City in C China's Hubei builds global clothing network through e-commerce

Salespeople sell clothing in a livestreaming studio at the China (Tianmen) Garment E-commerce Market in Tianmen, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

In a bustling livestreaming studio in the central Chinese city of Tianmen, Hubei Province, orders pour in fast as a salesperson showcases dresses to online viewers. Miles away, automated machines at the Laiyitiao clothing factory work around the clock, packing garments for delivery across China and beyond.

The transformation reflects Tianmen's emergence as a major e-commerce clothing hub, with the local industry generating more than 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) in online transactions last year, up from 7 billion yuan in 2021.

Clothing ready for shipment at the Laiyitiao factory in Tianmen, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

"Last year, we averaged 100,000 orders a day and generated 1.3 billion yuan in sales. This year, with the new facility under construction, we're aiming for 2 billion yuan," said Xiong Feixiang, chairman of Laiyitiao.

In 2016, Xiong took over the family business located in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, launching his own brand and beginning to sell online. Sales grew quickly, but high rents and logistics costs limited his expansion.

In 2019, he closed his Guangzhou factory and moved his warehouse, logistics and production operations to Tianmen.

The cost savings enabled expansion. Within a few years, Laiyitiao grew rapidly. In April, the company broke ground on a cross-border e-commerce facility that will include a smart manufacturing center and a research and development hub.

To attract talent, Tianmen has introduced four policies with 17 measures targeting the textile and garment sector, backed by 200 million yuan annually.

A training session on e-commerce livestreaming is held in Tianmen, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

Tianmen faced a bottleneck because fabrics and accessories had to be shipped from Zhejiang Province in east China and Guangdong, taking three days. To solve this, the city built a chemical fiber textile park and attracted 15 upstream suppliers.

Photo shows the production line of a new materials company in Tianmen, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

By late 2024, the city had 7,000 textile and garment businesses and more than 13,000 online stores on e-commerce platforms.

With strong domestic sales, Tianmen is expanding globally. In 2024, Tianmen companies opened overseas warehouses in Bangkok, Thailand and Los Angeles. Customers ordering Tianmen-made clothing on cross-border platforms can now receive parcels the next day. The warehouses have shipped 200,000 pieces of clothing to buyers in more than 150 countries and regions.