The textile industry is undergoing a deep transformation from scale expansion to value reshaping. On May 7, the 2026 China Textile Brand Innovation Development Training Conference and Brand Matchmaking Event was held in Keqiao, Shaoxing. The core signal from this event is that brand competition is no longer about single-point breakthroughs but full-chain system collaboration.
Background
Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), clearly identified the shift in the competitive landscape—enterprise competition is moving from point-based to system-based, with collaboration and symbiosis becoming the core logic of industrial development. This judgment is grounded in reality: the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee has designated the textile industry as a key sector for 'optimization and upgrading,' with brand building as a critical breakthrough point.
Keqiao responded swiftly. Song Qi, the district's party standing committee member and deputy mayor, outlined a clear path: using the industrial chain to enhance the innovation chain, and the value chain to shape the brand chain, driving textile brands from scale advantages to brand and value advantages. Keqiao plans to continuously optimize full-chain services for brand cultivation, trade matching, and intellectual property protection, aiming to become a key hub for innovation conversion and global market expansion.
Industry Impact
Supply chain transformation is becoming the core engine of brand upgrading. Former Anta Group Vice President Mao Yongjun pointed out that brands must break departmental silos, improve coordination efficiency between product and supply chain ends, and form rational category mixes, leading story selling points, effective management processes, and matched supply chain ecosystems to move toward both ends of the 'smile curve.' This means the supply chain is no longer a cost center but an amplifier of brand value.
Material innovation is another key track. The case of Fujian Yongrong Jinjiang shows that functional fiber R&D is shifting from single products to supply chain solutions, collaborating with garment and fabric suppliers to create label products with brand genes. The Baoxiniao Materials Research Institute proposed two strategies: injecting machine-washable, cooling, and anti-UV functions into traditional fabrics like cotton, linen, silk, and wool, while making synthetic fibers mimic natural fiber textures while retaining wrinkle resistance and easy-care advantages. This dual technical path is essentially reconstructing the value evaluation system of fabrics.
The rise of the new Hanfu segment is noteworthy. The company Niannian Youyu improved the silk-like effect and comfort of fabrics through blending fibers like cotton, linen, lyocell, and polyester, giving Hanfu advantages of fine texture, visual splendor, wearing comfort, and easy care. This is not simple cultural revival but category reengineering driven by material innovation.
Digital tools are becoming standard. Dongfang International's sharing indicated that 3D digital garment software shows strong advantages in development efficiency, cost control, and sustainability. Enterprises need to establish a data-driven scientific decision-making culture. Meanwhile, textile science popularizer Yao Weiming proposed from a new media perspective that outputting high-quality content is the core way to form long-tail effects, helping turn good products into good commodities.