China's 13th five-year plan for the textile industry will focus on five areas: upgrading of textile chain, internationalization, domestic regional transfer, eco-friendly sustainable development and talent cultivation. During the plan period (2016-2020), the technical textiles sector will grow rapidly and e-commerce will reconstruct the commercial chain of textile industry. Therefore, it is necessary for the textile industry to enhance technological innovation, improve IT transformation of textile industry, promote the position of textile products in the textile value-added chain and put stress on developing fashionable and creative textile industry.

China’s textile industry is under the dual pressure of developed economies’ re-industrialization on the one hand and improved competitive advantages of Southeast and South Asian economies. The Chinese textile industry wants to re-establish internationally competitive advantages, introduce its own brands to the world, encourage enterprises to integrate value-added chains worldwide and optimize the structure of textile exports.

In addition, the plan also includes improving sustainable development, energy-saving and emission reduction, allocation of industrial parks, establishing a waste fiber and textile product recycling system and the construction of a talent team that can cope with the transformed and upgraded textile industry. A central theme is to develop the textile and apparel industry by moving it to western and central China.