In 2024, in the face of the complex and changing domestic and international development environment, China’s textile industry fully demonstrated the resilience of development. The overall economic operation was stable, and the main operating indicators rebounded compared with the previous year. Exports, investment, and some other indicators showed positive changes, marking improved market confidence and development expectations. Looking ahead to 2025, the textile industry is still facing a complex development environment with many risks and tests. It still needs to consolidate the stable to good development basis and make positive contributions to the national economy’s steady growth.

Production remained stable, and the efficiency recovered

In 2024, the textile industry's capacity utilization level rose steadily, and the supply side showed stable growth. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the capacity utilization rate of China’s textile and chemical fiber industries reached 78.5% and 85.4%, respectively, in 2024, up 2.1 and 1.1 percentage points from the previous year, respectively. Both were higher than that of the national industry in the same period (75%). The industrial added value of textile enterprises above designated size increased by 4.4% year-on-year, 5.6 percentage points higher than the performance of 2023. The vast majority of sectors in the industrial chain performed well throughout the year; the industrial added value of chemical fiber, wool spinning, filament weaving, and technical textiles industries achieved faster growth year-on-year. Among the fifteen textile categories data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, ten major categories, such as chemical fibers, yarn, printed and dyed fabrics, and apparel, saw positive growth in terms of output year-on-year.

The textile industry’s benefit level continued to rebound. In 2024, the operating income of textile enterprises above designated size increased by 4% year-on-year, 4.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the previous year. Total profit saw 7.5% growth year-on-year, 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous year’s growth rate. The major sectors of the textile industry chain all achieved positive development in terms of operating income. The profit of chemical fiber, linen, printing and dyeing, knitting, technical textiles, textile machinery, and other industries all performed well.

Domestic sales achieved moderate growth; exports showed resilience

In 2024, affected by national consumption-promoted policies and innovative model innovation, domestic sales of China’s textile and apparel achieved moderate growth. However, because of the impact of the macroeconomic slowdown, the growth rate of various domestic sales indicators has slowed down compared with the previous year. Throughout the year, China’s per capita apparel consumption expenditure increased by 2.8% year-on-year; total retail sales of apparel, foot & head wear, hats, and knitted textiles increased by 0.3% year-on-year, fell by 12.6 percentage points compared with the previous year; the growth rate online retail sales of wearable commodities grew by 1.5% year-on-year, 9.3 percentage points lower than that of the previous year.

In 2024, China’s textile industry was more severely affected by weak international market demand and high trade environment risk. However, by deepening the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade, China’s textile industry stably improved its global competitiveness, witnessing growth in annual exports. In particular, some enterprises rushed to exports due to the fear of the risk of the trade environment between China and the United States in the fourth quarter, triggering the acceleration of export growth in the quarter. According to China Customs, China’s textile and apparel exports totaled US$301.1 billion in 2024, up 2.8% year-on-year. Among them, textile exports amounted to US$141.96 billion, growing by 5.7% year-on-year, and apparel exports amounted to US$159.14 billion, up 0.3% year-on-year. As for major destinations, China’s overall performance of textile and apparel exports was pretty good but differentiated in different destinations. Their export growth was good to the United States, the European Union, ASEAN, and other major trading partners, but negative growth was seen in Japan, Turkey, and Russia.

Operating quality improved; development confidence consolidated more

The textile industry’s operating quality continued to improve in 2024. The operating income margin of textile enterprises above designated size reached 3.9%, 0.1 percentage point higher than that of the previous year; the total assets turnover accelerated by 0.6% year-on-year; the share of three overheads in turnover dropped slightly to 6.5%, but all these indicators showed an improved tendency.

Textile enterprises promote transformation and upgrading and actively implement equipment renewal, driving the development of high-end, intelligent, and sustainable. In 2024, the fixed-asset investment in textile, apparel, and chemical fiber industries increased by 15.6%, 18%, and 4.7% year-on-year, respectively, seeing 16, 20.2, and 14.5 percentage points higher than the growth rate of 2023.

Steadily improved production and sales consolidated textile business confidence and expectations. And the industry’s comprehensive prosperity index remains in the expansion zone. According to the survey and calculation released by China National Textile and Apparel Council, the comprehensive prosperity index of China’s textile industry reached 59.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, 2.3 and 6.8 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year and the third quarter of 2024, above the boom-bust line in eight consecutive quarters.

A new stage of high-quality development starts with opportunities and challenges

This year is the final year of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period and also the crucial year for planning the “15th Five-Year Plan.” Although the external situation is highly complex, the textile industry, in general, is still in a period of strategic opportunity with opportunities and challenges coexisting. For one thing, the global economy and end-consumption growth are weak; the international textile supply chain layout adjusts under the risk of frequent trade frictions; therefore, uncertain and unstable factors still exist. For another, the fundamentals of China’s economy are sound, and the large-scale domestic demand market remains an engine driving economic growth in China’s textile industry. The textile industry is in a good position to grasp strategic opportunities such as industrial technology innovation, a comprehensive boost of domestic demand and high-level integration of international resources. Focusing on science and technology, fashion, sustainability, and health, China’s textile industry aims to form new industrial potentials of high technology, high efficiency, and high quality and promote a modernized industrial system to a new level.

Source: CHINA TEXTILE LEADER Express