Reborn, the future Chinese platform for sustainable textile certification

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Apr 19, 2023

At a time when some markets, such as Europe, want to regulate the environmental claims and labelling of imported products, the Chinese authorities intend to introduce to the world's factory its very own green certification for textiles: Reborn. Twenty-six companies are currently taking part in this project, which includes recycled materials, the details of which have yet to be defined.

The process was launched on March 29 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, where the Chic (clothing) and Intertextile (fabric) fairs were held. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has indicated that it is working on the implementation of this future certification tool, said He Yaqiong, director of the Ministry's Consumer Goods Industry Department.

In order to encourage the initiative, which would help reduce the industry's carbon emissions, the ministry says it will "coordinate and support industry federations, high-value brand owners and manufacturers to connect and participate in the improvement of the platform, so as to rapidly promote the popularity and recognition of the platform within the industry."

A process that should, among other things, set a local standard for recycled fibres. This project is in line with Beijing's stated desire to develop a local collection and recycling network for end-of-life textile products, said Duan Xiaoping, vice-president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

No timetable for the deployment of the platform has yet been communicated. With the Chinese textile industry generating 70% of the fibres produced worldwide, the stakes are high. In 2022, China exported 29.8 billion euros worth of textiles and clothing to the United States and 43.2 billion euros to the European Union, its largest customer.

This move towards greater traceability on China's behalf, comes at a time when, through its digital product passport project, the EU intends to soon require importers to have dematerialised access to product traceability information. This assumes a reliable information base in the textile-clothing producing countries.