According to Qingdao Customs, Shandong Haiyang's textile and garment exports posted a scorecard of 1.74 billion yuan in the first eight months of this year, up 5.8% year-on-year. Among them, knitwear exports represented by the "one-thread garment" integrated production model performed particularly well — Yantai Yaqi Textile Co., Ltd. exported knitwear worth 460 million yuan during the same period, up 84.5% year-on-year, becoming the main driving force behind local textile and garment foreign trade growth.

In local textile workshops in Haiyang, fully fashioned intelligent flat knitting machines are running at high speed. Unlike the traditional garment-making process of separate panels, cutting and sewing, this "one-thread garment" smart manufacturing technique can knit yarn directly into finished sweaters, reducing processes and shortening cycles, with products packed and shipped overseas immediately. Textile and garment is a pillar industry and livelihood industry in Haiyang, and local enterprises are relying on their knitting processing foundation to continuously advance intelligent manufacturing upgrades, enrich knitwear categories, and cultivate knitted garments into a distinctive export product.

"We mainly produce and sell sweaters and knitwear, with products sold to major markets in Europe, America and Asia," said Qi Yuntao, the company's business manager. Overseas buyers' requirements for fabric comfort and garment pattern details continue to rise, and the company has therefore continuously updated intelligent production equipment and improved fabric processes. In the first eight months of this year, the company exported 460 million yuan of knitted garments, up 84.5% year-on-year.

Facing changes in the global trade environment and intensifying international market competition, stabilizing existing orders, opening new channels and consolidating overseas share have become common issues for Haiyang textile and garment enterprises. Haiyang Customs under Qingdao Customs has aligned with the export needs of enterprises in its jurisdiction, promoting policies on origin preferential treatment, tax reduction and exemption, and processing trade management to help enterprises lower production costs; at the same time, it has promoted facilitation measures such as advance declaration and appointment-based customs clearance to optimize clearance procedures.

Li Lin, deputy director of Haiyang Customs, said that next it will combine Haiyang's industrial characteristics and the actual operations of enterprises, continue to optimize the port business environment, carry out regular targeted assistance to enterprises, release the effectiveness of various pro-enterprise policies, and boost the stable orders and market expansion of the textile and garment industry in its jurisdiction.

The double-digit growth of a single product category and the overall moderate upward trend in Haiyang's textile and garment exports reflect the driving role of intelligent manufacturing upgrades in knitted garment exports, and also show the role of customs facilitation policies in stabilizing foreign trade orders.

Source: "One-Thread Garment" Weaves a New Channel to Overseas Markets · Originally published on 2026-09-28