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On January 12, the "China Textile and Garment Industry Opening to the North Development Conference" was held in Harbin, the Ice City, and Sun Ruizhe, President of the China Textile and Apparel Federation, delivered a speech.
China's textile and garment industry to the world
Sun Ruizhe , President of China National Textile and Apparel Council
On January 12, 2024 , "the east wind expresses the remaining joy, and the sun and the moon open a new year". I am very happy to meet with you at the beginning of the new year in Harbin, the charming city of Northeast Asia and the city of ice and snow. On September 7, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his important speech at the symposium on promoting the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China in the new era held in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, that the current promotion of the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China faces new major opportunities. Northeast China is an important gateway for China's opening up to the north, and its strategic position and role in strengthening regional cooperation in Northeast Asia and connecting domestic and international dual circulations in China are becoming increasingly prominent. We must enhance our awareness of the frontier and openness, strengthen our ties with the eastern coastal areas and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, deeply integrate into the joint construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative", and play a greater role in unblocking the domestic circulation and connecting domestic and international dual circulations. As a hub city for China's opening up to the north, Harbin has been given the strategic positioning of "a highland for comprehensive cooperation with Russia and Northeast Asia and a national logistics hub connecting China and radiating Europe and Asia" by the state. In recent years, Harbin has accelerated the creation of a "northward opening capital" based on its locational advantages, China's textile and garment industry to the international market and playing a unique role on the world fashion stage. China's textile and garment industry is a beneficiary of global economic and trade cooperation, and an important contributor to the prosperity and development of the global textile and garment industry. The purpose of holding the China Textile and Garment Industry Northward Open Development Conference is to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought of "building a new high ground for my country's northward opening", implement the global development initiative, and find a starting point in "breaking and establishing"; implement the global security initiative, find a balance in "competition and cooperation"; implement the global civilization initiative, and find a resonance point in "difference and similarity". We must adhere to the mutually beneficial and win-win open development strategy, integrate China's development into the world's development, stand on a new position, explore new paths, and achieve higher-quality global development of China's textile and garment industry. I would like to take this opportunity to share three aspects with you.
1. The era of opportunities for China's textile and garment industry to go global
Chinese fashion is gradually showing its edge in the world, forming a strong market influence and unique identity recognition, playing a more important role and establishing a more sonorous discourse. New industrial highlands are emerging. Affected by factors such as shrinking overseas demand and high risk in the trade environment, in the three quarters of 2023, China's exports of textiles and clothing to the United States, the European Union, Japan, and ASEAN decreased year-on-year in the main export markets, but during the same period, exports to Turkey and Russia along the "Belt and Road" achieved a good growth of 6.2% and 20.1% year-on-year respectively. From January to November 2023, the export of textiles and clothing in Heilongjiang Province grew rapidly, with a year-on-year growth rate of 33.06%, much higher than the national growth rate during the same period. With the accelerated promotion of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", China's opening-up policy has further tilted towards the central and western regions, and extended its opening to the north to Mongolia, Russia, Central Asia, West Asia, Northeast Asia and Europe. In December 2023, the port authorities of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, the five provinces and regions that are open to the north, jointly signed the "Framework Agreement on Deep Cooperation of Port Cities Open to the North", and eight Sino-foreign cooperation projects were signed, covering mutual trade platforms, cross-border e-commerce, international trade and other fields, bringing development opportunities and vast space to the new round of international cooperation in China's textile and garment industry. Second, the new mode of production is being reconstructed. Industrial manufacturing is undergoing strategic reshaping, systematic upgrading and overall transition. Intelligent manufacturing is moving towards virtual-real integration, knowledge-driven, dynamic optimization, safety and efficiency, green and low-carbon, promoting manufacturing technology breakthroughs, process innovation, lean management and business process reengineering; artificial intelligence, metaverse and blockchain technology collaborative innovation, bringing about a two-way improvement in production efficiency and consumer experience; generative AI profoundly changes business models, production relations and ecological composition. Gartner predicts that more than 80% of companies will use generative AI in 2026. At the same time, China's textile and garment industry continues to accelerate the creation of a more intelligent, flexible, and green supply chain system, strengthen international cooperation and network construction of green supply chains, and actively support green production, green consumption and green investment. In 2021, the import and export volume of commodities listed in the "List of Green Product Evaluation Standards and Certification Catalog" will reach US$757.81 billion, of which textile products rank; from 2013 to 2022, China's textile industry will directly invest about US$6 billion in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, accounting for about 50% of the industry's global investment. Among them, green production, green consumption,n and green investment have become the core value of overseas textile companies in building a global textile and clothing supply chain in the process of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative. Third, a new consumer culture is emerging. The new consumer culture dominated by Generation Z has begun to have the attributes of the circle, personalization, emphasis on appearance, and strong sociality. New scenarios such as live streaming, store-to-home delivery, community group buying, and contactless delivery are becoming increasingly popular. At the same time, consumer trends the business trend, "vacation economy", "healing economy", "sports economy", and "ice and snow economy" drive the growth points of new consumer economies, and "self-pleasing" consumption, rational consumption, and experiential consumption have gradually become mainstream. The changes in the new consumer culture continue to drive subversive business models and diversified marketing strategies. The "2024 Global Fashion Industry Report" survey released by BOF and McKinsey pointed out that 71% of fashion executives plan to increase brand marketing spending in 2024, and 46% of executives plan to invest more funds in performance marketing.
