Shengze, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) – The 14th Jiangsu (Shengze) Textile Expo, co-hosted with the 2025 Suzhou Bay Fashion Week, kicked off on October 15 in Shengze, the renowned "Silk Capital of China" and global textile hub. Spanning five days with a 3-day exhibition core, the event has emerged as a pivotal platform integrating industry trends, technological innovation, and global trade, vividly interpreting the new connotation of "Global Fabrics Look to Shengze" .
All-Industry-Chain Showcase with Digital Empowerment
Covering nearly 20,000 square meters at Shengze International Convention and Exhibition Center, the expo gathers over 300 premium enterprises, including world top 500 companies Hengli and Shenghong. It showcases a full industrial chain from yarns and fabrics to printing technologies and smart equipment, with local backbone enterprises competing alongside elites from Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou .
Breaking temporal and spatial barriers, the expo adopts an "offline exhibition + online cloud expo" model. The newly launched "Yunfangcheng" (Cloud Textile City) digital platform provides one-stop services from industry information to transaction settlement, creating a 365-day non-stop global trading channel . On its first day alone, the expo attracted over 18,000 professional buyers and achieved intended transactions exceeding 610 million yuan ($85 million) .
Technology, Fashion and Sustainability at Core
Centered on the theme of high-end, digital and green development, the expo features a diverse lineup of "show, exhibition, competition, conference and business" segments. Two international conferences – the International Advanced Fiber Materials Innovation Conference and China International Silk Conference – were held to share cutting-edge insights .
Nine fashion shows and three top industry competitions highlighted the integration of materials and design. The 2025 Oriental Cup China Women's Wear Design Competition, for instance, showcased garments crafted with Shengze fabrics, demonstrating the transformation from "high-quality textiles" to "fashion products" . A creative pet fashion show also marked the industry's exploration into emerging consumer markets .
Strategic Layout for Industrial Upgrading
The expo witnessed the release of Wujiang District's textile industry transformation strategy, outlining paths for high-endization, digitalization, greenization, internationalization and branding . Ten industrial upgrading platforms were announced, including the Shengze New Material Industrial Base and Yangtze River Delta Modern Supply Chain Industrial Park, supporting the "1+3+N" modern industrial system with high-end textiles as the core .
In terms of green development, the "Low-Carbon Future Together" initiative was launched, featuring the world's first regional textile "dual carbon" action plan and a near-zero-carbon circular economy industrial park. Awards were presented to green innovation leaders such as Hengli Group and Shenghong Group . Three key projects were signed, including a blockchain-based traceability system for Sino-European textile supply chains and an international low-carbon smart manufacturing center .
Financial and global market support were also strengthened. A supply chain finance alliance was established with six major banks, while a UK overseas warehouse for smart home textiles and Camel Outdoor's supply chain center were unveiled to boost global presence .
Sun Ruizhe, President of China National Textile and Apparel Council, commended the expo as a "vital engine" for industrial integration. He urged Shengze to leverage its full-industry-chain advantage, foster "textile + AI" 新业态，and enhance the global influence of the "Shengze Weaving" brand .