Xinhua Finance Observation: From "Street Market" to "Industrial Cluster" — The Symbiosis of a Piece of Fabric and a City

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 18 (Li Lin) — In the spring of March, the tide of Huxiang is in full swing. Along National Highway 320, outside Haining China Home Textile City in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, trucks loaded with fabrics come and go constantly. Vendors speaking various local dialects and foreign businessmen from different countries shuttle between booths inside the textile city.

Over thirty years ago, this was still an open-air stall built with cement boards—“stop every car, shout at every person.”

“Every household has weaving machines, every family is busy weaving fabrics,” reflecting the origin of Haining Xucun Town’s home textile industry. From starting at the “roadside market” by the highway, to becoming the country’s largest jacquard fabric production base, and then a township with GDP surpassing 20 billion yuan—“the name is a village, the structure is a town, but in reality, it’s a city.” Xucun Town’s forty years have seen a leap from “selling by basket” to “industry clusters,” creating a legendary story of industry and city co-prosperity.

The Shouts at No. 7 Bridge — Memories of the Roadside Market

“Back then, right by the No. 7 Bridge on Highway 320, we set up a stall with cement five-hole boards. Before dawn, everyone would carry their shoulder poles to sell bedding.” Recalling the late 1980s, Haining Vice Mayor Zhang Ruqiang still vividly remembers the scene when he worked at the Xucun Industry and Commerce Office.

At that time, farmers in Xucun had just put down their hoes and bought weaving machines from nearby Linping. Colorful woven products like silk quilts, hundred-figure pictures, and brocade fabrics not only celebrated rural wedding joy but also ignited the initial market awareness among Xucun residents. They gathered spontaneously along the national highway, forming an open-air market called “Yao Ting Yang.”

In 1992, responding to the trend, the Haining Municipal Party Committee and government, together with the Municipal Industry and Commerce Bureau, Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and Xucun Town Government, invested over 10 million yuan to establish the “Zhejiang Xucun Bedding Market” at the No. 7 Bridge stockyard. On September 14 of that year, this 37.5-acre market with over 300 business rooms officially opened, becoming Haining’s first specialized market.

(Photos of the 1992 opening ceremony of Zhejiang Xucun Bedding Market, provided by Haining China Home Textile City)

The market underwent several renamings and expansions. In 1996, it was renamed “Bedding Decorative Fabric Market” as curtain fabrics and upholstery fabrics gained popularity. In 2001, the fourth phase expansion—Haining China Home Textile Decorative City—began construction. Today, Haining China Home Textile City is set for a new upgrade. Xucun Town Party Secretary Xu Xinfeng revealed that the city will build an international exhibition center, transforming from a single curtain and window dressing market into a comprehensive full-house soft furnishing platform. “In the future, when you want to decorate your home, just take a walk in Home Textile City—designs, fabrics, lighting, furniture—all in one place.”

(Foundation ceremony of Haining China Home Textile Decorative City in 2001, provided by Hongda Holdings Group)

From “scattered vendors” to fixed stalls, from cement boards to specialized markets, from single bedding to decorative fabrics, curtain fabrics, and upholstery—each upgrade of the Xucun market has driven industry transformation. Shen Guofu, Chairman of Hongda Holdings Group, commented: “Originally, equipment was produced locally; later, it used provincial and national equipment. Now, many are high-end machines imported from around the world.”

Daring to Venture and Strive — The Rise of the Jacquard Capital

In 2001, the first Haining China Home Textile Expo was held, with the government providing the stage and enterprises performing. As the expo continued annually, Xucun’s reputation grew, attracting buyers from across the country. More and more foreign visitors appeared at the exhibitions, and residents of Xucun realized that their fabrics could be sold farther abroad.

No longer satisfied with the domestic market, a group of daring entrepreneurs carried fabric samples and “mute English cards” printed with translation software, flying to Frankfurt, Milan. “If you don’t speak English, just gesture with your hands and negotiate prices with a calculator,” said Xu Xinfeng. This boldness helped Xucun open up to the international market.

(Trade matchmaking scene at the 2026 Haining China International Home Textile (Spring) Expo, provided by the expo)

Around 2005, local companies began to heavily invest in advanced equipment from Germany and Italy, such as electronic jacquard machines, shifting from ordinary fabrics to high-value-added jacquard fabrics, establishing a leading position in production, domestic sales, and exports nationwide.

Foreign trade orders flooded in, but residents soon realized that relying solely on foreign trade companies meant limited channels and concentrated risks. Meanwhile, the domestic e-commerce wave was quietly rising.

A number of perceptive companies began to explore online channels, moving their business from offline to online. The rise of platforms like Taobao and 1688 allowed Xucun residents to connect directly with customers online, no longer relying solely on foreign trade companies.

