A new report highlights China's unique potential to achieve a 50% reduction in the apparel industry's carbon emissions by 2030, leveraging its complete industrial chain, mature manufacturing base, and strong policy support. As the world's largest textile producer and exporter, the sector accounts for 2–3% of China's total industrial carbon emissions.
The industry faces significant challenges, including a fossil fuel-dependent energy structure, financial pressures on SMEs for green transition, and underdeveloped supply chain carbon monitoring. However, well-established industrial clusters in Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu provinces facilitate the large-scale adoption of clean energy and technology upgrades.
Key technological pathways identified are:
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Energy Transition: Deployment of rooftop solar PV, biomass energy, and pilot projects for centralized heating and waste heat recovery in industrial parks.
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Digital Transformation: Use of IoT for real-time energy monitoring and AI for production optimization, with some smart factories achieving a 30% reduction in product carbon intensity.
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Material Innovation: Increased use of recycled fibers and scaling of green processes like waterless dyeing.
Recent policies, including green factory mandates and anticipated expansion of the carbon trading market, are driving change. Chinese suppliers are also forming new collaborations with international brands (e.g., H&M, Decathlon, Levi's) on technical and financial projects that reduce water use and enable product-level carbon footprint tracing.
Despite progress, bottlenecks remain: a lack of unified carbon accounting standards, high certification costs for SMEs, and the need to cultivate a green product market. Experts recommend accelerating a textile carbon labeling system to harness consumer demand. With the expansion of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in 2024, decarbonization is becoming a strategic imperative for China to maintain its global supply chain competitiveness.
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