Dongguan Dalang, the "World Woolen Capital," produces 1/5 of the world's sweaters, and companies gather to compete for orders at sea

In 1979, Hong Kong businessmen came to Dalang and opened the first local woolen weaving factory, marking the beginning of the development of the local woolen weaving industry. Many people from Dalang have gone through the process of starting their own businesses, from working as workers in factories to working in single family workshops, and then starting factories. They have created a beautiful life with their diligent hands.
In 2002, Dalang was awarded the title of "Famous Town of Chinese Woolen Sweater" by the China Textile Industry Federation (formerly the China Textile Industry Association). Afterwards, Dalang woolen weaving developed rapidly, replacing hand looms with computerized flat knitting machines on a large scale, achieving technological innovation, and further transforming towards fashion and branding.
Over 20 years have passed in a blink of an eye, and the pace of the Dalang woolen industry has moved from a small town in southern China to the whole world. In November 2023, Dalang signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the China Textile Industry Federation to jointly build the "World Woolen Capital". This also means that Dalang has taken another step towards its goal of becoming a global model of China's modern textile industry system.
Woolen weaving signs can be seen everywhere on the streets of Langjie. China's first woolen weaving village has risen from a family workshop
The streets hang woolen weaving signs, and the weaving machines make a sound in the alleys... This is the Xiangtou Community in Dalang Town, Dongguan, known as the "First Village of Chinese Woolen Weaving". This small village, covering an area of approximately 3.4 square kilometers, has over 95% of its land covering the core area of woolen trade.
It is unimaginable that not a single wool is produced here, and the villagers used to make a living through agriculture and poultry farming. How did the weaving machine change the development trajectory of Xiangtou Village? The story starts 45 years ago.
In 1979, the wave of reform and opening up swept across the southern land, and at this time, Hong Kong's woolen industry planned to shift to the Pearl River Delta. Chen Qiushun, who was then a cadre of the Xiangtou Brigade in Dalang Town, learned that a Hong Kong businessman was interested in investing in a woolen weaving factory in Dongguan and was currently selecting a site in Shenzhen. He quickly rushed to Shenzhen with his colleagues to persuade them to visit Xiangtou.
Collaboration is a perfect fit. Hong Kong merchants opened the first woolen weaving factory in the village at Xiangtou - Zhixing Woolen Weaving Factory, operating under the "three incoming and one supplement" model (incoming processing, sample processing, incoming assembly, and compensation trade). Due to limited construction land in the village, the factory buildings were renovated using office space vacated by the village committee.