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China Textile News - in Cooperation with Textile and Apparel
Weekly
Latest issues about the Chinese Textile and Clothing
Industry
In cooperation with the magazine (Textile and
Apparel Weekly) of our partner, the China
Textile Network Company you will find interesting topics
about the Chinese market:
Use our archives to learn more about the previous reports:
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2010/03/12
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China Nonwoven
Fabric Imports by Origin in Jan.-Dec. 2009 (Monthly Report)
Industrial textiles industry is
one of the very few sectors of the textile industry, that is growing
at a very fast pace, especially in the Asian region. This monthly
update provides official CNTAC (China National Textile & Apparel
Council ) data on China Import of nonwoven fabric.
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Country of origin
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Accumulated value
($ 10,000)
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Accumulated unit value
($ 10,000/ton)
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Y-on-Y change
(value, %)
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Y-on-Y chnage
(unit value %)
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U.S.
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17670
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0.41
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- 27.23
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- 4.62
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Japan
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16960
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1.35
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9.56
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13.82
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Taiwan
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8111
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0.33
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- 8.78
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- 0.60
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Korea
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6510
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0.50
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- 15.77
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11.96
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Germany
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3301
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0.85
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- 9.52
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- 5.37
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Source: CNTAC Statistics Center
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2010/03/11
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China's
consumer price index rises 2.7% in Feb.
China's consumer price index (CPI),
a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent year on year in February,
the National Bureau of Statistics announced Thursday. Food prices
rose 6.2 percent last month year on year, with non-food prices rising
1 percent from a year earlier. The figure was 1.2 percentage points
higher than January's figure, partly due to the Lunar New Year holiday
falling in February this year, a time when Chinese spend a lot of
money on food, alcohol, cigarettes and gifts.
China's CPI ended nine months of
decline in November last year, when it rose 0.6 percent. In December
it rose 1.9 percent, as freezing weather helped push up food prices.
The producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at
the wholesale level, rose 5.4 percent in February from a year earlier,
up from January's 4.3 percent.It ended 12 months of decline in December
last year, up 1.7 percent.
Source: Xinhua via CNTEX
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2010/03/11
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China's
PPI up 5.4% in Feb.
The producer price index (PPI),
a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 5.4 percent
in February from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) announced Thursday. It quickened from 4.3 percent in January
this year, and 1.7 percent in December 2009, when the figure posted
the first monthly rise since December 2008.
Source: Xinhua via CNTEX
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2010/03/11
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EU begins
negotiations with Asian countries
It's hardly surprising the EU is
pushing for greater access to South-east Asia's rapidly recovering
economies. If the ASEAN grouping of nations, comprising Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar and Brunei, were grouped as a single economic entity
it would rank as the world's 10th largest economy and the third
biggest market in terms of population. Already the EU has a trade
deal with South Korea, it announced last week it was starting negotiations
with Singapore and Vietnam. Drawn-out discussions with India are
expected to be finalised by October.
ADAMS: |
I think the EU regards the Korea agreement as being successful
the Indian agreement as a long drawn out process that will conclude
and the Singapore agreement as sort of the test case to get
a substantive agreement as a template that then could be applied
to other members of ASEAN. |
ALLE: |
Professor Charles Adams is from the Lee Kuan Yew School of
Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He's
also a former Assistant Regional Director of the IMF based in
Tokyo. He says the EU's push for closer trade ties with South-east
Asia has in part been prompted by the failure of the Doha round
of world trade negotiations which have ground to halt over differences
between the Europeans and the Americans over agricultural subsidies.
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ADAMS: |
Singapore as you know in terms of traditional trade measures
is largely free. Obviously agriculture is not an issue for Singapore.
So if you like, Singapore is going to give the EU the opportunity
to go some of these deeper behind the border measures. |
ALLE: |
But are there bigger stumbling blocks in relation to India
where child labour and environmental issues still have to be
agreed upon. Meanwhile New Delhi is forging ahead with its own
free trade agreement with ASEAN which will result in the elimination
of tariffs on more than 4,000 goods over the next few years,
as well as freeing-up the provision of services and encouraging
investment flows. China's FTA with ASEAN, which came into force
at the beginning of this year, isn't universally regarded as
positive. Some manufacturers are worried they cheap Chinese
imports will flood their markets. |
Presenter: Scott Alle
Speaker: Professor Charles Adams, Lee Kuan Yew School
of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
...read
more
Source: CTEI News
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2010/03/10
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China Sourcing
Fair: Garments & Textiles to Launch in 3 Cities in 3 Months
Global Sources (GSOL 6.52, +0.10,
+1.56%) is expanding its China Sourcing Fairs in 2010 with the launch
of Garments & Textiles. The show is scheduled to be held in
Hong Kong, Singapore, and Johannesburg, South Africa in October,
November, and December, respectively. As perhaps one of the most
dynamic launches ever for a new show, suppliers from Greater China
will be meeting face-to-face with leading buyers in 3 major trading
and sourcing hubs. The Hong Kong event will attract a global audience
of importers. Singapore is the key trading center for the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China's fourth-largest export
market, while Johannesburg is the primary gateway for China's fast-growing
trade with Africa.
