Digital Economy Unveils Sustainable Development of China Fashion-China Fashion Conference Global Summit Held in Hangzhou

September 06 21:33 2019

Telecom operators start their 5G businesses since September, which indicates the beginning of wider application of 5G technology. With the popularity of 5G technology, production and daily life have come into the overtaking lane. How will 5G affect our life from quantitative change to qualitative change? China Fashion Conference Global Summit 2019, guided by the theme of “Digital Economy Enables Sustainable Development”, started its exploration from “Opportunities and Layout of Fashion Consumption in 5G Era”.

With the powerful penetration by digital economy in various fields, industrial digitalization and digital industrialization have become key words for the quality and efficiency improvement of traditional industries and business innovation. Therefore, in China Fashion Conference Global Summit 2019, discussions on “What Future for Fashion Industry in AI Era” were held. 

With the powerful penetration by digital economy in various fields, industrial digitalization and digital industrialization have become key words for the quality and efficiency improvement of traditional industries and business innovation. Therefore, in China Fashion Conference Global Summit 2019, discussions on “What Future for Fashion Industry in AI Era” were held.

In the afternoon, 12 guests brought inspiring speeches to more than 500 audiences from the dominant positions in their own fields, under the theme of Digital Economy Enables Sustainable Fashion.

On September 5th, China Fashion Conference Global Summit 2019 was held in E-Fashion Town of Yuhang District, Hangzhou.

This summit was jointly hosted by China Fashion Designers Association and the People’s Government of Yuhang District, Hangzhou. It was undertaken by Hangzhou Linping New Town Development Administration Committee and the Media Center of China Fashion Designers Association, and WWD and Fashion China, as special cooperation media, joined this summit.

Sun Ruizhe, the President of CNTAC, Zhang Qinghui, the President of China Fashion Association, Zong Ruilong, Deputy Director of Textile Division of Department of Consumer Goods Industry of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, ,Chen Rugen, Chief of Yuhang District of Hangzhou, Li Minhua, Deputy Director and Deputy Secretary of Yuhang Disctrit People’s Conference Standing Committee and Secretary of CPC Linping New Town Working Committee, Wang Yaoping, Deputy Secretary of CPC Linping New Town Working Committee and Director of Linping New Town Administration Committee and Ma Jinxun, Organization Member of CPC Yuhang District Working Committee attended the summit.

This summit, standing from a global perspective, invited guests from China, the US, Italy, the UK and Spain and started discussions on “Digital Economy Enables Sustainable Fashion” to find the harmony between digital economy and traditional industries, thus to draw up a blueprint for the restructuring of fashion industry.

Zhang Qinghui, President of China Fashion Designers Association, presided over the opening ceremony of the summit. He pointed out,

With the constantly increasing international competitiveness of China fashion industry, China textile industry, as an important backbone of China fashion industry, forged ahead subject to the high-quality guidelines of technological, fashionable and green development. Yuhang District, as an open and innovative district of Hangzhou, has made many explorations in high-quality development, which was the main reason for China Fashion Conference choosing Yuhang District as the meeting place.

Chen Rugen, Chief of Yuhang District of Hangzhou, delivered a speech in the summit. He expressed,

it is the second year for E-Fashion Town to see the hosting of China Fashion Conference. Thanks to the powerful development trend of digital economy, this conference adopted the theme of “Digital Economy Enables Sustainable Fashion” to connect brilliant fashion creativity talents and designers of the world and combined technological enabling and diversified cultures, thus to explore the innovative development path for China fashion industry and promote the fusion of fashion and digitalization. The conference will inject new energy into the building of E-Fashion Town into a leading place of national digital fashion, model of traditional industry restructuring and innovative development demonstrator of fashion enterprises. Here, we would like to take this opportunity to invite our guests to develop your business in Hangzhou, to start your business in this town. We will further optimize our services and facilities, improve atmosphere and upgrade business environment to make it a new height of China fashion.


Sun Ruizhe, CNTAC President, delivered a keynote speech.

