Zhejiang’s Textile Industry Shines with Cluster Strength, Technological Innovation and Digital Transformation

With a long development history and Hangzhou known as the “City of Silk”, Zhejiang’s textile and garment industry has become a traditional advantageous and important people’s livelihood industry, supported by a complete industrial chain and strong cluster effect. In 2025, above-scale textile and garment enterprises in Zhejiang achieved an operating income of 1.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 25.5% of the national total and ranking first in China; the export volume of textiles reached 95.331 billion US dollars, accounting for 32.4% of the national export total, also ranking first in the country.

Currently, adhering to the new path of industrialization, Zhejiang focuses on key textile industrial belts including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Jiaxing, and lists the modern textile and garment industrial cluster into the province’s “415X” advanced manufacturing clusters for cultivation. It is also promoting the transformation of the industrial chain towards high-end, intelligent and green development, driving enterprises to carry out digital transformation and continuously polishing the “golden card” of Zhejiang’s textile and garment industry.

Industrial cluster cultivation has become a key driving force. Zhuji Datang Sock Industry in Shaoxing, with a 50-year history, produces over 25 billion pairs of socks annually with an output value exceeding 70 billion yuan, accounting for 70% of the national total and one-third of the global total. Shaoxing Keqiao, known as the “International Textile Capital”, has built a complete industrial chain covering upstream polyester and spinning, midstream weaving and dyeing, and downstream clothing and home textiles. Its China Light Textile City, founded in 1988, has become the world’s largest textile distribution center, with over 50,000 kinds of products and sales networks in more than 200 countries and regions.

Technological innovation provides strong support. A joint project by Zhejiang Jiaxin Silk Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University won the first prize of the “Textile Light” Technology Progress Award in 2025. Zhejiang has built a full-chain collaborative innovation system, with the Zhejiang Modern Textile Technology Innovation Center as a typical example, exploring a mechanism to connect scientific research with industrial needs and promoting the transformation of laboratory achievements into marketable products.

Digital transformation is accelerating. Tongkun Holding Group in Tongxiang has built an AI-driven decision-making platform, realizing the transformation of production decisions from experience-driven to data-driven. Dali Silk in Xinchang has invested over 200 million yuan in a full-process digital system, developing an intelligent unmanned workshop. Financial support is also provided for enterprises’ transformation, helping old enterprises achieve technological upgrading. Zhejiang has issued measures to support digital transformation, forming an upgrading path from digital workshops to intelligent factories.

With continuous efforts in cluster cultivation, technological innovation and digital transformation, Zhejiang’s textile industry is accelerating high-quality development, contributing to the province’s economic growth and industrial upgrading.