Recently, the China National Textile Industry Council released the economic operation report for China’s textile industry in the first half of 2026. Data shows that the industrial added‑value of above‑scale textile machinery enterprises achieved double‑digit growth. The growth rate was far higher than the 3.3% average of the whole textile sector, highlighting the industry’s recovery momentum. Intelligent and green‑oriented equipment has become the core engine driving growth.
This year marks the starting year of the 15th Five‑Year Plan. The textile sector is accelerating equipment upgrading and digital technological transformation, bringing a new round of demand dividends to the textile machinery market. Judging from the overall performance in H1, the textile machinery sector has seen improved production sentiment. Enterprise operating rates have climbed steadily; key leading enterprises are fully booked for production. Delivery schedules for domestic and overseas orders have sped up, and production‑sales linkage keeps improving.
Structured divergence is observed across sub‑sectors. The spinning machinery segment delivered outstanding performance. Demand for intelligent complete sets of equipment including ring spinning, vortex spinning and rotor spinning is robust. Driven by the new‑round intelligent upgrading of domestic cotton textile enterprises and capacity expansion in central‑western textile clusters such as Xinjiang, orders have grown markedly. The weaving machinery market shows mixed performance. Demand for high‑end air‑jet looms and special‑fiber weaving equipment is surging, while demand for conventional basic models is slowing down. The sectors of chemical‑fiber machinery, knitting machinery and dyeing‑finishing equipment remain in the recovery phase. Downstream chemical‑fiber and knitting enterprises are cautious about investment, leading to a relatively moderate pace of industry recovery.
Export resilience has been maintained. Against the restructuring of global textile supply chains, Chinese‑made textile machinery keeps gaining momentum thanks to its cost‑performance advantages. Orders from emerging markets including Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa are picking up steadily. Spinning and weaving machinery stand out in overseas sales. A number of leading domestic textile machinery enterprises are accelerating global expansion. Models of technology export and localized services are maturing, and overseas markets have become a key growth driver for the industry.
In terms of profitability, industrial earnings have recovered, yet enterprises still face multiple pressures. Volatile prices of upstream raw materials such as steel and motors push up manufacturing costs. Intensified homogeneous competition and price wars in the low‑end segment squeeze corporate profit margins. Downstream textile end‑users are prudent about investment, and large‑scale capacity expansion in the long run is limited. The foundation for industrial recovery still needs further consolidation.
Innovation‑driven development serves as the main path for textile machinery enterprises to break through difficulties. In H1, the industry kept making breakthroughs in high‑speed & high‑efficiency production, digital control, low‑carbon energy‑saving, and flexible equipment for small‑batch quick‑response manufacturing. Innovative products such as intelligent spinning production lines, AGV warehousing & transportation systems, AI online inspection equipment and low‑energy dyeing‑finishing equipment are being rolled out at a faster pace. The localization of core components keeps accelerating. Many enterprises are transforming from single‑equipment suppliers to full‑process complete‑solution providers. The share of technical‑service revenue keeps rising, and industrial value is shifting from hardware manufacturing towards integrated solutions of “equipment + software + operation & maintenance”.
Industrial gradient transfer keeps unlocking demand for stock‑equipment renewal. The orderly relocation of domestic textile capacity to central and western regions generates massive procurement demand for new production lines. Coastal textile enterprises in eastern China are phasing out old high‑energy‑consuming equipment and entering a new round of equipment‑upgrading cycle. The transition between old and new growth drivers opens long‑term growth space for the textile machinery industry.
Industry experts point out that opportunities and challenges coexist for the textile machinery sector in the second half of the year. As the autumn‑winter textile peak season approaches, downstream textile enterprises will step up stock‑building, and textile‑machinery orders are expected to keep recovering. Nevertheless, recovery will not be a broad‑based rise. Market resources will further concentrate on leading enterprises with independent R&D capacity, high‑end complete‑solution capabilities and sound domestic‑overseas service networks. The textile‑machinery sector should keep focusing on technological innovation, bridge key bottlenecks, vigorously develop green and intelligent equipment, seize opportunities for equipment renewal, expand emerging overseas markets, consolidate the positive recovery trend, and help elevate the modernization level of the textile industrial chain and supply chain.
