Taiwan sweater designers: be your own boss with your own designs

What is Dalang, Dongguan, and why is it suited to sweaters?

Dalang is a town in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. Since its first knitwear factory opened in 1979, it has grown into an industry cluster centered on sweaters and knitwear. A 2016 APEC report recorded that Dalang's computerized knitting machines grew from 637 in 2004 to nearly 50,000 in 2014; state media now report 150,000 flat knitting machines. Centered on Xiangtou Community, the town has a knitwear trade city of about 10 square kilometers. The table below shows figures published by Dalang's local official sources and state media:

What are the links in Dalang's sweater supply chain?

Designers most often get stuck with "I can find a factory but not the yarn" or "sampling takes forever". What sets Dalang apart is that every step from yarn to shipment is in the same town or a neighboring town. The table below follows the production order:

How far is Dalang from the HowBridge Shenzhen warehouse, and how do you get around the markets?

From central Dalang to Fuhai Subdistrict in Bao'an District, where the HowBridge Shenzhen warehouse is located, is about 41 kilometers, or roughly a 40-minute drive without traffic (estimated on 2026-10-17 using OpenStreetMap routing; actual time depends on traffic). Dalang's knitwear markets are clustered around Xiangtou Community. Common places to visit:

• Dalang Woolen Sweater Trade Center: the main venue of the expo in recent years and a pilot site for market procurement trade; a good place to start by looking at different factories' in-stock goods and sample garments.
• Yarn showrooms and yarn halls: most Dalang yarn companies have their own warehouses; the offline showroom of China Dalang Textile Network and the yarn hall at the Shejie Center display new yarns and color cards in one place.
• Computerized knitting machinery street (Dalang section of Guanzhang Road): machine brands have outlets clustered here, so you can drop by if you want to learn how jacquard, intarsia or whole-garment knitting is done.
• The expo: the 23rd edition was held from June 24 to 26, 2026, earlier than the usual November; dates each year are as announced officially.

As a designer running your own business, what are you responsible for?

Where new brands most often go wrong is "assuming someone else will take care of it". The table below spells out who is responsible for each step:

What is the process from design to buyers in Taiwan?

This is the general order; finish each step before moving on to the next:

What does HowBridge offer, and what is still being planned?

Services available now and services still being planned are listed separately:

Can sweaters be imported from mainland China into Taiwan, and how much tax applies?

Yes. Sweaters and knitted tops fall under Chapter 61 of the tariff schedule, and imports from mainland China are permitted (the import regulations do not include MW0). The table below lists common items; duty is calculated at the column 1 rate, plus 5% business tax:

How must garments be labeled for sale in Taiwan?

If you import goods yourself and sell them in Taiwan, you are the party obliged to label them (the importer) under Article 5 of the Commodity Labeling Act. Sweaters fall under the tops category of the BSMI Apparel Labeling Standards. Before going to market, note the following:

• Label the country of origin truthfully: sweaters made in Dalang have mainland China as their country of origin. Completing the design in Taiwan does not make Taiwan the origin; you must not label, or imply in your copy, MADE IN TAIWAN.
• State the origin on import documents: under Article 11 of the Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, import documents for permitted mainland Chinese goods must state "Made in Mainland China" or an equivalent in a foreign language.
• Use the standard Chinese fiber names: fibers making up 5% or more must be labeled by name and weight percentage, with a tolerance of ±3%. The mainland Chinese terms for acrylic, nylon, polyester and viscose often found on factory hang tags must be labeled in Taiwan's standard Chinese; for names, refer to the BSMI table of fiber name examples, such as acrylic (polyacrylonitrile) fiber (only for 85% or more acrylonitrile; 50% to 85% is modacrylic fiber), nylon (polyamide), polyester and rayon (viscose).
• Sew or print labels on the garment: country of origin, fiber composition and care labeling should, in principle, be sewn into or printed on the garment itself, not only written on a hang tag or product page.
• Importer and foreign manufacturer: label the name, address and telephone number of your company or importer in Taiwan; imported goods must also show the foreign manufacturer's name in a foreign language (Article 6 of the Commodity Labeling Act, from 2023-05-18).
• Baby and infant garments have separate inspection: babies' knitted garments (6111) carry the import regulation C02, and some products are subject to BSMI import inspection, so check before importing; ordinary adult sweaters are subject to post-market sampling and may be spot-checked after going on sale.

