In The First Three Quarters, China'S Textile Industry Economy Was Under Pressure

In the first three quarters of this year, facing the complex and severe external environment and the new domestic economic situation, China's textile industry thoroughly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and accelerated the construction of a modern industrial system. The development resilience of the textile industry accumulated over the years, combined with a series of national stock increment policies, has supported the economic operation in a generally stable manner, and the main operating indicators of the industry have improved over the same period of last year. However, at the same time, the pressure of weak demand in domestic and foreign markets is gradually highlighted, and risk challenges such as fierce market competition and rising uncertainty in the trade environment still need to be resolved. Looking forward to the fourth quarter and 2025, the development environment facing the textile industry is still complex, and the industry still needs to deal with many challenges.

The production situation remained stable and the benefit level continued to improve

Since this year, China's textile industry has worked hard to overcome the pressure on the demand side, and the supply side has shown a recovery trend. The industry's capacity utilization level has steadily increased, and the production growth rate has accelerated year-on-year. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first three quarters of this year, the capacity utilization rates of the textile industry above designated size and the chemical fiber industry were 78.3% and 85.4%, respectively, 1.9 and 1.6 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year, and higher than the 74.6% capacity utilization level of the national industries above designated size in the same period. The industrial added value of enterprises above designated size in the textile industry increased by 4.5% year on year, 6.7 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year.

The operating income and total profit of textile enterprises continued the trend of recovery growth. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first three quarters of the year, the operating income of textile enterprises above 38000 households in China increased by 4% year on year, and the total profit increased by 10.3% year on year. The growth rate rose by 7.3 and 19.1 percentage points respectively compared with the same period of the previous year. The benefits of most links in the textile industry chain have recovered compared with the same period last year. The operating income of flax textile, silk, textile machinery and other sub industries has achieved double-digit rapid growth year on year, and the profit recovery trend of most sub industries is significant.

The domestic demand market keeps growing, and export pressures coexist with resilience

Since this year, the domestic market of textiles and clothing has maintained a growth trend, but the growth rate has slowed down, supported by factors such as the stability of China's residents' income and consumption confidence, and the gradual effectiveness of the national consumption promotion policy. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first three quarters, China's per capita expenditure on clothing consumption increased by 5.1% year on year, and the retail sales of clothing, shoes and hats, and knitwear and textiles above the designated size increased by 0.2% year on year, with the growth rate slowing by 1.4 and 10.4 percentage points respectively compared with the same period last year. New e-commerce models such as live delivery and instant retail continued to stimulate online consumption potential. In the first three quarters, the retail sales of online clothing products increased by 4.1% year on year, 5.5 percentage points slower than the same period last year.

In the first three quarters of this year, China's textile and clothing exports continued to grow, the competitiveness of the textile industry chain continued to release, and the overall export situation was better than expected. According to the data of China Customs Express, China's textile and clothing exports in the first three quarters totaled 222.41 billion US dollars, up 0.5% year on year. Among the main export products, the export volume of textile yarn, fabric and finished goods was US $104.3 billion, up 2.9% year on year; The pressure on clothing export is relatively large. The export volume in the first three quarters was US $118.11 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%. The export of China's textile industry to some markets is still outstanding. In the first three quarters, the export of textiles and clothing to the United States, the European Union, ASEAN, Canada, Ukraine and other trade partners achieved positive growth.

The operation quality has been improved and the confidence in development has been consolidated

Since this year, the operation quality of textile enterprises has continued to improve. The operating income profit margin of textile enterprises above designated size in the first three quarters was 3.2%, up 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively from the same period of last year and the first half of this year, which is a high level since this year; The turnover rate of total assets accelerated by 0.2% year on year, and the proportion of three fees decreased slightly to 6.5%, both showing a trend of improvement. However, the turnover rate of finished products of enterprises still slowed slightly year on year, indicating that the pressure of weak demand is still obvious.

Textile enterprises steadily expanded investment in high-end, intelligent and green transformation and upgrading, and fixed asset investment grew. In the first three quarters, the completed investment in fixed assets of the textile industry, clothing industry and chemical fiber industry increased by 14.6%, 16.3% and 4.7% respectively year on year, and the growth rate rose by 16.8, 21 and 16.3 percentage points respectively year on year.

With the overall improvement of production, marketing and efficiency, the development expectation of textile enterprises is optimistic, and the overall prosperity of the industry remains in the expansion range. According to the survey of China Textile Industry Federation, the overall prosperity index of China's textile industry in the third quarter of this year was 52.7%, which remained above the 50% boom and bust line for seven consecutive quarters.

Keep stable and keep the pressure on the good side, New quality productivity activates supply and demand and improves new power

Looking forward to the fourth quarter and 2025, the textile industry still faces many unstable and uncertain factors, and still faces many challenges to maintain a stable and positive trend. The international political and economic environment has become more complex. The cycle of interest rate reduction in major economies has just begun, and the driving role of economic growth is still insufficient; The geopolitical disturbance continues, the risk factors of trade friction increase, and the foreign trade situation of the textile industry is still grim. China's macro-economy is expected to continue to pick up, but the task of development and reform is still arduous, the income base and consumer confidence of residents still need to be consolidated, and the pressure on enterprises to operate continues to be high, testing the high-quality development resilience of the textile industry.

Under the complex and severe situation, the super large and continuously upgraded domestic demand market will still be the fundamental support for the textile industry to conserve the endogenous momentum and promote high-quality development. More than 1.4 billion people in China have entered a new stage of consumption upgrading as a whole. The spiritual needs based on cultural self-confidence, aesthetic arts, and emotional interests will continue to be transformed into personalized, diversified, and fashionable textile and clothing consumption power. The textile industry chain will strengthen the development of strengths and weaknesses, promote the transformation and upgrading of digital to intelligent, green development, and business innovation, and help the endogenous power of industry development to be activated and released. The textile industry continues to consolidate the foundation of the modern industrial system, and is leading the formation of new textile productivity characterized by high technology, high efficiency and high quality to accelerate the cultivation, providing substantial support for the steady and sound development of the industry. The country's efforts to improve efficiency and implement the stock and incremental policies will also provide a strong guarantee for the industry to boost confidence in development, smooth the industrial cycle, and improve the business environment.

The textile industry will comprehensively and thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, and the relevant decisions and arrangements of the State Council. Guided by high-quality development, it will further comprehensively deepen reform, solidly promote the construction of a modern industrial system, constantly consolidate the advantages of international competition, and strive to promote the stable and sound operation of the industry economy, To make due contributions to achieving the goal of stable growth of the national economy.

(Source: China Textile Industry Economic Research Institute)