The Puyuan sweater industry base in Tongxiang, Zhejiang — China's largest knitwear collection and distribution center — recorded 91.56 billion yuan in turnover from January to September, up 33.5 percent year on year, according to Zhejiang provincial authorities. The cluster's scenario project, which fuses the sweater hub with the permanent venue of the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen and the Puyuan ancient town, was among six Zhejiang projects named national landmark major application scenarios on October 20.
The project embeds new technologies directly into the manufacturing source: AR smart fitting rooms, whole-garment one-piece forming, and digital identity traceability, letting consumers shop where the sweaters are actually made. The formula of "expos drawing visitors, ancient-town tourism and fashion retail" generated more than 500 million views online during the recent high-fashion week, officials said.
For the export-oriented knitwear trade, the integration matters: it shortens the road from design to shelf for small-commodity categories like sweaters and accessories, and gives overseas buyers a one-stop way to see, order and trace production at the source rather than through layers of intermediaries.
Source: Zhejiang Provincial DRC via Sina News, October 20, 2026
