Dialogue with Chen Dapeng, President of the China Garment Association: Fashion should move towards the cultural and creative industry | New Consumer Home

Ask AI · How can the apparel industry move from manufacturing to a cultural and creative industry?

21st Century Business Herald reporter He Hongyuan and intern Xu Hongruo, Shanghai report

The apparel industry has reached a critical turning point for transformation.

Objectively, the market is still in a period of fluctuation. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in January–December 2025, the value added by industrial enterprises above the designated size in China’s apparel industry fell by 3% year over year; the output of apparel from enterprises above the designated size fell by 3.44% year over year.

In the domestic sales segment, in January–December 2025, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 501202.4 billion yuan, up 3.7% year over year, with the growth rate slowing by 0.3 percentage points compared with January–November; online retail sales of apparel-related items grew by 1.9% year over year, with the growth rate slowing by 1.6 percentage points compared with January–November.

In the export segment, according to data from the General Administration of Customs, in January–December 2025, China’s cumulative exports of garments and clothing accessories totaled 1511.8 billion USD, down 5.0% year over year.

The good news is that new opportunities are emerging.

In the outline of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” the apparel industry appears with a relatively high frequency. In the section on “promoting quality improvement and upgrading of key industries,” it mentions “expanding the supply of high-quality products such as light industry and textiles.” By driving technological transformation and upgrading, developing intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing, and accelerating the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional light industry and textile industries.

In addition, in the chapter on “releasing the potential of service consumption,” it mentions “implementing the ice-and-snow tourism enhancement plan, developing leisure consumption such as cruise yachts and RV camping, and actively expanding low-altitude consumption,” which is conducive to indirectly boosting demand for outdoor apparel consumption.

Also, in the chapter on “promoting trade innovation and development,” it mentions “supporting the development of new forms of business and new models such as cross-border e-commerce, and optimizing the layout and functions of overseas warehouses,” supporting the development of cross-border e-commerce enterprises in the apparel sector and potentially strengthening the competitiveness of China’s apparel manufacturing globally.

Meanwhile, on the market side, tracks such as sports, outdoor sports, the trend of traditional Chinese styles (guofeng), and guochao are on the rise.

Industry insiders are also full of confidence about the future.

On March 13, 2026 China International Fashion Fair (CHIC2026 Spring Exhibition) closed in Shanghai. This year’s fair attracted 1,291 exhibitors and 1,335 brands from more than 10 countries and regions worldwide to participate. At the venue, with people coming and going, people talked about what is happening now as well as transformation and the future. HI PANDA founder Jiji said that this year, he will launch a new brand.

In the view of Chen Dapeng, vice chair of the China Textile Industry Federation and president of the China National Garment Association, the core resilience of the apparel industry comes from a fully market-oriented approach—when the market changes, the industry changes; by staying aligned with consumer needs and technological shifts, it continuously innovates, adjusts, and upgrades.

He also noted that China’s apparel industry’s industrial scale and technological level have already reached a globally leading position. The gap between China and world fashion powers is mainly reflected in the design creativity and cultural creation dimension. “From taking products to going global with brands, the most important thing is our design creativity. The apparel industry should not be limited to manufacturing industrial products; it also needs to move toward the cultural and creative industries. Apparel is both a carrier of culture and an important manifestation of cultural revitalization,” Chen Dapeng said.

It is also important to see that some apparel manufacturing enterprises continue to relocate production capacity overseas. In this regard, Chen Dapeng believes this is a normal market-oriented allocation of resources; he also mentioned that the space of the domestic market continues to expand.

Under the current market environment, what support does the apparel industry still need? During CHIC2026 Spring Exhibition, Chen Dapeng held a dialogue with reporters from 21st Century Business Herald.

《21st Century》: How do you view some apparel production capacity relocating to places like Southeast Asia?

Chen Dapeng: The apparel industry is an advantageous sector that integrates domestic and international circulation. At the beginning, we were export-oriented, including “going global”—these years, what the Premier talks about includes product going global, production capacity going global, investment capital going global, brand going global, and so on.

At present, the market layout is not something that can be changed based on anyone’s subjective will; it is market-oriented allocation of resources. Whether companies develop in China, go to Southeast Asia, or even go to Africa depends on companies’ own market orientation for the industry’s development and the needs for development and resource allocation.

On the other hand, very importantly, no matter how we lay out production and manufacturing globally, our design and R&D must be in our own hands. I think that is extremely important.

The companies that have relocated capacity overseas in the past two years will actually face some issues as well. This is a balance. The matter itself is not that the state or the industry necessarily requires that it be done in a certain way; rather, it is an inevitable balance in the market allocation of resources.

《21st Century》: From the perspective of the association, will you encourage more production capacity to stay in China?

Chen Dapeng: Whether a company produces in China or goes overseas still depends on the company’s own actual needs for industrial development.

My feeling is that our companies—including those going overseas—still take into account both domestic and international markets. It’s not as simple as everything going to Southeast Asia or somewhere else; they themselves are doing certain balancing.

In the past two years, fluctuations in the export market have been relatively large. At the same time, all kinds of new demands are emerging in the domestic market, and that is also worth paying attention to.

Our market is moving upward, and I absolutely agree that this is consumption upgrading. It’s not that when prices go down, consumption goes down; demand is increasing. Whether it’s the silver economy or whether it’s one old person and one young person, and the demand in different scenarios for outdoor sports—market space is huge.

《21st Century》: In the current market environment, what policy support does the apparel industry still need?

Chen Dapeng: The apparel industry is a market-oriented industry.

What is the core of industrial policy? It is to create an environment of fair competition—most importantly.

Actually, when we talk about brands, we should consider three dimensions. The first is manufacturing brands. What supports these brands behind the scenes is high-quality manufacturing, including design; and manufacturing that has creativity is the most core support. Manufacturing is also a brand. China has a large number of highly excellent manufacturing-based brands. Under the current market environment, there are still many companies like Shenzhou International, whose orders they can’t even take anymore. In Italy, there are many product “champions,” taking a product to the extreme. Second is what we call market-channel brands. Third is the regional dimension, from a town to a county, to a province and even a country—China manufacturing, Italy manufacturing.

To build a brand, you need a good market environment.