Although China's knitting industry started late, the first knitting underwear factory was established in 1896, but with the development of reform and opening up and the penetration of high technology into the knitting industry, China's knitting industry has developed rapidly. At present, China has become a big producer of knitted products, and the trade of knitted products has been in a state of trade surplus for a long time. The annual export value is about 90 billion US dollars, which is about 20 times of the import value.

Because China's labor and raw material costs have a price advantage, most of the knitted products in early China were developed for international brand OEM knitted garments and accessories. Therefore, in the export structure of knitted products, knitted garments and accessories are still the main export products, accounting for 79.27% in 20 19.

There is a strong demand for high-end knitted garments in China, and the competitiveness of knitted fabrics appears.

Because the development of independent brands of large knitting enterprises in China lags behind and the development of independent brands is limited by foreign brands, the competitiveness of knitted garments in China is relatively poor in the international market. In 20 19, the export of knitted garments and accessories in China declined again.

However, on the import side, due to the upgrading of consumption in China in recent years, there is a strong demand for high-end knitted garments and accessories in the domestic terminal consumer market. In recent years, the import volume of knitted garments and accessories in China has increased year by year, reaching $3.654 billion in 20 19.

However, thanks to the relatively complete knitting industrial system in China, especially the development of knitting printing and dyeing processing technology, the competitiveness of knitted fabric products in China has been continuously enhanced. From 20 17 to 20 19, the export value of knitted fabrics in China increased year by year, while the import value decreased year by year. 2018.662 billion us dollars, and the export volume dropped to13.75438 billion us dollars.

Knitted products will develop in the direction of branding and personalization.

Today, with the consumption upgrading, in order to reverse the situation of low added value of products and weak brand influence, large-scale knitted garment manufacturing enterprises in China began to open the international market through mergers and acquisitions, so as to expand their brand influence and increase the competitiveness of their products. The most typical case is Shandong Ruyi, which started with fabrics and textiles, invested and acquired luxury fashion groups such as SMCP, Bally and Lycra, and was known as "China LVMH". In the future, China knitwear products will develop towards brand line and high-end trend.

In terms of knitted fabrics, due to the development of technology and the improvement of living standards in China in recent years, enterprises in the knitting industry actively respond to the integration of technology into the production of knitted fabrics, while paying attention to the market demand dynamics. In recent years, they also held production activities of knitted functional products. In the future, knitted fabric technology and products will develop in the direction of personalization, fashion, functionality and green.

—— The above data comes from the Forecast and Analysis Report on Production and Marketing Demand and Investment of China Knitting Industry by Prospective Industry Research Institute.