I. The Industrial Logic Behind Cotton Country's Value-Chain Push

Xinjiang is one of the most important cotton-producing regions in the world. In 2024, the autonomous region produced 5.686 million tonnes of cotton — 92.25% of China's national output (Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2024 Cotton Output Announcement).

For decades, however, this raw-material advantage was not captured locally. Most lint cotton travelled east to coastal textile bases for processing. The structural shift began around 2014, when national policies directed aid-to-Xinjiang investment and industrial relocation toward textile and garment manufacturing. Aksu, Kashgar, Hotan and Kizilsu prefectures in southern Xinjiang started building dedicated textile industrial parks. At that point, regional spinning capacity stood at roughly 7 million spindles, and the local cotton processing rate was only 11%.

By the end of 2024, spindle capacity had reached 29.1 million, and the local processing rate had risen to 42% — more than tripling on both measures over a decade (Source: People's Daily Online, citing 2024 year-end data). That trajectory marks a genuine structural shift: from being a raw-material exporter toward capturing a larger share of the textile supply chain's value domestically.

II. Cluster Geography

Aksu is currently the largest and most fully equipped textile base in Xinjiang. By 2024, the prefecture had commissioned 6.8 million spindles, 16,504 looms, 3,479 hosiery machines and garment and home-textile capacity of 48.86 million pieces/sets. Seventy-five above-designated-size textile firms generated industrial value-added of RMB 1.294 billion in the first half of 2024, up 24.1% year-on-year (Source: Aksu Prefecture 2024 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Communiqué). In September 2024, Aksu was designated a "Xinjiang Special Fiber Textile Industry Base," signalling a move toward higher-value differentiated products.

Kashgar Prefecture is attracting a new wave of large-scale cotton spinning investment. In the first half of 2025, two major projects were signed or broke ground: a 200,000-spindle compact siro-spinning project in Shufu County (total investment RMB 800 million, contracted to Tianshu Textile) and a 700,000-spindle cotton spinning project at Makit County Textile Industrial Park, covering 213,000 square metres (Source: CCFGroup, July 2025). Seven industrial parks in Kashgar collectively employ around 70,000 workers, 82% of whom are local residents.

Korla Economic and Technical Development Zone draws on the cotton resources of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture and specialises in viscose fibre and blended products, with viscose output ranking third nationally. Bachu County Textile Industrial Park, in eastern Kashgar Prefecture, focuses on cotton yarn and knitwear and serves as a key node in southern Xinjiang's poverty-alleviation-through-employment strategy.

By 2024, the autonomous region counted 27 industrial parks with textile and garment functions (Source: Xinjiang People's Government, May 2024), forming a spatial pattern in which southern Xinjiang is the main arena, supplemented by northern-Xinjiang hubs in Shihezi and Ürümqi.

III. Leading Enterprise Landscape

Huafu Fashion is Xinjiang's largest colour-spun yarn producer. The company has built over 1.22 million spindles of capacity in the region and operates an integrated chain covering cotton cultivation, ginning, dyeing and spinning, employing more than 5,800 people locally. Huafu's "colour spinning plus" strategy differentiates it from commodity white yarn suppliers, positioning the firm as a direct vendor to branded apparel supply chains.

Data Smart World Group operates a digitised-factory model across four industrial parks in Xinjiang, with planned digital cotton spinning capacity of 4.31 million spindles and current output capacity of 2.3 million spindles, providing employment for over 7,000 workers (Source: Xinjiang Ministry of Industry and Information Technology-related reporting).

Shihezi, a northern Xinjiang city historically important to the region's textile sector, hosts 20 textile and garment firms (13 above designated size). The city maintains a relatively complete chain from spinning through weaving, dyeing and garment making. In the first half of 2024, the 13 above-scale firms posted total output value growth of 0.8% year-on-year, with cotton spinning capacity utilisation at 78.6%.

In structural terms, the enterprise landscape remains dominated by investment from eastern coastal textile groups relocating under aid-to-Xinjiang programmes. Locally nurtured brand-oriented businesses are still in their early stages.

IV. Supply Chain Structure

Xinjiang's upstream — cotton cultivation and ginning — is highly mature. Aksu Prefecture alone operates 266 cotton processing lines with a combined design capacity of 1.7888 million tonnes per year, providing a stable raw-material base for the spinning sector.

Midstream spinning is where investment is most concentrated and capacity growth fastest. Xinjiang's cotton yarn output already ranks second nationally and cotton grey cloth ranks fifth (Source: Xinjiang Development and Reform Commission industry survey).

Downstream weaving, dyeing and garment making remain significant gaps. Insufficient finishing facilities mean that large volumes of yarn still leave for inland China for later-stage processing, limiting the value captured within the region. Policy resources since the 14th Five-Year Plan have been redirected toward establishing dyeing and finishing capacity and garment assembly in southern Xinjiang, but building the skilled workforce and supply-chain coordination needed will take time.

On the fibre side, viscose fibre plants in Korla and Ürümqi offer diversification from cotton, but their scale is far smaller than the cotton spinning mainstream.

V. Structural Challenges and Transition Directions

Labour supply and skills. Textile manufacturing is Xinjiang's most important non-agricultural employer. By end-2024, some 970,000 people worked in the region's textile and garment sector (Source: People's Daily Online, September 2025). Rapid capacity expansion has placed persistent pressure on vocational training systems, and worker skill levels directly affect yarn quality consistency.

International market uncertainty. The trade environment for Xinjiang cotton and related textile products has been visibly turbulent since 2020. Some export markets have become harder to access, prompting firms to deepen their focus on the domestic market. Export-mix adjustment is ongoing.

Completing the downstream chain. In 2024, value-added in Xinjiang's above-scale textile industry grew 27.4% year-on-year — but growth is concentrated in spinning. The limited weaving and garment ecosystem constrains the overall value density of the chain. New policy incentives are tilting toward functional fabrics and dyeing-finishing facilities; whether critical mass can be reached remains to be seen.

To support production, Xinjiang's government has enacted a comprehensive package of subsidies covering electricity, land, financing, taxation and logistics (Source: Xinjiang People's Government Office, June 2024 policy adjustment notice). These measures have effectively lowered entry costs in the short term, but long-term competitiveness depends on the organic maturation of the industrial ecosystem.

Sales teams supplying upstream inputs — yarn dyes, spinning components, automation equipment or packaging materials — to Xinjiang cotton mills can use Tianxia Gongchang to filter the factory directory by region and industry, accessing mill contact information for targeted outreach.

Data Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang (Xinjiang textile factory directory and industry data)
  • National Bureau of Statistics: 2024 Cotton Output Announcement
  • Xinjiang Bureau of Statistics: 2024 Xinjiang National Economic Performance Press Release
  • Aksu News Network: Aksu Prefecture 2024 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Communiqué
  • Xinjiang People's Government: 27 Textile and Garment Industrial Parks in the Autonomous Region (May 2024)
  • Xinjiang People's Government Office: Notice on Adjusting and Optimizing Cotton and Textile Apparel Industry Policies (June 2024)
  • Xinjiang Development and Reform Commission: Survey and Research on Xinjiang's Textile and Garment Industry Development
  • People's Daily Online: NW China's Xinjiang cultivates thriving textile and garment industry (September 2025)
  • CCFGroup: Major cotton spinning projects launched in southern Xinjiang (July 2025)