Against the backdrop of changing political pattern of the world, changing of science and industries and changing global governance, “digital economy” has become an important leverage for fashion industry to acquire “acceleration”. Among it, digitalized restructuring has become a “new strategy” of countries and digital culture is becoming a new requirement of labor and consumers. In digital economy, sustainable development is the value settlement of the development of fashion industry. Innovation, daily life and ecosphere are the three dimensions of sustainable development. Currently, China fashion industry is developing its new positioning on a new historical standing point. The three new positions are scientific and technological industry driven by innovation, fashion industry led by culture and green industry guided by responsibility, which is the best connotation and interpretation for China textile and garment industry to realize high-quality development.

At present, China fashion industry has undergone OEM rise and brand building. In the new era, it is starting from “expansion” to “restructuring”, which is a new journey of high-quality development from “element driving” to “innovation driving”.

Meanwhile, promoted by the fourth industrial revolution and 5G technology, China fashion industry is integrated into the global fashion ecosphere faster, better and more deeply. “Scientific, green, sustainable and digital development” has become the new direction of global fashion industry in the new era.

Against such backdrop, in order to speed up the high-quality development of China fashion industry, the building of global fashion ecosphere, promote the deep integration of the fourth industrial revolution and fashion industrial chain, the summit was held in E-Fashion Town of Yuhang District, Hangzhou.

Opportunities and Layout of Fashion Consumption in 5G Era

The first part of this summit was “Opportunities and Layout of Fashion Consumption in 5G Era”. Yan Min, Chief of Economy Forecasting Department of State Information Center, Johannes Neubacher (Zhang Dachuan), Vice President & CCO of WWD and Simon Collins, founder and Executive Director of WeDesign, started their discussions on the theme.

Yan Min used his topic “The Development Trend of China’s Macro-economy” to unveil the thinking and logic of China economic reform, as well as the importance of digital economy within the frame of China economy from the perspective of macro economy.

Johannes Neubacher, with rich experience in fashion media, forecasted the impact and opportunities brought by 5G to fashion retail business.

No matter the rapid realization of 5G or the rapid development of AI, they both will bring opportunities and challenges to various industries. The globalization of digital economy will bring an exciting future to us. Simon Collins, the founder and Executive Director of WeDesign, told about the relations of science and technology, design and future.

What Future for Fashion Industry in AI Era

The Second Part of the Summit: What Future for Fashion Industry in AI Era Xu Yuanchun, General Manager of AI Creation and Business Department, Microsoft Software and Technology Center of Asia (STCA), introduced Mircosoft’s efforts in this field in recent years from the perspective of AI and AI manufacturing. He adopted multiple specific cases to bring a vivid picture to audiences, triggering their thinking of AI technologies in fashion field.

Li Jianhua, Chairman of WENSLI, tells the combination of the leading silk company and AI technologies from the perspective of application, showing the vigor of the combination of traditional industry and technology.

Dr. Wang Yanqing, CEO of ScopeMediaInc. Canada, devoted himself to the research on AI application to fashion industry. One breakthrough in AI era is that Internet enterprises can use AI technologies to support the upgrade of manufacturing. The most direct way is to put AI technologies to products and service, thus to create new smart products. The topic he shared was AI Reshapes Fashion Retail: Grounding and Trend

The last one who delivered speech was Andrea Fenn, senior professor in Digital Innovation and Strategy of IED and founder of Fireworks, possessing rich experience not only in the combination of technology and fashion, but also in fashion education. His wisdom focused on talent for future and the crossroad of technology and talent fostering.

The inspiring speeches given by guests analyzed the sustainable protection brought by digital economy to fashion industry from various perspectives, thus to widen the over 500 audiences’ globalized perspective of technology and economy.

Guests Share Their Views on the Fashion Grounding of Digital Economy and AI Technologies

Besides inspiring keynote speeches, their dialogues were also enlightening. Marta Coca, Director of 080 Barcelona Fashion, Zeng Yunzhi Representative of Plug and Play China, He Shengjie, CEO of INXX.COM, senior brand planner and designer, together with Percy Gilbert, President of Institute Yingsheng Fashion School, an international art educational platform, as representatives of symbolic brands at home and abroad, discussed the two topics, “How China Weave the Future of Sustainable Fashion” and “How Science and Technology Lever Fashion Industry”.  Their practice and experiences offer solid grounds for the discussed topics.

