An employee works at an intelligent textiles plant in Nantong, Jiangsu province, on May 15. [Photo/VCG]

Over the past two months, the textiles industry in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province has been witnessing a steady recovery from the downturn in business triggered by the novel coronavirus outbreak at the start of the year, according to local officials.

They said a 100,000-spindle intelligent production plant operated by the Dasheng Group started construction in July, while four Nantong-based private textiles businesses made it onto the list of China's top 100 garment companies in August -- a run of good news that signals the century-old textiles hub has got back on its feet.

During the first half of this year, the rate of decline in the sales of 1,130 textiles companies above a designated size -- those with annual revenue of over 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) – was 0.4 percentage points lower than in the first quarter.

Industry insiders said that in addition, the rate of sales decline was 2.9 percentage points lower than the country's textiles sector average, while the decline rate in profits earned by Nantong textiles businesses was 4.2 percentage points lower in H1 than in Q1.

"In general, the sales of high-end products have done better than the lower-end," said the industry insider. "Home textiles have done better than garments, while domestic sales have done better than overseas sales and online sales were better than offline."

According to a survey carried out by the city's industry and information technology bureau on 52 local textile companies, the industry optimized management, expanded sales channels -- and at the same time prioritized its social responsibility and the safety and benefit of employees, amid the health crisis.

Officials said that all textile businesses in Nantong had resumed operations by the end of March.

Even though most of them did not immediately reach full production capacity, no employees were dismissed, which helped ensure social stability and the sustainable development of the companies, they added.

During this period, several industry leaders had shown their strong risk-resisting abilities, with sustained large-scale production, strong R&D operations and core technological competitiveness.

For example, Nantong-based Luolai Group worked with US science company DuPont to introduce an anti-bacterial and mites-resisting bed pad on March 28. More than 15,000 pads were sold on the launch day, with retail sales topping 10 million yuan.

"Companies like Luolai and Mlily have served as pillars of the whole industrial chain, with their unique advantages in industrial clout and ability to drive the economy," said an official at the industry and information technology bureau.