respond quickly to small-batch orders, trace carbon footprints, and provide supply chain visibility.
Song Qi, Vice Governor of Keqiao District, revealed the "Three World-Class" goals—world-class market, world-class industrial base, and world-class sci-tech innovation platform—which essentially answer the question: after cost advantages shift to Southeast Asia, how can Chinese textile clusters upgrade from "scale plus speed" to "standards plus ecosystem." Pan Jianhua, Chairman of China Textile City Group, mentioned "market branding" and "intelligent trading" as concrete steps for this transformation. For factories, this means that outdated capacity that does not embrace digital transformation may be removed from the qualified supplier lists of premium buyers within the next two years.