How do returns work when selling sweaters online?

If you sell on a website or platform, you are a business operator under the Consumer Protection Act. Clothing is not excluded from the 7-day right of withdrawal:

• Returns without reason within 7 days: within 7 days of receiving the goods, consumers may return them or give written notice of cancellation without giving a reason and without bearing any cost (Article 19 of the Consumer Protection Act).
• Inform buyers how to return first: if cancellation information is not provided at delivery, the 7 days run from the day after the information is supplied; but once more than 4 months have passed since the original 7-day period began, the right of withdrawal lapses.
• Collect within 15 days, refund within 15 days: after receiving a written cancellation notice, you must collect the goods within 15 days, and refund within 15 days from the day after collecting or receiving the returned goods (Article 19-2 of the Consumer Protection Act).
• Trying on does not affect returns: changes caused by necessary inspection do not extinguish the consumer's right of withdrawal (Article 17 of the Enforcement Rules of the Consumer Protection Act).

What could a designer brand look like?

Below is HowBridge's demonstration "Botanical Knitwear series": the two styles share a similar fit and materials and use different plants to build recognition. The images are AI simulations, not actual knitted samples:

Who can register, and how?

The first round is open to Taiwan designers and small studios who have their own sweater or knitwear designs and want to sell them under their own brand. HowBridge's long-term goal is to help 10,000 Taiwan designers build their own brands in Dalang.

What does research say about industry clusters and small-batch production?

The research and reports below provide background. None of them is about HowBridge or any particular factory, so they cannot be used to predict outcomes for individual designers:

• Dalang is a cluster of small and medium-sized enterprises: APEC (2016), based on field visits in 2015, found that Dalang had more than 7,000 knitwear SMEs and that computerized knitting machines grew from 637 in 2004 to nearly 50,000 in 2014; Xu et al. (2023) note that about 70% of Dongguan's textile and garment export value comes from contract manufacturing.
• E-commerce is already one of Dalang's sales channels: APEC (2016) recorded Dalang knitwear e-commerce sales of CNY 3,550,000,000 between 1 January and 30 September 2015, up 60% year on year.
• Research supports producing small quantities and reordering based on sales: in a field test at a skiwear company, Fisher and Raman (1996) found that adjusting production to early sales raised profits by about 60%; the model of Cachon and Swinney (2011) shows that when quick response and good design are combined, the effect is usually greater than the sum of the two separately.
• Knitwear suits made-to-order production, but there are costs: Peterson et al. (2008) simulated a made-to-order model with whole-garment knitting, in which a self-designed knitted top could be knitted in 2 to 5 hours; Larsson et al. (2012) note that this model keeps inventory small, but single-piece flow and short lead times raise manufacturing costs; Bukhonka et al. (2025) measured that fully fashioned knitting used 16.5% less yarn than cut-and-sew.
• Whether a designer brand survives depends on how it is run: Malem (2008) interviewed 9 London designers and identified 10 survival strategies, all of which were followed by the 5 still in business; Yeh Ping-hsien (2019) interviewed Taiwan independent brands and considers Taiwan's "professional contract manufacturing" capability one of the foundations for brand development.
• Online platforms reduce the friction of distance: comparing data from 61 countries, Lendle et al. (2016) found that the effect of geographic distance on eBay trade is on average 65% smaller than in general international trade, mainly because it is cheaper for buyers to find sellers.

What are the common terms in sweater production?

Computerized flat knitting machine

A program-controlled flat-bed knitting machine that can knit panels, jacquard or intarsia; Dalang has 150,000 flat knitting machines.

