“The world looks to China for denim, and China looks to Xintang.” At the industry’s peak, roughly one in every three pairs of jeans globally came from Xintang. However, at the end of 2019, ZHH received an urgent call from his partner, Liu Wen: “We can’t hold on any longer!” By then, they had been rooted in Xintang making jeans for three years, yet found themselves facing the predicament of being in debt, needing loans, and even considering selling their car.
ZHH is from Shandong, and Liu Wen is from Hunan. In 2015, they both chose to “go out” – moving to Guangzhou. Starting from a sunless rental room in an urban village, they managed to top Taobao’s rankings in less than six months with a breakout nursing wear product. In early 2020, finding themselves with no way forward domestically, they once again chose to “go out,” abandoning their domestic e-commerce business to pivot towards cross-border e-commerce. In under a year, they became the top seller in SHEIN’s children’s wear category. Starting in 2024, they raced onto a new AI-driven track, building the POD (Print-on-Demand) cross-border e-commerce platform PrintFash. Utilizing the new “small-batch, quick-response” production model, they initiated a shift from demand-chain-driven supply chains, achieving a transition from “scale advantage” to “speed advantage.”
The entrepreneurial story of ZHH and Liu Wen is a vivid example of the transformation of Chinese manufacturing, the rise of going global, and how SMEs are finding breakthroughs amidst the AI wave. It also reveals the path for “small but beautiful” business models to break through in global competition.
Having been entrepreneurs for a full decade, ZHH often recalls the four words Stephen Chow shouted towards the sea in King of Comedy: “Work hard! Fight on!” For the next decade, ZHH and Liu Wen are ready to continue “going out” – to become the great navigators of this era.
Recently, we held an in-depth conversation with ZHH, founder of Guangzhou Susha Network Technology Co., Ltd., and Liu Wen, founder of Guangzhou Yunzhi Garments Co., Ltd. The following is an edited transcript:
ZHH: Initially, we planned to focus on women’s wear. By chance, we discovered a significant demand for nursing wear, and competition in this niche category was relatively low at the time, so we decisively pivoted. We broke into the market in under three months and became number one in the Taobao category by the following spring. Although nursing wear costs a few RMB more than regular women’s wear due to special techniques (like zipper designs on the chest), it has stronger pricing power. An ordinary women’s dress might have a profit of 10 RMB, but nursing wear could reach 30 RMB.
By 2020, the pandemic accelerated the global penetration of online shopping, especially the formation of online consumption habits in the US market. At that time, SHEIN was gaining immense popularity, so we seized the opportunity to pivot overseas.
Liu Wen: In 2017, I was focused on domestic e-commerce for jeans in Xintang, Guangzhou. By the end of 2019, competition had become fierce. I was shouldering over 1 million RMB in loans and was almost at the point of selling my car. The turning point came in a denim washing workshop – I discovered a competitor was selling tens of thousands of items daily, and learned they were supplying SHEIN.
Liu Wen: We’ve worked with OBM, ODM, and OEM models. During the pandemic, the flexible “small-batch, quick-response” supply chain model pioneered by SHEIN solved a common problem for all suppliers – inventory. Profit margins in garment processing are already thin; if you add inventory backlog, companies face serious losses. SHEIN launches tens of thousands of new styles monthly. Using traditional mass production would inevitably lead to huge resource waste. So, we adopted the “small-batch, quick-response” model, minimizing order quantities, maximizing speed, and optimizing flexibility. This innovative model allowed us to continuously supply new styles to SHEIN, creating a positive synergistic effect.
SK: Did your domestic e-commerce experience empower your overseas expansion?
ZHH: Compared to traditional factory owners, having domestic e-commerce experience was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Because we understand what sells online and what the pain points are. The most critical aspect of e-commerce operations is imagery – how well a product sells depends on its pictures. Beyond visuals, you must make consumers perceive the differentiation. Get the main image right, and clicks, favorites, add-to-carts, and conversions will follow. Traditional factory owners often don’t focus on these things. We essentially applied our domestic e-commerce mindset to the overseas market.
Liu Wen: By the end of 2020, we were already shipping over 70,000 items per month, with daily orders of 2,000-3,000 pieces. In 2021, we achieved over 30 million RMB in revenue, and by 2023, our annual revenue exceeded 100 million RMB, securing the TOP 1 position in the children’s wear category.
SK: Why did you choose to enter the POD (Print-on-Demand) arena in 2024?
ZHH: Firstly, for differentiated competition. Personalized customization fundamentally avoids the price wars common in the traditional garment industry. Each product is a unique custom piece, which grants special pricing power.
Secondly, for supply chain optimization. The POD model allows us to focus on developing a small number of basic garment blanks. All personalized designs are secondary processes based on these blanks. This significantly improves inventory turnover, keeps SKU counts optimal, and greatly reduces inventory risk and capital pressure.
Thirdly, based on market trends. Our research data shows the European and American POD market is growing at an annual rate of 26%. Young consumer groups, in particular, show a strong willingness to pay a premium for personalized products, which aligns perfectly with our strategy.
Fourthly, for sustainability. The traditional garment industry faces increasing problems of waste and resource consumption from overproduction. The POD model enables “zero inventory” production, strictly adhering to “produce after order,” even allowing single-item customization.