Marta Coca thought that a successful fashion brand should take the right and interest of consumers into full consideration from element, design to retail; meanwhile, the core of production should be valued: whether a smarter and more environmental-friendly way was adopted, recycling and reuse. Besides, an enterprise should have the sense of social responsibility, which enabled it to produce the value that benefits the society and it was the real link between enterprise responsibility and social responsibility.

Zeng Yunzhi added, consumers’ further understanding on the whole sustainable development was a key step in promoting the awareness of environmental protection.

Liu Kunneng said, young people paid more attention to fashion and the relations between animals and human beings were closer and closer, so many users gave more weight to sustainable development design, to see whether it hurt animals, whether it met current development.

Percy Gilbert who has engaged in design education for years expressed, design institutes should teach students the idea of sustainable development rather than the exclusive attention to design. What to happen in the end of the life of a product should be taken into consideration and how to use wasted materials into a new ecosystem, he added.

Wang Yongping, President of China Commercial Real Estate Association, Johannes Neubacher, Vice President & CCO of WWD, Fang Qin, Chairman and CEO of YBREN.COM, Jia Menglei, Alibaba Researcher, discussed the two topics on “What Kind of Designers Needed in AI Era” and “Fission and New Birth of New Retail Channels in AI Era” from the perspectives of channels, technology and grounding.

Speaking of the development channels of fashion in AI era, Wang Yongping said, civil fashion was upheld through AI technologies and digitalization, which would be the biggest change to designers in the future, also a start of the awakening of consumers.

Johannes Neubacher pointed out, compared with European sense of crisis against new technologies, China saw higher acceptance and such new posture was the general trend of China fashion industry.      

Fang Qin analyzed from the customization field, if we want to expand customized clothes to more categories and occasions, more intelligent services are needed, together with the accumulation and application of more data.

Jia Menglei said, it was not a paradox between manpower and AI; they forged ahead in a short time, we can’t replace designers with AI and they worked together to create better design.   

The integration of empowerment by science and technology and multiple cultures provides a new solution to the restructuring and high-quality development of fashion industry. Based on the entry point of digitalization, China fashion industry that gathers innovation resources and optimized innovation environment is showing its new strength with the common development of technology, industrial revolution and culture, injecting diversified value system and new energy into global fashion industry.

It is believed that thanks to the support of science and new technologies, the future of sustainable fashion will be brighter.

Why is Yuhang chosen? Why is E-Fashion Town chosen?

The reason for this summit choosing E-Fashion Town of Hangzhou is closely related to profound fashion and technological industry foundation of the town and the city.

E-Fashion Town is a 13th-five-year-plan innovative demonstration base of China fashion industry joined built by Yuhang Government, China National Garment Association and China Fashion Designers Association. The town, taking fashion and garment as its leading industry, is committed to building itself into a new landmark of China fashion and blue sea of innovation and business startup. Since its launch in 2015, unique fashion industry has been shaped, mainly covering the promotion from garment to art fashion, integration of tradition and technology, expansion from local to international pattern and ecosphere from industry to industrial city. Through high-end driving, talent leading, platform guiding and innovative development, the town has gathered 1005 fashion enterprises, over 2600 originality designers and 1390 million yuan of taxes in total. It has won the titles of Pilot Park of Textile and Garment Creativity Design, Featured Town of Zhejiang and Model Town of Zhejiang.

China (Hangzhou) Industrial Internet Town, located in Linping New Town of Yuhang District, also made its debut in this year. On the morning of September 5th, several hundred participators of the summit visited Alibaba Cloud supET Industrial Internet Innovation Center that welcomed the first-batch settlers. The grounding of the Industrial Internet Town indicates that Linping New Town and the leading Internet enterprise Alibaba are jointly speeding up the building of inter-industry and inter-field industrial Internet platform in the Yangtze River Basin, and facilitating Yuhang District to be the bridgehead that connects Hangzhou and Shanghai into the Yangtze River Basin.

Participation of International Media

WWD, one of the special cooperation media of this summit was founded in New York in 1910 and is one of the earliest internationally professional media in fashion industry. It is published in multiple languages, providing latest information, exclusive news, deep analyses, trend observation and market insight on the industry. Specifically, it has many the reports on the industrial development and the rise of design power of China annually, tracing the change of China in a profound manner.

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