The Fairs aim to showcase finished products ranging from ready-to-wear
garments such as casual, bridal, active, beach, lounge, and underwear,
to fabrics, fibers, yarns, trimming materials and accessories. "These
new shows build upon and complement our existing Garments &
Textiles online marketplace, print and digital magazines, and Private
Sourcing Events," said Tommy Wong, President of Global Sources
Exhibitions. "China's textile and garment exports reached $15.5
billion in January 2010 alone, and as the global economic recovery
takes hold, overseas demand for garments and textiles is expected
to increase."
China Sourcing Fair: Garments & Textiles is scheduled for:
- Hong Kong: Oct. 27-30, and thereafter every April and October
at the AsiaWorld-Expo.
(The event is to be co-located with China Sourcing Fairs: Fashion
Accessories and Underwear & Swimwear.)
- Singapore: Nov. 22-24, Suntec Singapore International Convention
& Exhibition Centre.
- South Africa: Dec. 1-3, Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg.
Chairman and CEO Merle A. Hinrichs said: "The aggressive
expansion of our China Sourcing Fairs into new categories and
new locations is a three-pronged strategy. First and foremost,
because import buyers do not place large volume orders through
online marketplaces, virtually all suppliers want the face-to-face
opportunities at our shows - where they can negotiate with buyers
and win orders. Second, the shows heavily leverage the buyer community
and the promotional support of our other media. Lastly, with various
initiatives underway to further integrate all of our media, the
expanded show schedule will provide tremendous additional exposure
and sales leads for the advertisers using our online and print
media." ...read
more
Source: Global Sources via CNTEX
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2010/03/10
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Textiles
suffer turbulent year
Usually high-flying foreign trade
in the textile and garment industry had a bumpy year in 2009 as
exports fell 10.1 percent to $167 billion, according to the statistics
from China Customs. Sun Huaibin, spokesman of the China National
Textile and Apparel Council, blamed the decline on worldwide economic
weakness as well as rising protectionism amid the global crisis.
He said protectionism is mainly reflected in more stringent technical
standards and "abuse of anti-dumping and subsidy measures",
as well as use of safeguard provisions on imports. Last year more
than 30 foreign investigations and preliminary rulings ranging from
raw materials to finished products were made on China's textile
exports. "We have little control over the economic slump, yet
we can do something in intellectual property to better protect our
export-related textile businesses against protectionism," Sun
noted.
Intellectual property is playing an increasingly important role
in economic exchanges, especially with developed countries, he emphasized.
European Union countries, the United States and Japan are destinations
of more than half the country's total textile and garment exports.
Domestic companies should increase awareness of respecting intellectual
property and at the same time protect their own legitimate interest,
Sun noted. While some have begun to build brands, a great number
of domestic clothes producers are still working as outsourced makers
of other labels, known in the industry as original equipment manufacturing
(OEM). That is not necessarily a problem, he said, noting that the
OEM business model offers opportunities to import advanced facilities
and management experience while creating jobs. Some Chinese proprietary
clothes brands even have foreign subcontractors as their OEMs, marking
significant progress in their brand building-up, Sun said. A wild
fluctuation from the beginning to end of 2009 saw textile exports
increase 4.4 percent year-on-year to nearly $16.8 billion in December
after a sharp fall in February.
Sun cited the central government's stimulus measures to increase
domestic demand as a major reason for the rebound. With mounting
orders from abroad slashed amid the global business slowdown last
year, more export-oriented companies turned to the domestic market
and joined in the already fierce competition. Such heated competition
triggered some substandard market behaviors like counterfeited products
and patent infringements. The council will step up campaigns for
intellectual property protection, provide training on regulations
and laws and publicize the names of infringing companies, Sun said.
"Now it is a common consensus among the industry that enhancing
management and protection of intellectual property is of great significance
to maintain the interests of rights holders and companies involved
to upgrade businesses and ensure the healthy growth of the entire
industry."
Source: China Daily via CNTEX
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2010/03/09
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China
to keep yuan basically stable
China will keep the exchange rate
of the renminbi, or the country's currency yuan, basically stable
at a reasonable and balanced level, a central bank vice governor
reaffirmed Tuesday. Yi Gang, vice governor of the People's Bank
of China, also director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange,
said China achieved "relatively good" yields from its
management over foreign exchange reserves in the past two years.
China has fully considered risk control in the allocation of the
currencies and assets, and high-risk products such as subprime mortgages
and collateralized debt obligations are not among China's investment
list, he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual
session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.
China's foreign exchange reserves stood at $2.3992 trillion at the
end of 2009, an increase of 453.1 billion dollars year on year.
