Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

In 2022, the export scale of China's textile industry reached a new historical high, investment growth was good, and enterprise development confidence was consolidated. In a complex and severe situation, the development achievements were not easy won. At the 17th annual meeting of the China Textile Roundtable Forum, He Yaqiong, Director of the Consumer Products Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that entering 2023, China's economic and social recovery and development were significantly better than expected, Although the current recovery foundation is still not solid, the massive textile industry has a good industrial foundation and development resilience, and has the ability to push the industry's high-quality development to new heights. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

In 2022, both supply and demand in the textile industry will be under pressure. A series of risk factors, such as insufficient market demand, poor supply chain operation, rising prices of bulk raw materials, and complex trade environment, have brought enormous challenges to the textile industry.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, in 2022, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles above designated size decreased by 6.5% year-on-year, while the retail sales of online clothing products only increased by 3.5%, a slowdown of 4.8 percentage points compared to 2021. The prices of raw materials on the production end continue to remain high, and cost pressure is transmitted to the consumer end. The pressure on enterprise capital turnover has increased, production and sales have slowed down, and profits have declined. Industrial added value, operating revenue, and total profit of enterprises above designated size have decreased by 1.9%, 0.9%, and 24.8% year-on-year, respectively.

However, against the backdrop of overall pressure on the industry, a group of enterprises have firmly adhered to high-quality development and achieved a counter trend. Gu Weida, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Beijing Fashion Holdings Co., Ltd., introduced that in recent years, the company has accelerated its strategic restructuring and formed a fashion and cultural industry group pattern with four major sectors of brand operation, technological innovation, cultural creativity, and arts and crafts.

With the joint efforts of multiple parties, the development resilience of the textile industry has been fully demonstrated, and the stable operation advantages of the complete industrial system continue to emerge. Sun Ruizhe, President of the China Textile Industry Federation, mentioned that from 2020 to 2022, China's total annual exports of textiles and clothing exceeded 300 billion US dollars, reaching a new historical high of 340.95 billion US dollars in 2022; The annual average growth of operating revenue for textile enterprises above designated size over the past three years is 0.5%, indicating that the industry's production and sales scale is steadily advancing; The completed amount of fixed assets investment in the textile industry and chemical fiber industry increased by 2.9% and 8.8% annually in three years, respectively, indicating that enterprises continued to expand investment in transformation and upgrading during the COVID-19. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, the textile industry continued to play an important role in stabilizing the economic operation, balancing the balance of payments, and promoting the improvement of people's livelihood. In 2023, China's epidemic prevention and control will enter a new stage, and the textile industry will gradually return to a stable track of deep structural adjustment and focus on promoting high-quality development, opening up a new phase of building a modern textile industry system. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Cao Li, Deputy Director of the Economics Department of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, stated that to promote the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity in the economy, three "focus points" need to be scientifically grasped, namely, focusing on improving total factor productivity, enhancing the resilience and safety level of the industrial chain supply chain, and promoting urban-rural integration and regional coordinated development.

Promoting the upgrading of the industrial chain, extending the value chain to the high-end, and building a modern industrial system are inevitable requirements for achieving high-quality development. Sun Ruizhe stated that the textile industry should actively strengthen investment in factors such as technological innovation, integrated innovation, design innovation, digital innovation, and green innovation to improve total factor labor productivity; To adapt to a series of new changes such as the pattern of factors, strength requirements, and international cooperation rules, and improve the resilience and security level of the industrial chain supply chain; We should combine the national regional major strategy, rural revitalization strategy, and urban agglomeration strategy to promote coordinated development of industries and regions.

In the increasingly complex international landscape, how should textile industry enterprises respond to the new situation of opening up to the outside world? Zhou Mi, Deputy Director of the Institute of America and Oceania at the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, proposed that firstly, based on the new development pattern, grasp the expansion trend of the Asian consumer market, and enhance the position and discourse power of Chinese enterprises in the industrial value chain; The second is to explore multidimensional innovation paths and demonstrate greater achievements in fields such as artificial intelligence technology, green sustainability, demand customization, and protection of intellectual property rights; The third is to implement new measures of collaborative opening up, explore various cooperation models among various entities, and achieve deep resource sharing.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly states that high-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a socialist modernized country. He Yaqiong stated that textile industry enterprises should accurately grasp the industrial positioning of the economic pillar, cornerstone of people's livelihood, cultural carrier, consolidation of international competitive advantages, promotion of prosperity, stability, and long-term peace in border areas in the new era, take the initiative and move forward with courage. At the same time, we will comprehensively enhance the modernization level of the textile industry system, promote the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the industry, consolidate the leading position of advantageous industries, and organically combine the implementation of the strategy of expanding domestic demand with the deepening of supply side structural reform, with expanding domestic demand for textiles and clothing as the first consideration. In addition, it is necessary to extract and showcase the spiritual symbols and cultural essence of Chinese civilization, enhance the dissemination and influence of textile and clothing brands, and observe and report on Huacheng's import and export data.