Shaoxing's Textile Industry: Growth, Statistics, and Sustainability

If you work in the fashion industry, you surely know China's leading role in this sector, as this country has been the number one textile exporter in the world for years. But have you ever wondered what's the country's leading textile hub? The answer is simple: the city of Shaoxing, located on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in the northeastern Zhejiang province. Known as China Textile City, this is by far the country's leading site for textile production. Here is everything you need to know about Shaoxing and its garment industry. 

A Few Statistics

With a population of over 5 million people, Shaoxing is home to an almost complete garment industrial chain. Here, you will find companies producing fibres, factories carrying out spinning and mid-stream weaving processes, and establishments devoted to clothing dyeing and finishing stages. In this regard, the Vice President and Spokesman of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, Sun Huaibin, stated: "No other country in the world has such a rich, systematic and complete textile industry chain as ours, with upstream raw material supply including petrochemicals and agriculture, and segmented divisions in each textile chain," (G&F Group Inc, 2023).

According to official data, this metropolis is home to nearly 70,000 textile enterprises. Of these, over 1,800 have annual sales revenues above 20 million yuan (roughly equal to $2.76 million) and employ over 255,500 workers. But how much is Shaoxing's textile industry worth? 

In 2018, the apparel sector of this metropolis had an output value of 191.85 billion yuan ($26.50 billion). To give you a better idea, this city alone produced over 3,64 million tons of chemical fibres, 1.6 billion metres of cloth, 130 million pieces of clothing, and 16.4 billion metres of printing and dyeing cloth within a year.

A little curiosity: This city is particularly famous for its socks and ties production. In 2018 alone, Shaoxing manufactured a stunning 6.33 billion pairs of socks and 130 million ties (ezhejiang.gov, 2020)! But how does this metropolis perform when it comes to sustainability?

Shaoxing's Textile Industry and Sustainability: Water Pollution Management and Circular Economy

In recent years, Shaoxing has tried to limit the negative impact of its textile industries on the environment by embracing several projects. One of these aimed at cleaning the city's river system. Unfortunately, the textile industry is responsible for tons of wastewater. According to data published by the European Parliament, in 2020, the textile sector was the world's third largest source of water degradation. This industry is also responsible for 20% of global clean water pollution, caused mainly by dyeing and finishing stages. It is estimated that roughly half a million tonnes of microplastic accumulate yearly on the bottom of the oceans due to synthetic washing practices (European Parliament, 2024). 

In light of this data, it is not surprising to learn that one of Shaoxing's main rivers, the Huancheng River, became highly polluted due to the many garment industries located in its surroundings. Thankfully, in 1991, the local government implemented the so-called 'Comprehensive Governance of Huancheng River,' whose main aim was to protect the homonymous river. The project cost a total of 1.2 billion yuan (over $165 million) and resulted in extensive dredging works and river embankment constructions. As a result of this successful program, not only has the river been cleaned from pollution caused by the textile enterprises in the area, but it has also improved the ecology of the wider Cao' e River basin (International Water Association, 2022). 

Another initiative worth mentioning is Shaoxing's transition to a circular economy, which started in 2022. The project is part of the SWITCH-Asia initiative, a programme founded by the EU and active since 2007 with the main aim of promoting a transition towards low-carbon, resource-efficient, and circular economy practices in Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific regions. This initiative is supposed to end in 2025, and over €2,973,000 was allocated to it, 80% of which was founded by the EU.

Some of the main objectives of this initiative include improved sustainable management through the adoption of circular economy principles and increased access to textile and clothing industries to funds aimed at creating eco-designs, recycling investments, and clean technology transfers (SwitchAsia, 2022). Talking about this project, the Team Leader of the Cooperation Sector of the Delegation of the European Union to China, Mr Pierre-Yves Lucas, stated: "I hope this new SWITCH-Asia action on textile and circular economy will be able to support China's environment and climate change agenda, but most importantly address effectively our common challenges at a global level" (Switch-Asia, 2022).

A Brief History of Shaoxing

Shaoxing's history as a textile hub is quite recent. Before World War II, this city was home to a few minor industries, mainly producing cotton, lacquer, silk, paper, and tinfoil. However, these were minor industries and were finally modernised in the mid-50s. It was only in the 80s that Shaoxing's economy experienced a dramatic expansion, becoming one of China's main textile hubs (Britannica, 2024).

The industry was further expanded in 2001 when China finally entered the World Trade Organisation. Despite its huge success, the Chinese textile industry is now facing a few challenges, such as the increasing costs of labour and raw materials and the pressure to adopt more sustainable practices (G&F Group Inc, 2023). 

Starting with only a few minor industries, in a few decades, Shaoxing has managed to develop a thriving garment economy becoming the leading textile hub of China, the main world exporter in this sector. Despite facing several challenges throughout its history, such as the detrimental pollution of the Huancheng River, thanks to its innovative policies, this city has managed to remain a key player in the global apparel industry.