Whole-garment (seamless) knitting

Knitting an entire garment directly on a whole-garment computerized flat knitting machine, reducing sewing steps; according to local companies, one piece takes about 50 minutes to just over 1 hour.

Gauge (G)

The number of needles per inch on a flat knitting machine, e.g. 12G; the higher the G number (more needles per inch), the finer the knitted fabric.

Jacquard

Knitting a pattern directly during knitting using yarns of different colors.

Intarsia

Knitting blocks of different colors into a panel with separate yarns, leaving no long floats on the back; suited to large motifs.

Sampling

A sample garment made before mass production to confirm size, hand feel, color variation and motif placement.

Tech pack

Production instructions for the factory, covering style, sizes, yarn, gauge, stitch structure and colors.

Tariff code (HS/CCC code)

The classification code for imported goods; sweaters are in heading 6110 of Chapter 61.

MW0

An import regulation code of the International Trade Administration meaning "mainland Chinese goods not permitted for import".

Single-item fulfillment

The seller keeps stock in a warehouse, and after an order comes in the warehouse ships it to the buyer one item at a time; HowBridge single-item fulfillment from Taoyuan is currently planned (not yet available).

What are the sources and the scope of fact-checking?

The sources below were consulted on 2026-10-17. Document dates and access dates are shown separately; where no date is stated, none has been added.

