Lace hub's global dominance unthreads tangled US tariff policy

Editor's note: In a series of reports titled "Claims to Fame", China Daily looks at how some regions have earned wealth and recognition through specific products to advance economic development.

A White House press secretary's lace-trimmed red dress has unwittingly put the spotlight on a bustling small manufacturing hub in Zhejiang province, and deepened Washington's blushes in its unpopular tariff war.

On April 14, Zhang Zhisheng, Chinese consulate general in Denpasar, Indonesia, posted on social platform X about the dress Karoline Leavitt wore at a news briefing. "Criticizing 'Made in China' is work; enjoying 'Made in China' is life," he said, noting Leavitt's dress was made in China.

Zhang reshared a comment from a netizen who said, "the lace on the neckline and front placket was woven in Yutang in Mabu town".

Behind this seemingly modest piece of lace lies the story of the transformation and upgrading of a labor-intensive industry in a small village in Pingyang county, Wenzhou. Yutang village, located on the western edge of Mabu, lies in the southern part of Zhejiang, close to Fujian province, with the majority of residents speaking Southern Min dialect.

Though geographically remote, Mabu is China's largest lace production base, accounting for 70 percent of the domestic market, and around 30 percent of the global market.

"Mabu's main industries include plastic weaving, knitted lace and yarn," said Hu Mingzhe, director of the town's economic development office.

"The lace and yarn sectors make up about 70 percent of the town's industrial economy. More than 30 percent of the town's enterprises above a designated size are lace producers. Of the 44 companies with annual business revenue exceeding 20 million yuan ($2.77 million), 14 are in the lace industry, with a combined output value exceeding 3 billion yuan."