“Some companies do live-streaming sales, with single-session GMV exceeding 10 million yuan,” said Yin Xiaohong, Chairman of Haining China Home Textile City Co., Ltd. Today, everywhere in Xucun, you can see hosts demonstrating fabric details on camera, with neatly stacked jacquard fabrics on shelves behind them, ready to be shipped worldwide.

(Training scene at the 2026 Haining China International Home Textile (Spring) Expo live broadcast workshop, provided by the expo)

Shen Guofu deeply felt this change: “It used to be just a small shop, even an old lady could sell fabric. Now, companies are becoming more standardized, managing digitally, operating knowledgeably. Especially in recent years, scanning QR codes reveals where the fabric was produced and its quality—full traceability.”

From “selling by basket” to “live streaming,” the sales methods in Xucun have evolved, but the spirit of daring and striving remains unchanged.

The Trend of National Style — Cross-border from Home Textiles to Fashion

In 2023, the Ma Mian skirt suddenly became a hit. Residents of Xucun discovered that their decades-old jacquard craft was the core technology behind Ma Mian skirts. A batch of companies quickly adjusted their parameters, shifting from producing curtain and upholstery fabrics to making Ma Mian skirt fabrics. By 2024, about 30% of new Chinese-style fabrics nationwide came from Xucun.

Cao Yaoqiang, President of Haining Home Textile Industry Association, is deeply impressed by the cross-industry integration. He believes that home textiles and apparel are not competing but should promote a “strong alliance” between the two pillar industries.

“Intangible cultural heritage isn’t just kept in museums; it needs modern technology to amplify its voice.” He Róng, General Manager of Haining Zhongfang Fabric Technology Co., Ltd. and a promoter of textile intangible cultural heritage, leads a team rooted in Xucun. Collaborating with Zhejiang University of Technology, they replicate and innovate traditional techniques like Song brocade and Zhang brocade using modern weaving machines. Their products have appeared on the stages of the Tokyo Olympics and Hangzhou Asian Games. “Our reproductions of traditional patterns are highly precise, with significantly reduced costs, making heritage techniques accessible to ordinary people,” he said.

(“Spring Sequence” fashion show scene at the 2026 Haining Spring Home Expo, provided by the expo)

In 2026, at the Spring Home Expo in Haining, Zhejiang University of Technology President Chen Wenxing visited Xucun again. He said, “Our university has jointly built a fashion fabric innovation center and a textile intangible cultural heritage creative museum with Home Textile City, continuously improving the industry-academia-research-application system. In the future, more innovative materials and creative ideas will be integrated into the textile industry.”

Yin Xiaohong also shared insights from the platform perspective, describing the interaction between the market and industry. In recent years, the empowerment platform co-built with Zhejiang University of Technology has developed over 4,000 original fabrics. “We aim to use the market platform to empower and attract small and medium-sized enterprises, bringing cutting-edge information and global buyers to Xucun,” she said.

Unique Model — Four Wheels Moving Together

“Government, enterprises, associations, and markets—four wheels turning together,” Xu Xinfeng summarized the Xucun model. He explained that each year, the government invests over 10 million yuan in industry subsidies, and last year, 800 acres of land were supplied to support quality projects. To coordinate over 8,000 business entities and nearly 50,000 workers, the government has streamlined the industry chain by consolidating dyeing and finishing enterprises (reducing from 21 to 7), building combined heat and power plants, and developing logistics parks.

(Opening ceremony scene of the 2026 Haining China International Home Textile Expo, provided by the expo)

“The logistics park is just 500 meters east of Home Textile City, covering 75 acres with a total construction area of 110,000 square meters,” Shen Guofu pointed outside. “It’s dedicated to serving the textile industry, operating 24 hours to ship products worldwide.”

Haining Party Secretary Xu Mingliang said, “Xucun has been continuously breaking through. From bedding to home textiles, from home decor fabrics to automotive interiors, and even carbon fiber—it’s not just about inheritance but about constant innovation.”

In Xu’s view, the essence of Xucun lies in this relentless pursuit of progress. “The people here are always exploring breakthroughs in industry. Today’s fabrics can be used in many areas—car door panels, aircraft interiors, and in the future, the concept of textiles will be very broad.”

In 2025, Xucun’s regional GDP first exceeded 20 billion yuan, making it Haining’s first “200-billion-yuan town,” with the home textile industry’s above-scale output value expected to reach 12.2 billion yuan. Even more astonishing, this 91-square-kilometer township has a population of over 300,000.

“Industry is a wealth-creating industry and a magnet for people,” Xu Mingliang said.

The growth of the home textile industry has driven the entire upstream and downstream chain. From initial weaving, it has extended to yarns, dyeing, design, logistics, and sales, forming a complete internal circulation industry chain. The region not only hosts thousands of home textile companies but also attracts over 1,500 apparel enterprises, creating a dual-driven industry pattern of home textiles and fashion.

“The next step is to break through branding,” Xu admitted. “Most products here are intermediate goods with limited added value. If terminal products are produced here, the industry scale could be 50 billion or even 100 billion yuan.”