On September 8, the General Administration of Customs released the latest national foreign trade statistics. According to CCTV.com, in the first eight months of 2026, China’s total value of goods trade—imports and exports combined—reached RMB 34.78 trillion, up 17.6% year on year. Both exports and imports have posted double-digit growth for four consecutive months, underscoring the continued steady upward momentum of China’s foreign trade. Notably, bilateral trade between China and Japan has remained stable, with consistent demand for textiles and apparel in the Japanese market. This stable market environment has created sustained development opportunities for numerous export-oriented textile enterprises in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, a key hub for China’s textile industry.

As a specialized foreign‑trade enterprise deeply rooted in Nantong’s rich textile industry and long committed to exporting apparel to Japan, Nantong Kaoyuan International Trade Co., Ltd. (Worldrun International Trade) has consistently cultivated the Japanese apparel market. Its core business spans the full spectrum of women’s and children’s wear, as well as OEM production for a wide range of woven and knitted garments. The company has maintained long‑term, stable, and trust‑based partnerships with leading Japanese trading houses such as Mitsui & Co., Marubeni, and Toyoshima, and with key strategic clients. Leveraging its integrated manufacturing capabilities at a locally based garment factory in Nantong, the company exercises rigorous control over fabric quality, production processes, and delivery schedules from the very outset of the supply chain, ensuring consistent, on‑time delivery of high‑quality finished products that meet Japan’s stringent standards.

In the face of volatility in the global trade environment, Kaiyuan International has remained committed to refined supply-chain management, optimizing fabric procurement, production scheduling, and ocean‑freight logistics to continuously enhance order‑response speed. According to a company official, the Japanese market imposes stringent requirements on apparel quality, eco‑friendly materials, and compliance standards. The company will continue to refine its product offerings, align with evolving Japanese consumer trends, optimize its product mix, and consolidate its core export base in Japan, while also actively exploring diversified opportunities in overseas markets.

Industry Insight: Textiles and apparel have long been a cornerstone of China’s traditional export strengths in the foreign trade sector. Despite facing mounting challenges in recent years—ranging from volatile end‑consumer demand overseas to the gradual introduction of increasingly stringent environmental regulations in key export markets—high‑quality, compliant, and resilient domestic manufacturing supply chains continue to command strong core competitiveness in the global marketplace. As one of the nation’s leading provinces in textile and apparel exports, Jiangsu leverages its well‑integrated, comprehensive industrial chain to consistently empower Japanese‑bound exporters across multiple dimensions.

As a well‑known domestic textile and apparel export cluster in the Yangtze River Delta, Nantong leverages its port‑adjacent location and mature industrial base. Textile and apparel exports to Japan have long accounted for a significant share of the city’s foreign trade, serving as one of the core pillars driving growth in local export revenues. According to statistics released by Nantong Customs, in the first eight months of 2026, Nantong’s textile and apparel exports to Japan increased by 12.3% year on year, maintaining a steady overall growth trajectory—outpacing the national average for textile and apparel exports to Japan and underscoring the robust competitiveness of Nantong’s textile and apparel sector in the Japanese market. Notably, the industry is undergoing a pronounced structural upgrade: exports of mid‑to‑high‑end ready‑made garments and environmentally compliant products have grown at rates exceeding 18%, far surpassing the sector’s overall expansion rate. This trend signals that Nantong’s textile and apparel exports are accelerating their transition from low‑value‑added contract manufacturing toward higher‑value‑added product segments. Building on years of deep expertise in Japan‑bound trade and the region’s comprehensive, well‑integrated industrial chain, Nantong Kaiyuan International Trade—a leading local player in Japan‑focused exports—continues to focus on Japan’s premium apparel market while proactively adapting to evolving overseas demand. To meet Japan’s stringent quality standards, increasingly rigorous compliance requirements, and consumers’ growing environmental awareness, the company has recently allocated dedicated resources to establish a robust, upstream environmental‑testing system within its supply chain. By aligning rigorously with Japan’s JIS textile standards and its chemical‑substance management regulations, the firm has moved beyond traditional post‑production screening, shifting quality control to the very source of fabric procurement. This proactive approach prevents non‑compliant materials from entering the production process at the upstream stage, thereby ensuring both regulatory compliance and consistent product quality at the source.

Establishing a proactive, standardized quality‑control and compliance system that spans the entire production value chain can effectively reduce losses in the manufacturing process, ensure the long-term stability of core product quality, and help domestic textile enterprises deepen their presence in Japan’s high‑end and mid‑range markets—segments with particularly stringent entry barriers. This approach enables them to gradually build a long‑term, stable, and sustainable framework for overseas customer relationships. Many industry experts in textile trade emphasize that, in today’s environment, the key to weathering global market volatility and achieving steady growth lies in focusing on mature niche segments, proactively aligning with target‑market regulatory standards, and leveraging superior product quality to fortify export competitiveness. Such strategies not only serve as a valuable reference model for the domestic textile sector’s pursuit of high‑quality international expansion but also offer practical guidance for other industries seeking to enhance their global footprint.