Source: China Daily via CNTEX
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2010/03/08
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Textile
Export to ASEAN Heading towards Full Recovery in 2010
On Jan. 1, China's Free Trade Agreement
with ASEAN (CAFTA) came into effect, an important step for China's
strategy that could spur multi-destination textile export. Under
the FTA, the average tariff on goods from ASEAN countries to China
is reduced from 9.8 percent to 0.1 percent. The six original ASEAN
members - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand - slashed the average tariff on Chinese goods from
12.8 percent to 0.6 percent. The FTA is mutually beneficial. With
full consideration of economic development levels and market capacities
of both sides, the FTA will advance the regional economic integrity
by eliminating barriers of trade and investment. There are a lot
of advantages for every country: China and the ASEAN states complement
one another in many ways: On the one hand, China has easy access
to the other countries. On the other hand, the existing ASEAN countries
can import raw products from China at lower costs to be more competitive
with other countries.
Market shares in ASEAN up 0.49%
After global economic crisis, China was increasingly focusing more
on ASEAN markets for growth. From Jan. to Dec. 2009, China's accumulated
textile and garment export value to ASEAN amounted to $11.006 billion,
which accounted for 6.42 percent of China's total textile and apparel
export value, up 0.49% y/y. It is noted that the export growth rate
of China's textile to ASEAN were 3.35%, 39.30% and 57.20% in Oct.,
Nov. and Dec. 2009 respectively. Vietnam, China's biggest textile
market, imported $2.234 billion worth of Chinese textile in 2009,
up 11.02 percent y/y.
Good times ahead
Thanks to swift government response - including reduction of interest
rates, decreasing bank reserve requirements and stimulus spending
- Asian economies led the global recovery from the worst recession
in decades. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the region's GDP
would grow by 4.5 percent last year, a rate higher than many other
parts of the world. Indonesia's economy, Southeast Asia's biggest,
grew 4.5 percent last year and is on track to lead the region's
recovery from the global economic crisis. Resilient domestic demand,
stimulus spending and political stability helped the mainly Muslim
nation of 234 million people weather the economic turbulence of
2009 and emerge poised to resume its pre-crisis growth trajectory;
Vietnam's economic grew 5.32 percent last year. The rate of growth
in 2009 - which took the gross domestic product to 1,645 trillion
dong ($88.92 billion) - is in line with the government's target
of between 5.2% and 5.5%; Thailand's gross domestic product for
2009 contracted 2.3 percent year on year, better than the government's
earlier forecast of a 2.8% contraction; Singapore's economy fell
2.0% in 2009, better than the government's earlier forecast of a
2.1% contraction.
ASEAN is one of the most dynamic regions in the world. If ASEAN
were a single economic entity, it would rank as the world's tenth
largest economy, the third biggest market in the world in terms
of population, the fifth largest trading bloc and the tenth in terms
of FDI inflows. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, the world's largest
free trade area of developing countries, covers a population of
1.9 billion and accounts for about 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars in
trade volume. China-ASEAN free trade agreement could result in huge
growth in bilateral trade between China and ASEAN, especially since
the demand from the United States and Europe has plummeted during
the global financial crisis. The global financial crisis has prompted
Beijing to hedge the weakening U.S. dollar by encouraging the regionalization
of the RMB as a settlement currency for trade and other current
account transactions in Asia, and bypassing the use of the U.S.
dollar. According to some estimates, the total trade between China
and ASEAN members could reach $4.5 trillion once the FTA is launched.
The launch of CAFTA will provide momentum for broader regional growth
and may facilitate a decoupling from the West, as the RMB plays
a more prominent role in the regional economy. If the Chinese government
could push RMB regionalization successfully, there would be a huge
potential gain for the Chinese exporters. ...read
more
Source: CTEI Exclusive
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2010/03/05
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CPPCC Textile
Members Voice Their Concerns
 The Third Session of the
11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, opened
in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday. Most of the
proposals of textile industry to the CPPCC are related to the following
seven topics :
1. The labor shortage.
China's coastal industrial heartland is facing a severe labor shortage
as many migrant workers have not returned.
2. Soaring Cotton Prices
With manufacturing slowly recovering amid improving economic conditions,
cotton demand has increased prompting more orders among mills. However,
with a deficient supply of cotton in the market, prices extend gains
since the beginning of 2009.
3. Boosting the development of the middle and western land
As long noted, China's robust manufacturing output was largely being
achieved through strong productivity of developed eastern provinces.
However, over the past couple of years, China has been fastening
its grand western development program, to boost the development
of the middle and western land.
4. Industrial upgrading
Chinese enterprises are eager to venture into high-grade textiles
areas, but they have been put off due to high capital expenditure
required to bring in the necessary technology. It may be true that
foreign investment can play a role in industrial upgrading. However,
the industry cannot depend on foreign investment alone for this.
It will have to work with our own hands.
5. Textile export recovery and vulnerabilities
Although the textile industry has seen a recovery, international
trade environment does not clear up and risks still exist. China
is under growing pressure from its international trading partners,
led by the US, Europe and Japan, to let the renminbi rise.
6. Low-carbon
"Low-carbon" is one of the most popular buzz-words at
this year's NPC session, as calls for a greener economy grow.
7. Policies adjustment.
If an immediate yuan appreciation takes effect, some textile suppliers
trust the government to announce additional export tax rebates as
a support measure for exporters. This move, however, might not bring
relief to many companies. Some experts said the current 16-percent
tax rebate is already close to the 17-percent ceiling.
Source: CTEI News
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