Government, official and state media sources

• People's Daily: report on the Dalang, Dongguan knitwear industry (annual output of about 900,000,000 sweaters, 150,000 flat knitting machines) | Document date: 2026-07-27; annual output, whole-chain transaction value, numbers of flat knitting machines and whole-garment machines, about 50 minutes per standard piece, sampling cycle cut from 3 days to 2 hours, nearly 10,000 new yarns every year.
• Economic Daily (reprinted by Dayoo.com): report on Dalang's whole knitwear industry chain | Document date: 2026-09-22; 30,000 businesses, more than 200,000 workers, annual yarn transaction value of more than CNY 35,000,000,000, trade city housing more than 50% of sweater manufacturers, more than 150,000 express parcels and 3,000 tonnes by dedicated road freight every day.
• Guangzhou Daily: report on Dalang's in-stock dyed yarn and knitwear industry chain | Document date: 2024-11-28; China's largest base for in-stock dyed yarn, more than 1,000,000 tonnes of in-stock colored yarn sold each year, more than 2,200 yarn companies, 10-square-kilometer trade city, as little as 2 to 3 days from design to shipment, the "four major centers" service system.
• Southern Metropolis Daily: report on the Dalang knitwear industry | Document date: 2024-07-31; more than 3,000 designers and technicians, more than 100,000 designs a year, environmental industrial park handling washing and printing centrally (wastewater treatment capacity of more than 15,000 tonnes a day).
• Nanfang Daily: report on the 22nd Dalang expo | Document date: 2025-11-18; nearly 29,000 knitwear market entities, more than 200,000 workers, a computerized knitting machinery street stretching 1.3 kilometers.
• Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology: Reply Letter Dong-Gong-Xin-Han [2021] No. 204 | Document date: 2021; wool and knitwear industry belt centered on Dalang and extending to Changping and Liaobu; under environmental policy, processes such as bleaching, dyeing, washing and printing must move to companies holding environmental permits.
• Xinhuanet (Guangzhou Daily): national wool textile technology and trade base unveiled in Dalang | Document date: 2026-04-29; the National Wool Textile Technology and Trade Base was unveiled in Dalang at the end of 2025; the expo has been held 22 times, attracting buyers from more than 50 countries and regions and more than 800,000 professional visitors.
• People's Government of Dalang Town, Dongguan: opening of the 22nd China (Dalang) Woolen Sweater Expo | Document date: 2025-11-17; the expo's format of "1 main venue + 6 sub-venues + 7 off-site pavilions".
• International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan): commodity classification system (import and export regulations lookup) | Document date: not stated; import regulations (permitted, MW0, C02) looked up code by code on 2026-10-16 for 6110, 6104, 6111, 6114, 6117, 6505, 5107–5109, 5509–5511, 5606 and other codes.
• Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance: customs import and export statistics | Document date: not stated; import source countries and weights by tariff code for ROC year 114 (2025); compiled by HowBridge from the weight of the top 20 source countries.
• Government Open Data Platform: Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance advance tariff classification rulings | Document date: not stated; classification cases for wool-blend sweaters (097AA0307, 100AA0719, etc.).
• CCTV (reprinted by the Yangtse Evening Post website): report on Dalang knitwear | Document date: 2025-10-13; first knitwear factory opened in 1979; 28,000 wool textile companies; some companies have shifted to a domestic-sales model of "small orders with quick response".
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Commodity Labeling Act, Article 5 | Document date: 2022-05-18; the party obliged to label is the manufacturer, commissioning party, importer or repackager, and labeling must be completed when goods enter the market; a brand owner importing from Dalang is the importer.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Commodity Labeling Act, Article 6 | Document date: 2022-05-18; required label items include the importer's name, address and telephone number, country of origin, and main components or materials; imported goods must also show the foreign manufacturer's or commissioning party's name in a foreign language.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Commodity Labeling Act, Article 11 | Document date: 2022-05-18; label text shall be mainly in Chinese and may be supplemented by English or other foreign languages.
• Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI): Apparel Labeling Standards (amended by Announcement Jing-Shang-Zi No. 11102427620 of 111-10-24, effective 112-05-18, ROC calendar) | Document date: 2022-10-24; sweaters are explicitly listed in the "tops" category of the Apparel Labeling Standards; country of origin, fiber composition, size and care instructions must be labeled, composition names mainly in Chinese, with weight percentages for fibers of 5% or more.
• Ministry of Economic Affairs (Announcement Jing-Shang-Zi No. 11102427850): table of examples of fiber composition and filling composition for the Apparel Labeling Standards | Document date: 2022-10-24; standard Chinese fiber names announced by the competent authority, such as wool, acrylic (polyacrylonitrile) fiber, nylon (polyamide), polyester and rayon (viscose).
• Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI): Textile Labeling Standards (version effective 112.5.18., ROC calendar) | Document date: not stated; wool yarn, hand-knitting yarn and fabric fall under the Textile Labeling Standards; required label items and Chinese composition names are the same as for apparel, and yarn may be labeled with an attached tag.
• Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI): general explanation and comparison table for the amendment of the Textile Labeling Standards | Document date: not stated; in line with the amended Commodity Labeling Act, adds the foreign manufacturer's name in a foreign language, and moves fiber composition names and care symbols to separate announcements by the competent authority.
