The textile industry in developed countries has shifted from prosperity to decline, with its dominant sectors being gradually replaced by other industries. This phenomenon has led to industrial relocation, which is an inherent necessity. However, the decline of the textile industry in developed countries does not mean its extinction. On the contrary, new vitality is nurtured during the process of decline and contraction. After a period of stagnation and silence, the textile industry in developed countries has regained momentum since the 1980s. Of course, the textile industry at this time is not the same as before, as it has undergone internal upgrading within the industry.
The resurgence of the textile industry in present-day developed countries and the achievement of internal industry upgrades have their own internal justifications.：
The industrial characteristics of the textile industry determine that it is an industry that cannot be completely replaced. Textile products play a role that other industries find difficult to fully substitute in satisfying people's basic needs, development needs, and enjoyment needs. With the growth of the world's population and the rise in people's income levels, the demand for quantity and quality of textiles continues to increase, which is an inherent driving force for the continued development of the textile industry.
Scientific and technological progress has provided possibilities for the internal industry upgrade of the textile industry. Developed countries have little advantage in the traditional scope of the textile industry. However, developed countries with advanced technology have highlighted their competitive advantages through innovative transformations in the traditional textile industry. The continuous integration and grafting of traditional and emerging technologies in the textile industry have created a variety of high-tech and high-tech textile products, such as rotor spinning, shuttle-less weaving, non-water printing, and nonwoven fabrics. The promotion of these new technologies has fundamentally changed the traditional textile industry. As a typical labor-intensive industry, the textile industry has gradually evolved into a technology-intensive industry in developed countries. In this case, the international competitive advantage of the textile industry is no longer primarily determined by labor costs but by the level of technology and quality. Clearly, developed countries have a significant advantage in this regard. It is with this advantage that the textile industry has regained vitality in developed countries.
The Role of Science and Technology in Achieving Internal Industry Upgrades in the Textile Industry
Technological progress has played a crucial role in the process of transforming the traditional textile industry and achieving internal industry upgrades in developed countries.
The updating and transformation of production processes and technological equipment have led the textile industry to transition from a "labor-intensive" industry to a "capital-intensive" industry.
Since the 1980s, major developed countries have significantly increased their investments in the textile industry and conducted extensive technological upgrades. In 1983, the United States invested $1.3 billion in purchasing computers and automation equipment for the textile industry, and by 1986, the investment for equipment renewal in the textile industry increased to $2 billion. Italy invested billions of dollars in the technological transformation and equipment upgrading of the textile industry from 1985 to 1995. This widespread investment facilitated the development of the textile industry towards automation, continuous production, and computerization. In a fully automated and computer-operated textile factory in Italy, labor costs accounted for less than 10% of the total textile production costs, while the capital and technological content of the products significantly increased. The table below shows the changes in the capital equipment rate in the fiber industry of Japan, the United States, and Germany since 1970. It can be observed that the capital equipment rates in these three countries have shown a clear trend of advancement.
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