My parents met in the 1990s at a swimwear company in Guangdong called Legend Swimwear, which is still in business today. That was an era of great opportunity. Countless young people headed south to Guangdong to join the booming garment industry. As the economy took off, life was full of energy and hope.
More than twenty years have passed, and economic growth has slowed in China and around the world. The same garment industry that once attracted so many young people is now facing a generational gap—fewer and fewer young people are willing to work in factories, sitting at a sewing machine. As societies develop, their industrial structures naturally shift. As a traditional part of the secondary industry, it seems inevitable that garment manufacturing is being pushed to a tipping point for change. China’s garment industry is now facing its growing pains.
As someone on the front lines of the industry, I often find myself asking: what is the future of garment manufacturing in China? Two obvious paths usually come to mind: relocating factories and technological innovation.
Path 1: Relocation
Take Xingcheng, Liaoning—the world’s swimwear production hub—as an example. The shortage of young labor has driven up costs, pushing more and more companies to move their factories to lower-cost neighboring areas like Kazuo and Lingyuan, or even further to Dandong, Yunnan, and Southeast Asia. Our company has also followed this trend, opening new factories in Kazuo and Lingyuan in 2023 and 2024. Relocating is an effective way to deal with cost pressures, but it often comes with risks. More importantly, once there are no more cheaper places to move to within the country, moving production abroad becomes inevitable. At that point, what we’ll be facing is the erosion of China’s manufacturing foundation.
Path 2: Technological Innovation
Technological progress is the core engine for productivity. Again, using the swimwear industry I’m familiar with, hardware like automatic fabric spreaders and cutters, and management software like time-and-process systems and ERPs, have become standard for many companies. Our company, for instance, uses its self-developed HXErp system for efficient product and production management, which significantly reduces our operating costs. However, in the most crucial part—the sewing process—a technological bottleneck remains. It’s still very difficult for machines to completely replace human hands in handling the complex sewing tasks required for flexible fabrics. The good news is that with the development of AI and robotics, we can see the dawn of fully automated sewing. But making that vision a reality is likely still decades away.
A More Important Third Path: Strengthening from Within, Expanding Outward
Besides the two paths above, I believe there is a third way—a more proactive and sustainable one, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Looking Inward: Improve Our Core. We need to actively cultivate talent, continuously improve the working environment, and provide better pay and benefits to make the industry attractive to young people again.
Looking Outward: Go Global. We must proactively step onto the global stage, showcase the strengths of “Made in China,” and connect directly with clients who need production services to create win-win partnerships.
These two strategies support each other and can create a virtuous cycle. When our internal improvements attract and retain talent, boosting quality and efficiency, we gain the confidence to explore markets abroad. In turn, the high-quality orders and profits from overseas can be reinvested back into our domestic operations.
At our company, Hongxiu Apparel, we are just starting on this path, but we have a clear direction and are working tirelessly towards it.