This year, the international environment has been complex and volatile, and the international economic and trade order has suffered a heavy blow, with instability and uncertainty increasing significantly. Facing a complex situation, China's textile and garment industry has adhered to the general working principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, steadily advanced the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure, and deepened the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade. Supported by the more proactive and effective macro policies of the state, the economic operation in the first half of the year remained basically stable. Exports maintained growth under heavy pressure, and the resilience of development was consolidated and released. Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, the development environment for the textile and garment industry remains complex and severe, and there are still many challenges in consolidating the foundation for stable and positive development.

The production situation remains stable

In the first half of this year, the capacity utilization level of the textile and garment industry was within a reasonable range, and the overall production situation of the industry was relatively stable. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the capacity utilization rates of China's textile and chemical fiber industries in the first half of this year were 77.8% and 86% respectively, higher than the national industrial capacity utilization levels during the same period. In the first half of the year, the industrial added value of large-scale enterprises in the textile and garment industry increased by 3.1% year-on-year, with the growth rate slowing down by 1.5 percentage points compared with the same period of the previous year. The production situation in most links of the industrial chain remained stable. The industrial added value of the wool textile and linen textile industries achieved double-digit growth year-on-year. The production growth rates of sub-industries such as chemical fibers, filament weaving, and industrial textiles were higher than the average level of the entire industry. Among the 15 major categories of textile products as tallied by the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of 9 types of products increased year-on-year.

Domestic sales achieved a moderate growth

Since the beginning of this year, the domestic macroeconomic situation has remained generally stable. The national special action to boost consumption has been steadily advanced. The demand for clothing among Chinese residents has continued to be released, and market supply has been constantly optimized, driving the domestic sales of textiles and clothing to achieve a moderate growth. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half of the year, per capita clothing consumption expenditure of Chinese residents increased by 2.1% year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.9 percentage points compared to the first quarter. The total retail sales of above-scale clothing, shoes, hats and needle and textile products increased by 3.1% year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 1.8 percentage points compared with the same period of the previous year. Sales of clothing items online increased by 1.4% year-on-year, with the growth rate 1.5 percentage points higher than that in the first quarter of this year. Consumption in areas such as national trends and styles, healthy textiles, and green and low-carbon has regained vitality, and the sales scale of related categories has remained in the first echelon of major e-commerce platforms. Live-streaming e-commerce and other business models have continuously activated consumption. Online shopping promotions such as "6.18" have been launched in advance, all of which have driven the simultaneous growth of online and offline sales of textile and apparel.

Export pressure releases resilience

Since the beginning of this year, the international environment faced by the textile and garment industry has become increasingly complex. In the second quarter, due to the impact of the US tariff policy, exports once experienced fluctuations. China's textile foreign trade enterprises, leveraging their competitive advantages in the entire industrial chain and their international layout, have promptly adjusted their business layout, responded to changes in the external environment, and focused on defusing foreign trade risks. According to the data from China Customs Express, the total export value of China's textile and apparel products in the first half of the year was 143.98 billion US dollars, up by 0.8% year-on-year. Among the exported products, the export of intermediate goods such as chemical fiber staple fibers, textile yarns and fabrics showed a good growth trend, driving the export value of textiles to reach 70.52 billion US dollars in the first half of the year, an increase of 1.8% year-on-year. However, due to relatively weak overseas demand and the impact of the US tariff policy, the pressure on China's clothing exports has increased. The export value in the first half of the year was 73.46 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 0.2%. Among the major export markets, the growth rate of China's textile and apparel exports to the United States has slowed down relatively quickly. The export value in the first half of the year decreased by 5.3% year-on-year. Foreign trade enterprises actively expand their diversified market layout, and their exports to trading partners such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Canada, Pakistan, Chile, and Nigeria have achieved good growth.

