Swimwear produced in NE China's Liaoning reaches global markets at accelerated speed

Summer is the peak season for swimwear sales, but the industry's production season is typically the off-season. However, most swimwear companies in Xingcheng, northeast China's Liaoning Province, remain busy year-round. At a local swimwear manufacturer, company head Liu Xu can simply click a mouse to view daily sales data on the company's digital management system.

"Smart manufacturing is driving industrial upgrading. Xingcheng's swimwear companies have expanded onto major e-commerce platforms in China and abroad, with cross-border business becoming a major source of growth," said Zong Jiapeng, director of the Xingcheng Swimwear Industry Development Center.

Workers sell swimwear via an online platform at a swimwear company in Xingcheng City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 15, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua)

Currently, the city has more than 40,000 swimwear e-commerce stores, with 80 percent of China's online swimwear orders shipped from Xingcheng. The city has also established 22 overseas warehouses in more than 10 countries and regions, including the U.S., Germany and Australia.

Today, Xingcheng is home to more than 1,300 swimwear manufacturers and around 300 supporting companies. The city produces about 200 million swimwear items (sets) annually, with the industrial cluster generating around 15 billion yuan (about $2.22 billion) in annual output value. Xingcheng swimwear accounts for more than 40 percent of China's domestic market and over 25 percent of the global market, with products sold in more than 140 countries and regions.

Xingcheng's swimwear industry dates back to the 1980s. Over the past five years, fueled by the growth of cross-border e-commerce, the industry has accelerated its intelligent and digital transformation, driving both higher-quality growth and faster development.

A staff member displays swimwear at a swimwear company in Xingcheng City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 15, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua)

"Intelligent transformation is an inevitable trend," Liu said. Digital printing machines, automatic fabric spreading machines and other smart equipment have been widely adopted at his company. With the help of an AI-powered design system, the company can now launch more than 500 new swimwear designs in just one month.

Of Xingcheng's 33,000 production machines, 30 percent are internationally advanced intelligent equipment. More than 1,000 companies across the city use AI design systems, reducing the development cycle for new swimwear products from 20 days to just one minute.

Intelligent transformation has also improved product quality, with Xingcheng swimwear companies securing multiple international certifications.

Xingcheng's swimwear industry has obtained two nationally well-known trademarks and 28 trademarks famous in the province, said Ren Lei, head of the Xingcheng Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology. In 2025, the regional brand value of "Xingcheng Swimwear" reached 9.74 billion yuan.