• BSMI Kaohsiung Branch: from 112-05-18 (ROC calendar), Chinese labels on imported textiles must add the foreign-language name of the "foreign manufacturer" or "foreign commissioning party" | Document date: 2023-01-17; official BSMI explanation: the apparel and textile labeling standards take effect on 112-05-18, and Chinese labels on imported textiles must add the foreign manufacturer's name in a foreign language.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Article 7 | Document date: 2024-02-19; except in listed cases such as goods announced as permitted by the competent authority, goods from the mainland area may not be imported into the Taiwan area.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Article 11 | Document date: 2024-02-19; import documents for permitted mainland Chinese goods must state "Made in Mainland China" or an equivalent in a foreign language.
• Ministry of Economic Affairs (Announcement Jing-Shou-Mao-Zi No. 09220021740): amended import management rules for mainland Chinese goods | Document date: 2003-07-21; official definition: in the "import regulations" column of the commodity classification table, MW0 means mainland Chinese goods not permitted for import, MP1 means conditionally permitted, and goods with neither are permitted.
• International Trade Administration commodity classification system: notes to the list of conditionally permitted mainland Chinese goods (general explanation) | Document date: not stated; explanation of the MW0/MP1 codes in the International Trade Administration's current lookup system, consistent with the ROC year 92 announcement.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Consumer Protection Act, Article 19 | Document date: 2015-06-17; consumers buying online (distance sales) may return goods or give written notice of cancellation within 7 days of receipt, without giving a reason or bearing any cost.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Consumer Protection Act, Article 19-2 | Document date: 2015-06-17; on written cancellation, the business must collect the goods within 15 days from the day after receiving the notice and refund within 15 days from the day after collecting or receiving the returned goods.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Guidelines for Reasonable Exceptions to the Right of Withdrawal in Distance Sales, Article 2 | Document date: 2015-12-31; there are only 7 exceptions to the 7-day right of withdrawal, such as "customized goods supplied at the consumer's request", and the business must inform consumers in advance; ordinary in-stock knitwear is not among the exceptions.
• Ministry of Finance: Ruling Tai-Cai-Shui No. 09704550620 (how to issue invoices when business A takes orders from B, orders from foreign supplier C and imports in B's name) | Document date: 2008-10-29; when ordering from abroad on someone's behalf and declaring the import in the buyer's name, the intermediary issues a taxable duplicate uniform invoice for the difference collected and passed on, or for commission income.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Customs Act, Article 29 | Document date: 2022-05-11; dutiable value is based on the transaction value, and commissions, handling fees and packing costs borne by the buyer, as well as freight and insurance to the port of import, must be included.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Customs Act, Article 49 (paragraphs 2 and 3) | Document date: 2022-05-11; legal basis for the low-value exemption: a consignment with dutiable value below the limit announced by the Ministry of Finance is exempt, but this does not apply to frequent importers, and what counts as frequent is set by the Ministry of Finance.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Cargo, Article 11 | Document date: 2026-02-23; classification of express cargo: "low-value duty-free express cargo" has a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less, and NT$2,001 to NT$50,000 is low-value dutiable.
• Laws & Regulations Database (Taiwan): Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Sea Express Cargo, Article 11 | Document date: 2026-02-23; sea express cargo is classified the same way as air express, with NT$2,000 or less being low-value duty-free express cargo.
• Ministry of Finance e-Tax Portal: notes on buying goods from abroad online | Document date: not stated; dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less is exempt from customs duty, commodity tax and business tax; if the same taxpayer uses the exemption under Article 49, paragraph 2 of the Customs Act more than 6 times within half a year, it no longer applies from the 7th time.
• Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) press release: Taipei Fashion Week SS27 moves for the first time to the national cultural base at the former Air Force Headquarters, continuing its transformation | Document date: 2026-09-15; the Ministry of Culture organizes Taipei Fashion Week and offers one-on-one mentor consultations, cross-disciplinary design and an International Fashion Events Subsidy; SS27 holds a style exhibition of 53 designer brands for the first time.
• Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) grants portal: guidelines for the International Fashion Events Subsidy (applications for ROC year 116) | Document date: 2026-09-24; companies or firms in the design-brand fashion industry may apply for subsidies to take part in international fashion weeks and trade shows; applications for ROC year 116 are accepted from 115/09/24 to 115/10/19 17:00 (ROC calendar), and self-funding must be no less than 50%.
• Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka (Ministry of Foreign Affairs): [Notice] "2026 Fashion Design New Talent Award competition" | Document date: 2026-05-19; the Fashion Design New Talent Award is organized by the Industrial Development Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs and run by the Taiwan Textile Federation; 2026 is the 40th edition, with entries accepted until June 30.

Research literature and reports

What are the common questions about the sweater designer recruitment?

Will HowBridge find factories in Dalang for me?

Can Dalang handle small orders?

How much tax is due when shipping sweaters from mainland China to Taiwan?

Can I ship yarn or wool fabric to Taiwan and make garments myself?

If I design in Taiwan and produce in Dalang, can I label it made in Taiwan?

Is HowBridge a customs broker?

Will HowBridge pay factories for me or advance the taxes?

When will website building and single-item fulfillment from Taoyuan be available?

What do I need to do to register?

Can I refuse returns when selling sweaters online?

Further reading