Wasteland in north China turned into fashion center

A piece of wasteland covered by sands in Yongqing county, Langfang, north China’s Hebei province, is now turned into a cluster of fashion enterprises, fertilizing China’s clothing and fashion industry.

The Yunshang Town, which started operation in 2017 and has been joined by over 3,800 merchants from Beijing, is a major project shouldering the noncapital functions of Beijing.

Located at the junction of Beijing, Tianjin and Xiongan New Area, Yongqing county is less than 10 kilometers away from the Beijing Daxing International Airport, Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway and Capital Region Ring Expressway. As Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei further advance their integration progress, the county is building itself into a new high ground for the clothing industry in north China.

The Yunshang Town’s major functions include clothing trade, tourism and exhibition. It is also a base for mass entrepreneurship and innovation in the fashion industry that gathers a number of designers and brands. Besides, the town has built a residence zone in it, vowing to offer the most fashionable dwelling experiences in China. At present, the town has been developed into an industrial cluster that covers all link, including designing, R&D, production, training, launching, cross-border marketing and innovation.

The Yunshang Town always invites teachers and students from Minzu University of China and Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology for teaching and internship programs, regularly holds exhibitions and fashion shows. So far, the town has attracted over 100 independent designers and high-end customization studios.

At present, nearly 10,000 people work in the town, 2,500 of whom are from local community. The town’s annual turnover has reached 5 billion yuan, contributing a total of 260 million yuan of tax. It was listed as a national-level pilot park of textile and clothing industry in November, 2018.

Centering the towm, Yongqing county also established multiple platforms for the clothing industry, making fashion designing a new impetus driving regional economic restructuring and development.

Li Yuanjie, 29, runs a clothe brand in the Yunshang Town. “Our brand has newly opened several stores in Beijing, and the performance is pretty good,” he told the People’s Daily.

Li’s company moved to the town four years ago from Dahongmen, a wholesale market in Beijing. “Our company bought a new store here, which covers over 2,800 square meters, or 3 times of that before,” Li said. He believes his company was not able to complete transformation in the metropolis given the high operational cost and little development space there.

Thanks to the resources and consumption market in Beijing and Tianjin, the company has expanded its annual turnover from 200 million yuan to 1 billion yuan, Li said. After four years of development, the company has grown from a traditional wholesale dealer of textile materials into a comprehensive clothing enterprise engaged in designing, fabric processing and branding. Its products have been sold to first-tier cities in China and even overseas markets.