2. Innovative Practices of China's Textile and Garment Industry Going Global
Under the background of globalization, China's textile and garment industry has actively explored and practiced in technology, culture, marketing, etc., strengthened cooperation with the global market, expanded the global industrial layout, and injected new vitality into Chinese brands entering the global market. The technological creativity of Chinese textile and garment brands has been significantly enhanced. The confidence to go global comes from technical reserves and technological innovation. Hengli, Shenghong, Weiqiao and Bosideng, four textile and garment brands, were selected into the 2023 "World Top 500 Brands" ranking compiled by World Brand Lab. From "quality manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing", from "going out" to "going up", Chinese textile and garment brands have begun to create products, develop in the direction of brand premium and technology premium, gradually occupy the commanding heights of the industry, master the right to speak in technology, and appear successful samples on the global fashion stage. For example, in 2023, Bosideng Milan Da Vinci Manor debuted "Redefining Lightweight Down Jackets", with six innovative splicings that overturned the traditional lightweight down jacket craftsmanship; in September 2023, Anta launched the Anta "Storm Armor" equipped with "Anta Membrane", which is positioned as a rainstorm-proof comfortable jacket. The advent and popularization of "Anta Membrane" broke the technical and price barriers of foreign technology in the field of high-performance waterproof and breathable materials; Xiyin established its clothing manufacturing innovation research center with a complete set of infrastructure throughout the flexible supply chain, combining innovative practices of on-demand production with lean production for cutting-edge exploration, and its valuation ranked third among global unicorn companies. Second, the cultural integration of Chinese textile and clothing brands is increasing. The confidence to go global comes from cultural confrontation and cultural integration. From imitating and following international brands to finding breakthroughs in overseas styles, creating brand characteristics with Chinese imprints and oriental aesthetics has become the main path for companies to go global. Ruzhihe continues to expand internationally, creating products through the Chinese aesthetics of Paris designers, and its menswear, workshop line and environmentally friendly line products are very popular; in 2023, brands such as Li Ning, UMA WANG and Living on the Left will appear at the Paris Fashion Week, demonstrating the international style of Chinese aesthetics; on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the "Belt and Road" initiative, brands such as nunu&nono, Liuli and Lacoti will appear at the 2023 Paris•China-France Fashion Week, empowering the international dissemination of China's traditional culture with design. Third, the market development capabilities of Chinese textile and clothing brands are constantly optimized. The success of going global comes from channel construction and market landing. The methodology precipitated from the Chinese market, unique overseas market insights and high-level supply chain systems, as well as the efficient use of global e-commerce, global payment and logistics systems, jointly support Chinese textile and clothing companies to accurately reach major markets around the world. The "2023 Domestic Brand Overseas Development Report" pointed out that from 2018 to 2021, the brand awareness and purchase intention of Chinese brands in overseas markets increased by 4.9% and 1.4% respectively. More and more brands are opening offline stores in foreign markets, demonstrating their omni-channel layout capabilities and brand strength. According to statistics, among the 46 consumer brand companies listed in the list of "100 textile and clothing brands to be cultivated" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 32.6% have opened offline stores abroad, and 21.7% have expanded their international markets through cross-border e-commerce. For example, Erke has formed an image of terminals with specialty stores as the main body, integrating multi-brand counters, store-in-store, e-commerce and other formats to cover overseas channels; UR has launched an independent overseas website and entered AliExpress, realizing a multi-channel layout of offline stores + online stores + e-commerce platforms; Neiwai conducts marketing on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube platforms, and conveys brand values and product characteristics through KOLs, KOCs, brand ambassadors, etc.
