Dalang, a town in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province, produces one in every five sweaters worldwide. Today, its knitwear industry is evolving from labor-intensive production to a technology-driven, smart manufacturing model.

One apparel company located in Xiangtang community in Dalang is already rolling out its new fall and winter sweaters. According to Liu Mo, the company head, the new products began hitting the shelves in early September and are updated almost weekly.

Since the first wool factory opened in 1979, Dalang has developed a comprehensive industrial chain encompassing design, R&D, intelligent manufacturing, and brand marketing. Every year, Dalang produces 900 million sweaters.

Liu Rui, deputy director of customs in Changping town, which is adjacent to Dalang, said his department is guiding companies to use market procurement trade methods that simplify declaration procedures and speed up customs clearance, helping small businesses connect more flexibly with global markets.

In the first eight months of this year, the customs department of Huangpu district in nearby Guangzhou oversaw 1.1 billion yuan ($154 million) in clothing exports through market procurement, up 30 percent year on year.

At a sweater factory, designers create styles in 3D software, and the flat-knitting machines operate efficiently, turning a design into a finished product in about two hours.

Imported whole-garment knitting machines cost over 1 million yuan, making them unaffordable for many small- and medium-sized enterprises. However, Dalang now produces affordable domestic alternatives. The machines match the speed of imported ones but cost less than a tenth of the price. Today, 80 percent of Dalang's entire range of whole-garment knitting machines are domestically produced, and some are exported to Southeast Asia.

On a recent business trip to Russia, Wang Juan not only secured orders but also scouted the latest fashion trends. In the past, steady export orders required little original design. But as market demands shifted, she taught herself out of necessity. Today, by analyzing runway shows and fast fashion trends, she develops 300 to 500 new designs each season.

The growing demand for independent design has created opportunities for designers. Yu Kailin, nearly 60, co-founded a wool design training school with her mother in 2015, when Dalang faced a shortage of knitwear designers. Today, international clients commission her students to produce entire sweater collections.