China’s 1.3 billion population constitutes a huge market for garments, and one that is growing year by year. China’s adult garment market was worth around RMB1,144.4 billion in 2016, an increase on the previous year of 6.4%. Market value is expected to reach RMB1,370.4 billion by 2019.

Chinese garment brands can be divided into two major categories. The first comprises upmarket brands, targetted at consumers from high-income groups with growing spending power, increasing taste for luxury and high-end brands, and a concern for garment quality and shopping experience. The second adopts a mass market strategy and, like Uniqlo, Zara and H&M, offers affordable and trendy garments especially favoured by young consumers.

As profit margins get slimmer, the development of innovative technologies has become an increasingly important feature of competition among companies. For example, some garment brands are forming strategic partnerships with upstream manufacturers of simulation functional fibres. This gives rise gradually to the trend in which upstream innovation in raw materials will set the course of fashion trends at the user end. Given that simulation functional fibres can ensure the attractiveness and comfort of garments while also catering to environmental and safety concerns, they enjoy obvious value-for-money advantages over natural fibres.