3. Innovative Paths for China’s Textile and Garment Industry to Go Global
The report " Top 50 Chinese Global Brands in 2023" points out that more and more Chinese brands are constantly improving their product research and development and iteration capabilities based on their insights into global consumption and overseas regions, and shaping a new overseas image of "Made in China" and "Made in China". Going to the world fashion stage is an important strategy to promote the transformation of Chinese products into Chinese brands, and is a concrete practice of building Chinese-style modernization at a high level. In August 2023, the China National Textile and Apparel Council issued the "Action Outline for Building a Modernized Textile Industry System (2022-2035)", which gave a Chinese solution to the construction of a modernized textile industry system. It proposed "establishing a coordinated and linked textile regional integration development action" and "promoting the international supply chain enhancement action of dual circulation", and planned a clear action roadmap for China's textile and garment industry to the world. Based on the new journey of accelerating the construction of a modernized textile industry system, facing the new opportunities of building a new high ground for China's opening up to the north, and focusing on the Chinese textile and garment industry going to the world, here are three suggestions: Relying on fulcrum cities, leverage the industry system's opening up to the north. The Belt and Road Initiative runs through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, with the active East Asian economic circle on one end and the developed European economic circle on the other. The vast hinterland countries in between have great potential for economic development. Harbin, located in the center of Northeast Asia, has and integrates the geographical advantages of being located in the fashion belt of 45° north latitude, the locational advantages of the center of cooperation with Russia, the advantages of the European culture that combines Chinese and Western cultures, and the policy advantages of building "three districts and one port". In the future, we should take high-end, intelligent and green development as the direction, rely on Harbin, the fulcrum city in the north, explore the establishment of China's textile and clothing "opening to the north" headquarters base, gather, converge and integrate the high-quality industrial resources of the entire textile and clothing industry in China, give play to the fulcrum effect of the central hub belt and the headquarters base, strengthen the coordination with the national strategy of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the national strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the national strategy of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; focus on Russia, face Northeast Asia and Europe, build high-level and wide-ranging cooperation carriers, accelerate a number of open platforms and free trade pilot zones to carry out institutional linkage innovation exploration, and leverage the whole industry to build a system coordination and strategic synchronization of the industrial chain, innovation chain, service chain, talent chain and capital chain that are open to the north. Second, build trade channels to facilitate the opening of the consumer market to the north. The "Annual Report on China's Cross-border E-commerce Trade" released by the General Administration of Customs in June 2023 shows that in 2022, the scale of China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports exceeded 2 trillion yuan for the time, reaching 2.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.1% over 2021. As a key category of cross-border e-commerce exports in my country, clothing accounts for more than 10% of the country's cross-border e-commerce exports, and has huge development potential. In the future, we should rely on the locational advantages and resource endowments of my country's new highland of opening up to the north. On the one hand, we should build cross-border trade channels for the textile and clothing industry, jointly build industrial cooperation in the Northeast Asian region, the Eurasian Continental Bridge and the "Ice Silk Road", capture emerging consumer demands such as ice and snow tourism, outdoor sports, camping and leisure at home and abroad, promote the transformation of "channel economy" to "industrial economy", and promote the transformation of "passing economy" to "landing economy"; on the other hand, relying on self-owned e-commerce platforms, third-party e-commerce platforms, social media platforms, and cross-border service platforms such as the Northward Opening Development Headquarters, promote the substantial integration of cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade methods, and cultivate and expand new ways, new formats, and new models of cross-border trade. Third, promote cultural exchanges and improve the northward opening of industrial diplomacy. At present, Harbin International Fashion Week, jointly created by the China National Garment Association, the China Fashion Designers Association, the Harbin Municipal Government, and Hongbo Commercial, has attracted more than 1,000 international designers from nearly 70 countries to conduct global releases, gathering rich international designer resources and fashion industry resources; Hongbo Commercial, which was the in the country to propose the "Brand Highland Project", is also a commercial enterprise in Harbin, laying a solid consumer foundation for China's textile and garment industry to move from Harbin to the international market. The "2023-2024 Brand Globalization White Paper: Deep Globalization" shows that in the process of brand going overseas, marketing thinking has gradually shifted from the global output of product culture to a more localized adaptation that pays more attention to consumer experience. In the practice of global localization, brand products are constantly accelerating the organic combination of globalization and localization. In the future, we should fully rely on the fashion exchange platform of Harbin International Fashion Week to promote industrial diplomacy with fashion and cultural exchange as the core, empower China's textile and garment industry to establish itself in the process of globalization, deeply understand the history, culture, lifestyle and consumption preferences of the target market, create new expressions, new experiences and new faces that integrate China and foreign countries, and promote the globalization, regionalization and segmented expression of Chinese fashion in the process of localization and adaptation, so as to the world to have a deep emotional cohesion and value recognition for more fashion cultures with Chinese characteristics, embodying Chinese spirit and containing Chinese wisdom. "To see the silver mountain beat the sky waves, open the window and let the river in". As one of the sources of Chinese civilization, the Xianbei culture, Bohai culture, Jinyuan culture and other historical cultures in the Heilongjiang River Basin have a long history, and modern cultures such as European culture, ice and snow culture, and music culture complement each other. Facing a new round of opening-up, let us strengthen our confidence, open our arms, and rely on the opportunity of Harbin’s construction of a new highland of “opening up to the north”. We will set sail with the wisdom of high-level opening-up, ride the mighty tide of the times, gather high-quality resources in the industry, and strengthen the brand’s mark of the times when it enters the world market. In the new window of opening up to the north, we will promote the construction of a modern textile and clothing industry system with international competitiveness, and write a splendid new chapter of Chinese-style modernization!
