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A foreign businessman talks to local sock merchants in Zhuji, a county-level city in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

The socks sector in Zhuji, a county-level city in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province, has become one of the pillar industries in the city.

Today, the annual production of socks in the city accounts for about 70 percent of the nation's total and 35 percent of the world's total.

The 16th China Datang International Socks Expo, which recently concluded in Zhuji, saw the participation of more than 3,000 professional visitors from 21 countries.

According to statistics released by the local authorities, the foreign trade of socks in Zhuji in the first half of this year experienced a rebound, which experts said was partly due to the industry's digital transformation.

According to the Zhuji Socks Association, more than 90 percent of the association's 110 affiliated firms experienced a surge in their exports in the first half of this year.

In the January-July period, the exports of Datang subdistrict, where Zhuji's sock industrial cluster is based, were worth 6.68 billion yuan ($930 million), a year-on-year increase of 65.86 percent.

Zhuji is now home to more than 10,000 sock firms and a comprehensive industrial chain.

In September, the Sock Industry Brain, a digital platform for socks industry, was launched with the aim of connecting data resources of the industry and improving resource allocation efficiency.