In 2026, the global ESG policy has shifted from "publicity" to "access threshold", and environmentally friendly recycled fabrics have become a standard requirement for international buyers, driving China's fabric foreign trade industry to usher in a wave of green transformation. Overseas buyers' attention to environmentally friendly fabrics has shifted from a single material composition to "traceability". Fabrics made of environmentally friendly raw materials such as rPET recycled polyester, bamboo fiber, Tencel and BCI cotton have become the core categories of foreign trade orders. Among them, recycled polyester fabrics are widely used in sports T-shirts and yoga clothes, Tencel fabrics have become the preferred material for home clothes, and bamboo fiber has an advantage in the baby fabric market.
The green production capacity layout of domestic fabric enterprises provides a guarantee for foreign trade exports. At the same time, the requirements for environmental certification in overseas markets are becoming increasingly detailed. GRS recycling certification and OEKO-TEX ecological certification have become necessary conditions for the export of environmentally friendly fabrics. The material source tracking link and component visualization display have also become the key to improving product competitiveness. From the export data, China's silk woven fabrics and wool animal hair woven fabrics exports increased by 6.5% and 3.7% respectively in 2025. The export growth rate of high value-added environmentally friendly natural fabrics is significantly higher than the industry average, which confirms the foreign trade development trend of green transformation.
In the foreign trade layout of environmentally friendly fabrics, different regional markets show differentiated demands: the European and American markets focus on the combination of environmentally friendly fabrics and functionality, and recycled fabrics need to have sun protection, antibacterial and other functions at the same time; the Middle East market prefers environmentally friendly and breathable long fabrics, adapted to the local clothing culture; the Latin American market pays attention to the color and elasticity characteristics of environmentally friendly fabrics. Fabric foreign trade enterprises need to grasp the market trend of environmentally friendly fabrics, on the one hand, increase the research and development and application of environmentally friendly raw materials, improve the environmental certification system of products; on the other hand, combine the demand of regional markets to create personalized environmentally friendly fabric products, and at the same time display the environmental attributes and traceability links of products through visualization methods, in line with the procurement standards of international buyers, and seize the market opportunity of green foreign trade.