The fifth Belt and Road Textile Conference 2021 was held on October 15 in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. Xu Yingxin, vice president of China National Textile and Apparel Council, accepted media interviews to interpret the main theme of the conference, and talked about the achievements and future blueprints of the Belt and Road Initiative in the textile industry.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward in 2013, China’s textile industry has achieved fruitful results in related high-quality development. Xu Yingxin pointed out that a group of companies with international competitive advantages are more proactive in their international strategic layout. The textile industry has gone global to more than 100 countries and regions in the fields from raw materials to final products, from communication to in-depth cooperation, which has promoted deep cooperation and common development of the global textile industry chain.

Xu Yingxin mentioned that since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, insiders of the global textile industry have been helping each other to overcome difficulties. Trade exchanges have maintained growth. The joint construction of the “Belt and Road” Initiative has achieved new progress and new results. Promoting interconnectivity and persisting in openness and inclusiveness are the only way to respond to global crises and achieve long-term development.

Focus on sustainable development, shoulder the responsibilities of a textile power

Under the theme of this year’s Belt and Road Textile Conference, i.e., sustainable dual circulation of trade and investment, the conference jointly discussed the prospects of Belt and Road-related trade and investment for China’s textile industry in the post-pandemic era, and looked forward to the sustainable future for international cooperation. Based on the theme, Xu Yingxin interpreted the new opportunities and challenges under the influence of the current international and domestic environment.

From an international perspective, as the world economy has fallen into low-speed growth, compounded by more complicated geopolitical pattern, economic prospects, trade cooperation, and industrial layout all faced uncertainties. Xu Yingxin analyzed that from an overall perspective, first, we must work together to promote the recovery of the industry. The textile industry is related to the national economy and the people’s livelihood and is an important engine for economic growth and employment. The global textile industry should give full play to everyone’s own advantages, work together for development and ensure the stability and smooth flow of the supply chain value chain. The second is to strengthen the communication mechanism. More than ever, the global textile industry needs to work hand in hand to overcome the difficulties, to jointly maintain the global supply chain and industry security by strengthening global cooperation and multilateral coordination. The third is to promote the deep integration of digital technology and the textile industry. The new generation of digital, information, and intelligent technologies are promoting the quality and efficiency of the textile industry chain and supply chain on a global scale.

From a domestic point of view, China has turned to a new stage of high-quality development, and the economy has been improving for a long time. Under the new development pattern of “dual circulation” in which domestic economic cycle plays a leading role while international economic cycle remains its extension and supplement, expanding domestic demand has become the strategic basis for high-quality development of China’s textile industry. On this basis, at the start of the 14th “Five-year Plan” period (2021-2025), China’s textile industry should focus on strengthening the strategic support capabilities of technological innovation, building a high-quality textile manufacturing system, improving the level of international development, promoting fashion development and brand building, and promoting sustainable development.

Gather global think tanks to promote a high-quality “Belt and Road” initiative

At present, textile enterprises are full of confidence in future international layout cooperation. This Belt and Road Textile Conference gathered global think tanks to discuss the capital, production capacity, market integration and win-win approach of China and the world’s textile industry.

Xu Yingxin expressed that with the help of this conference, he hopes that the interaction and communication of all parties can be further strengthened. The global textile industry can be beneficial through the establishment of a long-term and effective communication mechanism. China’s textile industry will also take this conference as an opportunity to actively explore the “sustainable dual cycle of trade and investment”, so as to promote economic and social development, and inject stronger impetus into global economic recovery and build an open cooperative system.