The growth rate of investment has remained stable with a slight increase

Under the support of the national "two major" and "two new" policies, leading enterprises have accelerated the promotion of high-end, intelligent and green technological transformation and upgrading since the beginning of this year. The fixed asset investment in the textile and garment industry has continued to grow steadily on the basis of a relatively high base last year. In the first half of this year, the completed fixed asset investment in China's textile, garment and chemical fiber industries (excluding rural households) increased by 14.5%, 27% and 10.6% respectively year-on-year. The growth rates accelerated by 0.2, 13 and 4.2 percentage points respectively compared with the same period last year. Among them, the investment growth rates in the textile and garment industries continued to accelerate by 1 and 4.1 percentage points respectively compared with the first quarter.

The pressure for quality and efficiency restoration has increased

This year, affected by weak demand and the complex foreign trade situation, competition in domestic and international markets has become more intense, and the operating pressure on textile enterprises has increased. In the first half of the year, the operating income of 38,000 large-scale textile enterprises across the country decreased by 3% year-on-year. The total profit decreased by 9.4% year-on-year. The performance of the main links in the industrial chain has shown some differentiation. The operating income of the filament weaving and industrial textile industries has maintained growth. The profits of the cotton textile and knitting industries have continued to show a recovery growth trend. The profit decline of the linen textile and home textile industries has gradually narrowed. The profit recovery of sub-industries such as chemical fibers, printing and dyeing, and clothing remains under pressure. During the same period, the profit margin of operating income of large-scale textile enterprises was 3%, down 0.2 percentage points from the same period of the previous year. Due to factors such as the increase in inventory fluctuations, the total asset turnover rate and finished product turnover rate of large-scale enterprises slowed down by 5.5% and 4.8% respectively year-on-year. The proportion of the three fees was 6.6%, slightly higher than the same period of the previous year by 0.1 percentage points.

The pressure to maintain a stable operation throughout the year still exists. We should respond to external uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development

In the first half of 2025, China's textile and garment industry rose to the challenge. The overall economic operation continued to maintain a stable development trend, and it continuously consolidated and accumulated development resilience in the complex external situation. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, the textile and garment industry still faces many unstable and uncertain factors, and maintaining stable operation is fraught with numerous challenges. The complexity of the external environment will continue to disrupt the export situation of the industry. The escalation of global trade tensions, the rising uncertainty of US trade policies, and the potential for higher tariff levels will weaken the momentum for improvement in global consumer demand, accelerating the adjustment of the procurement pattern in the international textile and garment industry. China's participation in international supply chain cooperation will face tests such as rising costs, efficiency losses, and intensified competition. Domestic effective demand is generally weak, and the operational pressure on enterprises is constantly increasing. The task of further promoting high-quality development remains arduous and urgent.

Under complex circumstances, the super-large and constantly upgrading domestic demand market will remain the "guiding star" for the textile and garment industry to achieve high-quality development. China is currently at a critical stage of consumption upgrade. With a population of 1.4 billion, it enjoys a significant market advantage. The diversified, personalized and multi-level demand structure for textiles and clothing will provide a broad space for technological and application innovation for the entire textile industry chain. The multi-scenario and multi-mode consumption of the textile and garment industry both online and offline has been updated. The consumption hotspots such as culture and entertainment, medical and health care, and green and low-carbon have been deeply integrated with the industry's efforts to increase product varieties, improve quality, and create brands, driving the accelerated upgrading of the industry's supply system from the demand side. In addition, there is still ample room for the country's various macro policies to be intensified in the second half of the year, which will provide a guarantee for improving the supply and demand relationship, promoting the recovery of enterprise benefits, activating the vitality of market entities, and ensuring the stable operation of the industry.

The textile and garment industry will thoroughly implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference, adhere to the development orientation of "technology, fashion, green and health", unswervingly deepen transformation and upgrading, steadily advance the construction of a modern industrial system, strive to prevent and defuse risks and challenges in the field of foreign trade, and respond to external uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development Make due contributions to promoting the stable and positive economic operation of the industry throughout the year and achieving the development goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan.