On August 5, the mid-year work conference of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) for 2025 was held in Beijing. As a “weathervane” meeting for the development of the textile industry, this conference gathered leaders from industry associations, enterprise representatives, experts, and scholars. It aimed to anchor the direction and clarify the path for the industry’s next stage of development by systematically reviewing the industry’s operation in the first half of the year and accurately analyzing the development trend for the second half.
First Half of the Year: Steady and Positive Growth, Core Indicators Show Resilience and Vitality
The industry report released at the conference outlined the “transcript” of the textile industry in the first half of 2025 with solid data, with the core keyword being “steady and positive”.
Leading capacity utilization efficiency: The capacity utilization rate of the textile industry was 2.3 percentage points higher than the national industrial average in the same period. Behind this data lies the industry’s maturity in responding to market demand and optimizing production scheduling, as well as a sound ecosystem where leading enterprises and small, medium, and micro enterprises develop in coordination. Leading enterprises have improved production capacity flexibility through intelligent transformation, while small, medium, and micro enterprises have maintained stable operations relying on their advantages in niche markets, jointly promoting the overall capacity utilization efficiency of the industry to remain at a high level.
Multiple growth indicators flourishing: In terms of core economic indicators, the added value of the textile industry increased by 4.1% year-on-year, higher than the average growth rate of the manufacturing industry; the completed amount of fixed-asset investment increased by 6.5% year-on-year, among which investment in technological transformation accounted for more than 60%, indicating that enterprises continue to increase investment in equipment renewal, digital transformation, green production, and other fields; the total export volume increased by 3.8% year-on-year. Against the backdrop of a complex and volatile global trade environment, China’s textile products have maintained or increased their share in major markets such as Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and countries along the “Belt and Road” relying on their advantages in quality, design, and supply chain resilience. In particular, the export growth rate of high-end fabrics, functional textiles, brand clothing, and other products was significantly higher than the industry average.
Behind these data is the structural optimization of the textile industry under the guidance of the development concept of “technology, fashion, green, and health”. Technological empowerment has continuously improved product added value; enhanced fashion attributes have driven domestic textile brands to move towards high-end; green transformation has accelerated the low-carbon development of the industry; and healthy and functional products have met the needs of consumption upgrading. These multiple factors have jointly built a “resilient chassis” for industry growth.
Second Half of the Year: Anchoring Directions, Seizing Certainty Amid Uncertainties
While affirming the achievements in the first half of the year, the conference also clearly pointed out the challenges facing the industry in the second half: the weak recovery of the global economy may suppress external demand growth; fluctuations in raw material prices will still test enterprises’ cost control capabilities; the risk of trade frictions caused by the rise of international trade protectionism cannot be ignored; and the recovery rhythm of the domestic consumer market needs further observation.
Faced with these “instabilities and uncertainties”, the conference clarified the development focus of the industry in the second half of the year, which is still to make practical efforts around the four directions of “technology, fashion, green, and health”:
Technology-driven: Continuously promote key technological research, accelerate the in-depth integration of artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, and other technologies with textile production, design, marketing, and other links, cultivate a number of “specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and novel” enterprises and high-tech products, break through technical bottlenecks in fields such as high-end fabrics and functional fibers, and enhance the core competitiveness of the industry.
Fashion leadership: Strengthen the construction of original design capabilities, support enterprises to participate in international fashion exhibitions and release their own brand trends, promote in-depth integration of “Chinese fabrics” and “Chinese clothing” with the international fashion industry, and at the same time explore traditional cultural elements to create fashion IPs with Chinese characteristics and enhance the international influence of domestic textile brands.
Green transformation: Guided by the “dual carbon” goals, promote the use of clean energy, circular economy models, and green manufacturing technologies, expand the application scope of green materials such as recycled fibers and bio-based fibers, improve the green standard system of the textile industry, and promote the greening of the entire industrial chain from fiber production to clothing recycling to meet the demand for green products in domestic and foreign markets.
Health upgrading: Focus on the consumer market’s demand for health, comfort, and functionality, increase research and development and industrialization of functional textiles such as antibacterial, anti-ultraviolet, moisture-absorbing and sweat-wicking, and flame-retardant textiles, expand the application scenarios of textile products in medical and health, sports and outdoor, smart home, and other fields, and cultivate new growth points.
In addition, the conference emphasized the need to strengthen industrial chain collaboration, improve supply chain resilience, support enterprises in exploring diversified markets, especially deeply cultivating domestic sinking markets and emerging markets along the “Belt and Road”, and hedge against external risks through “internal and external linkage”; at the same time, give full play to the role of industry associations as a bridge, provide enterprises with services such as policy interpretation, market information, and trade friction response, help enterprises relieve difficulties, and gather the joint efforts for industry development.
The convening of this mid-year work conference not only marked a phased end to the development of the textile industry in the first half of the year but also injected confidence into the industry’s progress in the second half with a clear sense of direction and a practical action plan. As emphasized at the conference, the more complex the environment, the more we must adhere to the main line of development of “technology, fashion, green, and health” — this is not only the “unchanging way” for the textile industry to achieve high-quality development but also the “key strategy” to seize certainty amid uncertainties.
Post time: Aug-09-2025