Tongxiang: It Does Not Produce Wool, But Has Become The Largest "Distribution Center" Of Woolen Sweaters In China

There is a small city that produces more than 700 million sweaters every year and sells them to more than 20 countries and regions around the world; In the national sweater products, on average, one out of every three sweaters is produced here.

Tongxiang City, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, does not produce wool, but has become the largest sweater distribution center in China.

Moreover, although Tongxiang does not produce a drop of oil, it has become the highland of the world chemical fiber industry; There are no mineral resources, but a world-class leading enterprise in the glass fiber industry has been born; It is an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River, but it has become the permanent host of the World Internet Conference

How did Tongxiang become a strong industrial city?

"Create something out of nothing" to create an industry of hundreds of billions of people

At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the shop owners of Tongxiang Puyuan Woolen Sweater Market were busy sending orders for delivery, and the flat knitting machine in the enterprise's production workshop kept running. It covers about 70% of the national sweater wholesale business, and the market turnover will continue to maintain the scale of 100 billion in 2024.

Jiang Zhenjiang is one of the first merchants in Tongxiang Puyuan woolen sweater market. "At the peak, the store sold tens of thousands of sweaters a day, and more than 400 flat knitting machines worked at the same time when the number of outward deliveries was the largest." Jiang Zhenjiang said that with more and more merchants joining, sweater processing bases emerged as the times require, forming a complete industrial chain.

According to the data of Zhejiang Woolen Sweater Association, Tongxiang has about 20000 relevant market operators, and the industrial development covers the whole chain of design, raw materials, production, sales, wholesale, and supporting services. The sweater market and knitting garment industry directly and indirectly drive more than 300000 employees.

In addition to production, digital enables new retail, enabling more ordinary people to increase their income and become rich——

The clock points late at night. In a 23 story building in the eastern fashion town of Tongxiang, there are still many live broadcast rooms with bright lights.

Chen Xianxi, Executive Chairman of Zhejiang Xige Industry Co., Ltd., led the staff to create a complete live broadcast ecosystem from product selection, photography, live broadcast, delivery logistics and living facilities. Today, the number of live broadcast orders in one day can reach 1 million.

The data shows that Puyuan Town, the sweater distribution center, has 7 live broadcast bases and 179 live broadcast enterprises related to sweaters, which has driven more than 4000 merchants to start businesses and increase their income.

Not only sweaters, but also Tongxiang's industries and fields of "making things out of nothing"——

Without producing a drop of oil, it has become the highland of the world chemical fiber industry; Without mineral resources, it has cultivated world-class leading enterprises such as Jushi and Huayou Cobalt; It does not produce furs, but has established a national well-known professional fur market; Instead of producing coconuts, a coconut based whole industry chain enterprise was born, and the sales volume of thick coconut milk ranked first in China for many consecutive years; An ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River has become the permanent host of the World Internet Conference

From January to November 2024, the total industrial output value of Tongxiang above designated size will be 225.862 billion yuan, and the sales output value will be 223.414 billion yuan.

Tongxiang's private economy is very active, with about 200000 market operators. With a permanent population of 1.3 million, Tongxiang has more than 150 market operators per 1000 people. In other words, one out of every seven Tongxiang people may be the "boss".

"Dare to be the first" to promote the reform of advanced manufacturing industry

Any phenomenon, no matter how amazing, actually has its inevitable internal development logic. How can Tongxiang, a small resource county in Zhejiang, which is neither along the coast nor the border, make sweaters, glass fiber, chemical fiber and other industries worth 100 billion yuan?

Along Shuangyan Road in Puyuan Town, there are many shops and pedestrians on both sides. In 1988, the government led the construction of 30 fronts in Shuangyan Road, forming the prototype of the Puyuan sweater market. Subsequently, 10 trading zones have been built here, and 20 benchmark markets and more than 13000 market shops have been gradually built, including fashion center, international trade famous port, world trade building and textile city.

"For Tongxiang, 'something out of nothing' is not the result of 'beating the head', but a strategic decision made with careful planning." The relevant person in charge of Tongxiang Municipal Party Committee said that, grasping the core concept of "distinctive characteristics, complementary advantages, and development by regions", Tongxiang has gradually formed an industrial system of coordinated development of advanced manufacturing industry and high-quality service industry, realizing the economic take-off of the county, Benefit the people of one side.

The development of Tongxiang is inseparable from the entrepreneurial spirit of "dare to think and dare to act".

