Chinese Garment Industry Declines In Value By 18% From January To May

Image Courtesy of China National Bureau of Statistics

Following the steps of many countries in history, China is gradually shifting its role in the world textile and apparel supply chain as the covid-19 pandemic continues to affect sales and production.

While China unshakably remains the world’s largest apparel exporter, its market shares measured by value fell from 38.6 percent in 2015 to 33.7 percent in 2017.  

China’s market shares in the world’s top three largest apparel import markets, namely the United States, EU, and Japan, also indicate a clear downward trend in the past five years. This result is consistent with several recent survey studies, which find that fashion brands and retailers are actively seeking alternative apparel sourcing bases to China.

Indeed, no country, including China, can forever keep its comparative advantage in making labor-intensive garments when its economy becomes more industrialized and advanced.

The economic operation of the Chinese garment industry in January-May is as follows:

Production

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the garment production of enterprises above designated size in garment industry totaled 7.31 billion pieces, declining by 17.91% year-on-year. Its decrease expanded 6.55 percentage points than that of the first four months.

Domestic Sales

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to over CNY 13.87 trillion, down 13.5% year-on-year. Thereinto, the retail sales of clothing, foot & head wear and knitted goods by major retailers above designated size was CNY 288.7 billion, declined by 25.6% year-on-year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, China’s online retail sales was over CNY 3.37 trillion, growing by 11.5% year-on-year. In the online retail sales of physical commodities, wearing goods decreased by 6.8% year-on-year.

Export

According to the Customs Newsletters, from January to May, China’s garment and accessories exports totaled US$ 40.26 billion, down 22.68% year-on-year.

Investment

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the actual investment of China’s garment industry decreased by 39.2% compared with the same period of 2019.

Benefit

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the main business income of textile enterprises above designated size totaled about CNY 464.7 billion, with year-on-year decrease of 16.89%; the total profit was CNY 18.04 billion, down 29.16% year-on-year; the margin of operating income reached 3.88%, dropped by 0.67 percentage points year-on-year.