A staff member at the city's Cixing Co Ltd demonstrates automated products. [Photo by FANG AIQING/CHINA DAILY]

According to Li, Youngor aims to cut back on real estate and investment to focus more on improving its core competitiveness. 

Local automated sewing and intelligent knitting machinery suppliers such as Supreme and Cixing are also contributing to this industrial upgrading process. 

Cixing has developed a flat knitting machine using 3D technology that can create a piece of seamless knitwear from colored yarn instead of the old method that needed several parts to make one sweater. A simply patterned item of knitwear can be made in an hour this way. 

The company is also establishing a customer-to-manufacturer platform, which will connect its smart knitting machines with the internet of things and other industrial internet technology to provide support. 

Major garment manufacturers in Ningbo today are more aware of the added value their brands and designs can potentially bring.

Romon Group, a leading domestic menswear manufacturer, has opted to explore international markets with its own brand, starting with Southeast Asia, chairman Sheng Jingsheng says.

The majority of its sales come from its 1,000-plus offline outlets and from online platforms like Taobao, JD and vip.com. It also produces around one million customized uniforms annually for different vocations, which accounts for around 20 percent of its revenue. 

Having produced goods for foreign companies to sell under their own names for the past 30 years, the group is developing a midprice range for women. The company plans to approach internet celebrities and cooperate with big-name global designers to expand its brand visibility.