Concerning the Global Textile Industry, Two Major International Events Held in Zhejiang, China

From November 3 to 10, several events of the 2023 International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) China Shaoxing Keqiao Conference and the 6th World Cloth Merchants Conference were held in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, China.

This is the first time that two major international events for the textile industry are hosted together.

Keqiao District is known as "the largest textile trade distribution center in the world".

This county-level region covers an area of about 1,000 square kilometers, and its economic and trade network connects 210 countries and regions.

Nearly a quarter of the world's textile products are traded here, with an annual turnover exceeds USD 45.3 Billion.

The conference was themed with "Green?Digitalization and Circularity?Megatrends Shaping the Textile Industry". More than 1,000 people had attended the conference, including government officials, trade association members from more than 50 countries and regions, representatives of textile enterprises, experts and scholars.

The conference set up more than 10 events, including theme conferences, round tables, and series of forums focusing on science and technology, fashion, green development, and supply chain.

The participants jointly discussed hot topics in the textile industry, such as digitalization, low-carbon, and innovation, with a view to exploring the direction of international development of the textile industry and probing into the growth points for global textile industry cooperation.

The theme conference held on November 5 released "the 2024 Trend Outlook for the World Textile Industry ", "Keqiao District's Action Plan to Modernize the "International Textile Capital", and the "Silk Road Keqiao · Global Coverage" public platform for China Textile City.

The conference adopted an "online+offline" dual venue model, and was broadcasted live simultaneously worldwide. The 2023 Keqiao International Textile Fair in Shaoxing, China (fall) and the 2023 Keqiao Fashion Week (autumn) were also held simultaneously.

Shi Huifang, deputy secretary of the Shaoxing Municipal Committee and mayor, said that he looks forward to better leading industry trends through this conference, enhancing mutual understanding, deepening communication, sharing the results of cooperation, creating a future for development, constructing a good platform and building bridges for everyone.

Chen Hao, secretary of the Keqiao District Party Committee, stated that Keqiao has the most complete textile industry chain in the world, a modern textile technology innovation center in Zhejiang Province, 255 high-tech textile enterprises, 29 provincial enterprise R&D centers, and 27,000 R&D personnel to build a modern "international textile capital". There is solid industrial advantages and ambition with Keqiao.

During the conference, experts, scholars, and industry representatives such as Sun Ruizhe, Chairman of the International Federation of Textile Manufacturers and Chairman of the China Textile Industry Federation, and Matteo Renzi, former Italian Prime Minister, delivered keynote reports on the opportunities and challenges facing the textile industry.