SK: You consequently built the independent platform PrintFash. What is its market positioning?
ZHH: In the T-shirt category, the POD model is already highly competitive overseas, even becoming standard for overseas warehouses. Therefore, we decided to start with product differentiation. Leveraging our deep experience in denim, especially in children’s denim, and combining it with children’s natural affinity for cartoon patterns, we create more distinctive customized products to strengthen our brand competitiveness.
SK: We noticed during the Canton Fair this year that you and your team wore custom T-shirts saying “No Tariffs.” After the tariff policy adjustments, how much have logistics costs increased? Does the company have new market strategies?
ZHH: Currently, logistics costs have increased by about 7 RMB per kilogram. Given the already limited profit margins in our industry, it’s difficult for us to absorb this increase internally, so most of the cost will ultimately be passed on to US consumers.
The US remains the core battlefield for businesses going global. We are optimizing logistics solutions, such as partnering with freight forwarders, to mitigate the tariff impact as much as possible. Simultaneously, we see potential in emerging markets, like Africa – although consumers there are price-sensitive, demand is huge, and quality requirements are relatively flexible. The Southeast Asian market has also seen rapid growth recently and is a key expansion direction for us.
SK: Have you considered returning to the domestic market?
ZHH: Competition in the domestic market is indeed exceptionally fierce. However, Pop Mart’s success gave us new inspiration – instead of competing solely on product and price, focus on emotional added value. For example, through IP collaborations, cultural symbols, or personalized customization, meet consumers’ emotional needs, not just functional ones.
SK: Pop Mart founder Wang Ning once said, “Once a product has a functional attribute, its lifecycle might be short; useless things are truly eternal.” What’s your view on this?
ZHH: I agree. Taking our industry as an example, the basic functions of clothing are warmth and aesthetics. But if you can incorporate personal memories or emotional significance, its value far exceeds the physical item itself. Just like Labubu, a trendy toy costing dozens of yuan can fetch hundreds of thousands at auction because young people are buying not just the product, but emotional identity and social value. This is an important lesson for entrepreneurs – innovation isn’t limited to technology or function; emotional resonance and brand storytelling can also create huge business opportunities. I think this phenomenon brings hope to young entrepreneurs: if you have a new approach, you have a new opportunity.
SK: What was the biggest challenge encountered during your overseas expansion?
ZHH: Payment is the “last mile” of going global. Even if every other step is perfect, if payment fails, everything resets to zero. Especially for POD and independent站 models, overseas payment fees are notoriously high. After several rounds of testing, we found that WorldFirst offers significant advantages in terms of cost. Operationally, its WorldTrade function allows seamless API integration with our self-built站 and logistics systems, automating the entire process from payment to shipping and tracking. It supports payments from overseas buyers via credit card, which not only greatly reduces payment costs but also improves repurchase rates.
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AI Reshapes Apparel Export: Inspection Efficiency Up Over 50%, But High Computing Costs Remain
SK: How effectively is AI currently being used in your garment factory?
ZHH: Firstly, in product photography, we’ve achieved revolutionary cost savings. Traditionally, coordinating models’ schedules for each new style was complex. Now, we just photograph the garment and use AI to generate virtual models with different skin tones, hairstyles, and body types. Time costs and trial-and-error costs are significantly reduced. However, high-precision image processing still faces relatively high computing costs. Secondly, in quality inspection, AI image recognition has improved detection efficiency by over 50%, with accuracy also surpassing manual checks.
SK: Do you think AI image generation tools will replace senior designers? Which aspects still require human intervention?
ZHH: The relationship between AI and designers is more like “intelligent assistant” than replacement. With AI tools, a single designer can now handle the workload of 3-4 people before. But it certainly won’t replace senior designers. Core creative conception, market trend forecasting – these critical aspects still require designers’ professional judgment. So, we prefer to position AI as a “creativity accelerator.”
SK: What’s the biggest challenge in transitioning from being a manufacturer to having your own brand?
ZHH: This transition is essentially a shift in mindset. Manufacturing is product-oriented thinking, but brand operation requires market-oriented thinking. Our biggest weakness lies in brand marketing capability, while our strength is supply chain innovation: through the small-batch, quick-response model, we can offer emerging designer brand sellers a “zero inventory risk” solution. Sellers going global just need to provide creative concepts; we can produce samples within 3 days, truly achieving an “idea-to-production” agile supply chain and minimizing startup risks.
Compared to fast-fashion giants like Zara, who develop many new styles based on fashion weeks each year, our advantage lies in compressing the new style development cycle to 3-4 days. They calculate in weeks, not days. This is the advantage of being in Guangzhou’s garment industry – we have highly mature supply chain synergy.
SK: This year marks your tenth year of partnership. What are your aspirations for the next decade?
ZHH: First: AI will likely change the entire world in the next 10 years, causing dramatic shifts in the garment industry too. We hope to leverage AI technology to drive up the added value of our industry.
Second: Chinese garment enterprises need to break free from internal competition and bravely explore overseas markets. In a sentence: Going global – our great navigation era has begun.
Three survival rules for young people in the cross-border e-commerce arena: Survive, Experiment widely, Use AI. Every era offers opportunities to the young; the key is whether you can grasp them firmly.
