On March 11, 2026, the “Responsibility-Participation-Prosperity: Launch Event of the ‘Responsible Chain in Motion’ Initiative for Textile and Apparel Industry”, organized by the Office for Social Responsibility of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, was successfully held at National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai. Representatives from international organizations, brand companies, suppliers, and industry associations gathered to engage in in-depth discussions on global trends in supply chain due diligence, local practices, and collaborative governance, and to jointly witness the official launch of the “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative.
At the start of the event, Dr. Xiaohui LIANG, Chief Researcher at the Office for Social Responsibility of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, delivered the opening remarks. He extended a warm welcome and sincere gratitude to the guests in attendance. He explained that the Office for Social Responsibility of the China National Textile and Apparel Council has been continuously advancing the promotion of social responsibility and supply chain due diligence, including the development of the CSC9000T system and guidelines for social and environmental due diligence. The “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative is a continuation of these efforts, aimed at providing a solid foundation for building a collaborative governance ecosystem of responsibility within the industry.
Subsequently, Mr. Peter Higgins, Project Manager for the Garment and Footwear Sector, Centre for Responsible Business Conduct Center, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), delivered a video address titled “Bridging Vision with Action: Insights and Tools for Responsible Supply Chains in China.” He highlighted the OECD’s years of technical expertise in due diligence, including the release of the Chinese version of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and the launch of online tools, urging companies to make effective use of these resources to proactively identify and address real risks within their supply chains.
In her video address titled “From Compliance to Leadership: Partnering for a Future-Ready Supply Chain,” Ms. Linda KROMJONG, President of amfori noted that ESG requirements are rapidly evolving and that audits only hold true value when integrated into a comprehensive due diligence management system. She announced amfori’s full support for the “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative and emphasized that collaboration is a pragmatic path to reduce duplicative efforts and focus on high-risk areas.
During the keynote session, Ms. Jing WANG, Researcher at the Office for Social Responsibility of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, released the research findings of the Due Diligence Project, Chinese Supply Chain Enterprises in the Context of Due Diligence Legislation: Challenges, Awareness, and Preparedness, and officially introduced the “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative. She explained that the research covered more than 20 brand companies and 230 supply chain enterprises, revealing three distinct due diligence models among brands: “proactive compliance,” “proactive response,” and “reactive response.” While suppliers demonstrate strong willingness to engage in due diligence, their current capabilities still have shortcomings. At the same time, increased awareness directly drives responsible action; survey data shows that companies that have read the due diligence legislation provisions are 4.66 times more likely to conduct sustainable risk assessments than those that have not. The “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative will promote the industry’s transition from awareness to action through systematic training and tool empowerment.
 
Amid enthusiastic applause, the launch event of the “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative was held with great fanfare. Mr. Hu Song, Director of the China Textile Information Center; Ms. Suki Wong, Senior Director of Corporate ESG & IR at Anta Sports; Ms. Erin XU, Vice President of Partnership and Public Affairs at H&M; Ms. Cuidan Cen, China Manager of the Social Impact Department at MANGO; Ms. Sabine Li, Head of Sustainability at PUMA; Ms. Becky Chen, CSR Expert at HEMA, and Mr. Hong LEE, Director of East Asia & Pacific at amfori—these seven guests took the stage together to complete the full vision of “Responsibility-Participation-Prosperity,” marking the official launch of the “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative for the textile and apparel industry.
During the keynote speeches by partners, guests from international organizations, brands, and suppliers shared practical examples of responsibility implementation from various perspectives.
Mr. Hong LEE, Director of East Asia & Pacific at amfori, delivered a speech titled “Partner Collaboration to Co-Create a Responsible Textile and Apparel Value Chain.” He noted that companies are not unwilling to act but are hindered by information asymmetry and inconsistent standards. He called for translating regulatory language into corporate language, transforming compliance pressure into governance capabilities, and converting value chain collaboration into actionable working mechanisms.
Ms. Suki Wong, Senior Director of Corporate ESG & IR at Anta Sports, presented on “Empowering Responsible Action Partners Beyond Audits.” She analyzed the five major limitations of traditional audit models, emphasizing that due diligence should shift from “compliance verification” to “risk management.” Through Anta’s ESG digital platform, risk-tiered management, and supply chain empowerment practices, she demonstrated how brands can drive substantive improvements.
Ms. Erin XU, Vice President of Partnership and Public Affairs at H&M, presented “Taking on a New Role and Acting as the ‘Translator’ of Responsibility.” She argued that brands should serve as interpreters within a multi-lingual system, translating complex international regulations into actionable plans for the supply chain while amplifying grassroots voices to ensure policy design aligns more closely with reality.
Mr. Yanhui JIANG, Vice President of HANDA Group, focused on manufacturing practices in his presentation titled “Controlling at Source to Lay a Responsible Foundation for the Product Manufacturer.” He highlighted HANDA’s achievements in recycled fabric R&D, energy-saving technological upgrades, and digital-intelligent transformation, emphasizing that technological innovation underpins the fulfillment of social responsibility. He noted that enterprises are not only the implementers of brands’ responsibility visions but also the practitioners of responsibility implementation and the drivers of upstream empowerment.
Finally, Ms. Yan YAN, Vice President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council and Director of the Office for Social Responsibility, delivered the closing remarks. She pointed out that “Responsibility” is the core prerequisite for addressing the restructuring of global rules and implementing national industrial development strategies; “Participation” is the key pathway to resolving challenges in implementing responsibilities and practicing industrial synergy; and “Prosperity” is the ultimate goal for driving the implementation of plans and achieving industry upgrading. At the same time, she put forward three hopes: first, she hopes that brand enterprises will continue to play a leading role, driving upstream and downstream collaboration to enhance responsibility capabilities, thereby fostering synergy through chain-driven coordination; second, she hopes that supplier enterprises will proactively embrace change, transforming compliance requirements into an endogenous driving force for transformation and upgrading, thereby promoting development through responsibility; third, she hopes that international organizations will deepen their collaboration with China’s textile industry, providing professional guidance and resource support, thereby fostering mutual benefit through cooperation.
The official launch of the “Responsible Chain in Motion” Initiative marks a solid step forward for China’s textile and apparel industry in collaborative governance and the implementation of responsibilities, while also injecting new momentum into the sustainable development of global supply chains. The China National Textile and Apparel Council will continue to build collaborative platforms to help the industry advance toward the high end of the global value chain.
Project Background
In 2025, the Office for Social Responsibility of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) partnered with international brands including H&M, Mango, Anta, and Puma to launch the project Addressing Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence Legislation. The project’s outcomes include the research report Chinese Supply Chain Enterprises in the Context of Due Diligence Legislation: Challenges, Awareness, and Preparedness, as well as the Supply Chain Management Manual on Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence, with separate volumes for international brands and supply chain partners.
In 2026, the Office for Social Responsibility of the China National Textile and Apparel Council launched the “Responsibility Chain in Motion” capacity-building initiative, to provide international brands, traders, and manufacturers with more targeted specialized training and management consulting services.
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We look forward to more enterprises actively participating.
Contact: Jing WANG
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