"Zhejiang businessmen have the spirit of not giving in, and they must create conditions without conditions, and they are not willing to make a living in the mud," said Xia Liangen, chairman of Zhejiang Saint Nair Clothing Co., Ltd.

Entering the exhibition hall of China Jushi Co., Ltd., the development history of the enterprise is impressive: from the acquisition of factories on the verge of bankruptcy to the current production capacity of more than 3 million tons, from seizing the domestic market to selling products to more than 100 countries and regions around the world. "In 2024, Jushi's sales of glass fiber will reach a new high again, and a large research and development system will be built in an all-round way. In the era of great changes, we can't sit back and enjoy the success, but work hard." said Yang Guoming, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the enterprise.

"I have failed countless times, but I never thought about giving up." Entering Zhejiang Ruibohui Silk Co., Ltd. located in Baqiao Village, Zhouquan Town, Tongxiang City, the reporter saw a series of medical supplies such as gauze, plaster, sports bandages, etc.

As early as 2021, the general manager of the company, Tu Jiyan, had a keen insight into the necessity of industry transformation and began to explore the application of silk in the medical field. "Only by facing difficulties and actively embracing change can new space be opened up."

The vitality of the market needs the action of the government.

"What enterprises care about and need, the government will grasp and promote what they want." The relevant person in charge of Tongxiang Municipal Natural Resources and Planning Bureau said that high-quality "soil" should be planted in government services, investment and trade, entrepreneurship and innovation, and other aspects. Through policies such as tax cuts and fee reductions, the government will help enterprises to rescue, thus promoting sustainable and stable economic and social development. The good business environment has become the "strong magnetic field" for the development of Tongxiang.

Zhejiang Sihua Smart Home Co., Ltd. had a large number of orders to be delivered on time before, but the completion acceptance of the newly built factory building in order to expand production capacity needed to follow the process, and the enterprise could not afford to wait. After knowing the situation, the relevant departments quickly formed an exclusive "gang group". "It used to take more than three months from the application of materials to the acceptance, but now it only takes one week to solve the urgent problem," said the person in charge of the enterprise.

From "overwhelming" to "indomitable"

"How many famous brands are there in the more than 10000 business licenses of the sweater market?" An expert once asked such a question after investigating the traditional industries in Tongxiang.

"The transformation and upgrading of the sweater industry must focus on the word 'fashion'. We should attach importance to the construction of local brands and the introduction of high-level talents, and promote the small enterprises in Tongxiang to become the leading enterprises in Tongxiang." said Ge Yanqing, vice president of Tongxiang Research Institute of Zhejiang Media University.

In order to accelerate the transformation of the industry from "ready to wear" to "show culture", Tongxiang strives to strengthen the "school local cooperation" with the Yangtze River Delta region and jointly cultivate professional talents. Tongxiang Puyuan has gathered 178 designer teams, 126 service agencies and 702 enterprises with independent brand names. Relying on the platform of Tongxiang Puyuan Fashion Ancient Town, the local government regularly holds various activities such as Fashion Week, Knitting Designer Competition, etc., to comprehensively expand the influence of the sweater fashion industry.

Self reliance, innovation driven, brand led, make the "one sweater" bigger and stronger, let Tongxiang see the key to amplify the industrial multiplier benefits, and promote the development of supply chain, innovation chain, and talent chain agglomeration.

At present, the new material industry has become a new growth point of Tongxiang's industrial economic development. Focusing on five key areas, such as high-performance glass fiber and composite materials, and differentiated high-performance chemical fibers, Tongxiang takes the high standard planning and construction of the cutting-edge material "ten thousand mu, one hundred billion" industrial platform as a starting point, relying on leading enterprises, to attract upstream and downstream enterprises to build chains, supplement chains, extend chains, and strengthen chains, so as to achieve the goal of building parks with enterprises, gathering chains with parks, and clustering with chains, We will accelerate the building of a 100 billion level cutting-edge material industry cluster.

In Tongxiang today, digital and intelligent "super factories" have taken root. At present, Tongxiang has been shortlisted for 6 national level intelligent manufacturing projects and more than 50 provincial level or above industrial digital demonstration pilot projects. At the same time, relying on the "Light of Wuzhen" supercomputing center, Tongxiang is building a "supercomputing+intelligent computing" hybrid computing system, realizing the new business type and new scene of "data reality integration", and opening a new chapter in the intelligent computing industry. (Xinhua News Agency reporter Yu Wan, Tang Tao)

(Source: Xinhuanet)