According to data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to September 2026, China’s exports of woven and knitted apparel increased by 4.5% in value and 7.0% in volume, while the average export price fell by 2.4%, making “rising volume, falling prices” a common trend across end‑product categories. During the same period, total profits in the textile, apparel, and clothing industries amounted to RMB 21.95 billion, down 15.6% year on year. Amid persistently shrinking price margins, Nantong Kaiyuan International Trading Co., Ltd. has shifted its competitive focus from pricing to delivery reliability through end-to-end quality control and rapid production scheduling.
First, let’s look at the overall figures. From January to September, China’s cumulative exports of textiles and apparel totaled US$232.96 billion, up 5.1% year on year. Within this, clothing and clothing accessories amounted to US$120.69 billion, an increase of 4.8%. In September alone, exports reached US$29.66 billion, up 21.5% year on year; clothing exports for the month were US$15.42 billion, up 23.9%, a pace markedly faster than in the first eight months. Caution is warranted regarding this strong growth: last year’s base was depressed by tariff expectations and shrinking demand, with a significant portion of the current rise attributable to the base effect, so it should not be directly extrapolated as a broad recovery in external demand. Nevertheless, it does indicate one thing: orders from major markets have not been displaced; rather, the timing of placing orders has become more concentrated and shorter‑term.
Breaking down the categories reveals clearer differentiation. From January to September, yarn exports rose 10.0% in value, 6.4% in volume, and prices increased 3.4%, making it one of the few categories to achieve simultaneous growth in both volume and price; fabric exports grew 3.3% in value, with volume up 1.1% and prices up 2.2%; home textile exports increased 5.2% in value, but volume surged 7.9% while prices fell 2.5%; and woven and knitted apparel exports climbed 4.5% in value, with volume up 7.0% and prices down 2.4%. The pattern is quite straightforward: the closer a category is to the end consumer, the more it relies on “shipping more at lower margins” to sustain scale; the further upstream in the supply chain, the greater the pricing flexibility. Price pressures are not a universal issue but rather a structural one.
The picture on the profit front is even more stark. From January to September, profits for textile firms above a designated size totaled RMB 42.83 billion, up 7.2% year on year; chemical fiber manufacturing recorded RMB 32.68 billion, an increase of 81.7%; meanwhile, the textile and apparel industry posted total profits of RMB 21.95 billion, down 15.6% year on year. Breaking it down to the apparel sector itself, from January to August, operating revenue for firms above the designated size fell 1.89% year on year, while total profits declined 14.43%. The share of loss-making enterprises stood at 29.22%, expanding by 1.92 percentage points compared with the same period last year, and fixed-asset investment dropped 11.3%. Export volumes are rising, but revenues are not keeping pace—this is a critical contrast that the apparel export sector must squarely confront this year.
There are several reasons why unit prices have been declining. First, the order mix is shifting: buyers are increasingly breaking down large, long‑lead‑time contracts into smaller, more frequent quick‑response orders, amplifying costs associated with style changes and sampling. Second, raw material prices have trended lower; at the end of October, the main Zhengzhou Cotton contract settled at an average of 15,353 yuan/ton for the week, down 2.7% from the previous period. With new cotton coming to market in bulk and old‑crop cotton warehouse receipts being released en masse before November 20, the cost anchor has weakened in the short term. Third, homogeneous products are highly substitutable. Taken together, price competition is concentrated in highly standardized categories, while suppliers with strong R&D capabilities and high process barriers still retain pricing power.
The Japanese market serves as a case in point for this logic. From January to September, China’s exports to Japan fell 0.4% year on year, the only one of the four major traditional markets to post cumulative negative growth; however, in September alone, exports to Japan rose 4.1% year on year, turning from negative to positive. The recovery on the Japanese retail side remains moderate—retail sales of textiles, apparel, and accessories in Japan declined 6.1% year on year in August, with the drop narrowing slightly from the previous month. With overall demand stable and a low tolerance for error, Japanese customers prioritize consistent quality and on-time delivery over low prices when placing orders.

This is precisely the strategic direction chosen by Nantong Kaiyuan International Trading Co., Ltd. Founded in September 2008, the company specializes in exporting knitted and woven apparel to the Japanese market, with women’s wear accounting for 50% and children’s wear for 40%. All products are sold exclusively to Japan, primarily serving leading Japanese trading houses and renowned apparel brands. Manufacturing is handled by its wholly owned factory, Nantong Dongyang Fashion Co., Ltd., located in Rudong, Nantong, where cutting, sewing, quality inspection, and packaging are all performed on-site. Six business divisions operate in close coordination with the fabric department.
At the operational level, the company has implemented a three‑step quality control system: incoming fabric inspection checks color variation, weight, and shrinkage; cutting and sewing are subject to process‑by‑process monitoring, with issues resolved at the workstation rather than at the end of the line; finished garments undergo 100% inspection, with dimensions, appearance, and workmanship verified before packaging. Coupled with flexible scheduling and rolling deliveries from our own factories, even small‑batch, high‑frequency orders can be produced on a steady cadence. Front‑end development in the fabric department also shortens sample turnaround time, keeping style‑change scrap within predictable limits.
The fourth quarter represents a critical window in Japan, where year-end sales promotions overlap with the lead‑up to the 2027 spring/summer trading season. October export data, scheduled for release in early November, will serve as a leading indicator of whether the trend of rising volumes but falling prices persists. For exporters, price can no longer be a sustainable competitive differentiator; the ability to demonstrate consistent quality and reliable delivery will determine their standing in the next round of order allocations. Nantong Kaiyuan International will continue to invest along this path, strengthening its supply chain position in the Japanese market through dependable delivery and ongoing product innovation.