Standardization and standardized development of travel luggage industry

Standardization and standardized development of travel luggage industry

 

In the global tourism market, driven by recovery and consumption upgrades, the luggage bag industry is undergoing a crucial transformation from "quantity increase" to "quality improvement." A quality inspection conducted by a city's quality supervision bureau on ecommerce platforms in early 2025 showed that 30% of luggage bags had quality issues, with a pass rate of only 45.5% for products under 250 yuan. In contrast, the export value of luggage from Baigou, Hebei, increased by 13.26% through standardization reforms during the same period. This stark comparison reveals the decisive role of standardization in the industry's development. As the world's largest producer and consumer of luggage bags, the standardization and regulation of China's travel luggage industry is not only about improving product quality but also an inevitable path to breaking through international trade barriers and achieving industrial upgrading.

 

The Multidimensional Structure and Evolution of the Standard System

 

The standard system for the travel luggage industry presents a complex, multilevel, and multidimensional structure, covering a full range of specifications from basic safety to highend performance. The current domestic standards are based on industry standards, with QB/T 21552018 "Luggage Bags" as the core standard, which specifies physical performance, safety requirements, and testing methods. The updated 2010 version significantly raised the entry threshold. In terms of national standards, GB/T 20920 "Luggage Bags Travel Suitcases" and GB 21209 "Luggage Bags Travel Luggage Security Requirements" have established specific regulations for key categories and components, forming a standard framework of "basic general + specific subdivision."

 

International standards, on the other hand, exhibit regional differentiation characteristics, posing significant trade and technical barriers. The US ASTM F2441 standard focuses on durability testing, with strict requirements for indicators like oscillation impact and drop performance. The EU market not only enforces REACH regulations on chemical substances but also strengthens environmental and safety requirements through the EN standard system. The ISO 8124 standard for kids luggage has special provisions for the safety of small parts. According to the Ministry of Commerce's "Technical Guidelines for Export of Plastic and Textile Luggage Bags," Chinese export companies often face returns due to standard differences. In the EU market alone, ten mandatory standards need to be met, with restrictions on substances like hexavalent chromium being a common obstacle.

 

The evolution of the standard system is showing a trend of upgrading from "thresholdlevel" to "qualitylevel." In its industrial upgrading, Baigou, Hebei, found that existing industry standards were insufficient to reflect the value of highquality products. Therefore, they built a comprehensive industry chain system covering raw material procurement, design and R&D, and production management, with 6 major categories and 279 standards, filling a domestic gap. Cangnan, Zhejiang, in turn, compensated for the limitations of national standards by formulating group standards for "Textile Fabric Bags" and "Nonwoven Laminated Packaging Bags," making breakthroughs in indicators such as dimensional change rate after washing and abrasion resistance. The formation of this multilevel standard system not only ensures a basic quality bottom line but also provides room for highquality enterprises to develop.

 

The Industrial Transformation Effect of Standardization Practice

 

The practice of standardization in industrial clusters has created a chain reaction from quality improvement to market expansion. The "leader" practice at the enterprise level demonstrates higher quality benefits. Brands like TraveRE, a popular China luggage brand, actively respond to standardization practices, coordinating improvements in luggage bag quality, quality verification, and aftersales feedback to win the market with quality that exceeds standards.

 

The role of standardization in optimizing market structure is becoming increasingly apparent. The strong correlation between price and pass rate was verified in random inspections: products over 400 yuan had a 100% pass rate, while products under 250 yuan had a pass rate of less than 50%. This differentiation forces companies to either upgrade their standards or exit the market. The quality threshold for ecommerce platforms is also rising, with platforms like JD and Tmall requiring merchants to provide CMA and CNAS dual certification, promoting the construction of testing capabilities. The physical and chemical testing centers built in Baigou can conduct more than 200 tests, enabling convenient "local production, local certification" services. Standards have become the core element of market screening mechanisms, pushing the industry from price competition to quality competition.

 

In the field of international trade, standardization has become a key tool for breaking through barriers. Facing the EU REACH regulations and US FDA certification requirements, Baigou enterprises, by benchmarking against international standards, integrated technical indicators such as TSA customs locks and brake wheels into their production specifications. Their waterproof cherry blossom travel suitcase achieved monthly sales of 5 million yuan in the Japanese market. The practice of the Xiamen crossborder logistics hub proves that standardized production combined with rapid response capabilities can achieve efficient fulfillment, with a highefficiency delivery from order placement to New York in 72 hours, seizing an 80% share of the global customized travel luggage production capacity. You can also get a personalised suitcase or customised luggage this way.

 

Standard Innovation Guided by Sustainable Development

 

The upgrading of environmental standards is reshaping the industry's development model, becoming a new focus for standardization. The new environmental standards, which will be implemented in 2025, will establish regulations from raw materials and production processes to the entire product life cycle, requiring the prohibition of harmful chemical substances, the restriction of heavy metal content, and the setting of clear energy consumption indicators. This change is accelerating material innovation, with recycled polyester (RPET), biobased materials, and other alternatives replacing traditional plastics, demonstrating the potential for synergy between environmental protection and quality.

 

The concept of a circular economy is deeply reflected in the standard system. Data shows that recycled polyester production can reduce carbon emissions by 71%, with carbon emissions per kilogram of rPET being only 0.45 kg, far lower than the 2.15 kg of virgin PET. It is expected that by 2030, the application ratio of recycled materials in the luggage bag industry will increase from the current 5% to 25%, and standards will become an important driver of this transformation.

 

The lack of intelligent and functional standards is becoming a new development bottleneck. With the popularization of smart functions such as builtin chargers and GPS positioning, existing standards lack clear regulations on electromagnetic compatibility and battery safety. Performance requirements such as drop and shock resistance for a business suitcase or suitcase for work, as well as the ability of outdoor traveling bags to adapt to extreme environments, also require more detailed standard support. Market data shows that the Chinese travel luggage market has exceeded 100 billion yuan, and the annual growth rate of the highend market is higher than the overall level. This consumption upgrading trend calls for the standard system to extend into the intelligent and personalized fields. A travel bag with wheels or even camping duffle bags need these new standards.

 

The completion of the future standard system requires the synergy of policy, market, and technology. At the government level, national standards should be accelerated to fill gaps in smart travel bags and environmental indicators. Industry associations need to promote the alignment of group standards with international ones, and enterprises should actively participate in standard formulation to turn technological innovation into a standard advantage. With the implementation of regional trade agreements such as RCEP, establishing a mutually recognized standard system will reduce trade costs and help Chinese luggage bags gain a larger share in the estimated $200 billion Southeast Asian market. For instance, hand luggage and childrens suitcase can benefit from streamlined customs processes.

 

The standardization process of the travel luggage industry is essentially the process of building a voice for quality. From the quality threshold of ecommerce platforms to the standard competition in the international market, standards have become the basic infrastructure for the survival and development of enterprises. Against the backdrop of global consumption upgrading and the awakening of environmental awareness, only by continuously promoting standardization and regulation can we achieve the leap from "Made in China" to "Quality Made in China," enabling the traditional luggage bag industry to rejuvenate on the path of highquality development.