The ongoing China Fashion Week held in Beijing is showcasing a slew of fashion works made with eco-friendly materials and technologies, with designers racing to present the country's intangible cultural heritages in fashion making through innovation.
At the 2025 edition of China Fashion Week, which opened on March 20 and which will run until Friday, designers showcased their works, modeled after ancient crafts such as ethnic minority Miao embroidery, batik, and lacquer painting.
As the show increasingly pursues rising trends like eco-friendliness and technology, fashion industry insiders are also actively integrating traditional Chinese designs with innovation and the notion of sustainable development.
A session of the fashion week held Tuesday showcased works of Yang Chunshan, who takes inspiration from the dragon, bird, and butterfly patterns of the Miao ethnic minority group's Bainiaoyi, a national intangible cultural heritage in China, and the images of Xing Shi, or literally the awakening lion.
The designers have also incorporated the idea of environmental protection and sustainable development into dyeing, using natural dyes from fruits like apple, pitaya, and mulberry instead of chemical dyes.
Xie Fangming, vice chairman of China Fashion Association, said the designers at the fashion week have been making innovations in areas like materials and dyeing techniques, reflecting the rising trend of promoting the development of fashion industry with state-of-the-art technology and embracing eco-friendliness.
"We've adopted a great number of technologies, including using new materials like soft, glossy, and more lightweight fabrics to develop new products. In addition, we've made lots of efforts to pursue sustainable development, like using recycled materials, recyclable materials, and plant-based dyes," he said.
The fashion week also features robot models sharing the runway with their human counterparts and also robot dogs running in lion dance costumes.
China Fashion Week highlights eco-friendly materials, technology
As part of the Ministry of Commerce's "Shopping in China" campaign, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Consumer Season, together with the 2026 National Consumption Promotion Month initiative, kicked off in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Monday evening, highlighting coordinated efforts to boost regional consumption.
Co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, China Media Group and the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, the event aims to showcase the region's commercial strengths and distinctive consumer offerings.
The launch ceremony featured a wide array of products from across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, including intangible cultural heritage items, local specialties, time-honored brands, and emerging consumer labels.
Organizers also unveiled the first list of specialty souvenirs from the regions and released a bilingual Shopping in China · Consumption Guide for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, covering shopping, dining, tourism, and exhibitions and performances to foster the region as a global shopping hub.
This year's consumer season underscores regional coordination, rolling out ten joint initiatives such as AI-plus experiences and premium shopping routes. The campaign is designed to develop a year-round, integrated consumption brand spanning commerce, culture, tourism, and sports.
"By linking signature events, we aim to create year-round highlights that showcase Tianjin's unique charm and consumption vitality," said He Xiaoyang, Director of the Consumption Promotion Division at the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce.
The regional initiative coordinates with the earlier announcement of the Ministry of Commerce to continue building the “Shopping in China” brand, improve trade-in programs for consumer goods, advance new consumption models and scenarios, and enhance the international consumer environment.
By expanding premium consumer goods supply and leveraging first-launch, green, healthy, and smart consumption models, the initiative explores ways to achieve coordinated consumption growth in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, a major trade and industrial powerhouse in northern China.
Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei co-host regional initiative to promote consumption
