Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

In the first half of this year, China's garment exports showed a rapid growth trend. According to China Customs statistics, in the first half of the year, China's clothing (including clothing accessories, the same below) exported US$74.11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 40.9% and an increase of 13.1% over the same period in 2019. Since entering the second quarter, the growth of apparel exports has been slowing down month by month.

In the first half of the year, China's knitted garment exports increased by 59%, which was significantly higher than the 17.7% growth rate of woven garments. "The main reason for the small increase in exports of woven garments is that the export growth of chemical fiber woven garments was only 9.4%, which was far below the average increase. Since medical protective clothing is classified as chemical fiber woven garments, the export base of protective clothing was relatively large last year. In the first half of this year, exports fell sharply year-on-year, leading to a slower overall growth in woven garment exports.” The relevant person in charge of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said that the export of higher-priced wool and silk woven garments declined, while the increase in wool leather garments Only 4%, it can be seen that the purchasing power of high-priced clothing in foreign consumer markets is still weak.

With the decline in foreign demand for anti-epidemic products, coupled with the high export prices and a large base last year, the growth of the export of anti-epidemic products in the first half of this year has slowed down, and its role in stimulating clothing exports has weakened. The anti-epidemic products included in clothing exports are mainly medical protective clothing and medical gloves. In the first half of the year, the total export of medical protective clothing and gloves was 8.38 billion US dollars, accounting for 11.3% of the total export of clothing. In 2020, the export of medical protective clothing and gloves accounted for 18.7%.

In the first half of the year, the export of medical protective clothing was US$2.1 billion, a sharp drop of 64.7% year-on-year and an increase of 136% over the same period in 2019. In June, the export value of protective clothing fell by as much as 90.6%, almost returning to the export value before the epidemic. The export of medical gloves still maintained rapid growth. The cumulative export value in the first half of the year was US$6.28 billion, a year-on-year increase of 241.8% and a year-on-year increase of 590%. It is worth noting that the export growth rate of medical gloves has shown a trend of slowing down month by month, and the growth rate in June was only 18.8%.

The relevant person in charge of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles predicts that the proportion of protective clothing and gloves in apparel exports will further shrink in the second half of the year.

Excluding the factor of anti-epidemic materials, China's conventional clothing exports in the first half of the year were US$65.73 billion, a year-on-year increase of 46.7%, while the same period in 2019 only increased by 3.2%.

From the perspective of clothing categories, the lifestyle and social style of consumers are returning, but the new crown pneumonia epidemic is also having a fundamental impact on people's clothing habits. In the first half of the year, the export of T-shirts, sweaters, pants and other major commodities increased by more than 40%, underwear, pajamas, casual suits, etc. increased by more than 60%, and tops, dresses and other products with strong fashion relevance also increased by more than 50% . In contrast, commuter-related products, such as shirts, grew slightly slower, with an increase of 27.2%. The export of suits and neckties decreased by 8.5% and 25% respectively year-on-year.

In terms of export regions, in the first half of the year, Guangdong surpassed Zhejiang to rank first in garment export provinces and cities, with a total value of 15.05 billion US dollars, an increase of 73.2% year-on-year, contributing 30% of the country’s export growth; Zhejiang and Jiangsu each exported 13.26 billion US dollars. And 10.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 25.1% and 22.9%, respectively, lower than the national average growth rate; Shandong and Fujian exports 7.88 billion US dollars and 7.53 billion US dollars, an increase of 52.6% and 54.9%, respectively, exceeding the national average growth rate; Hebei, Xinjiang , Jiangxi and other central and western regions’ export growth rate exceeded 80%. Compared with the same period in 2019, garment exports in Guangdong, Shandong and Fujian increased by 17.4%, 41.2% and 22.6% respectively. Zhejiang is basically flat, while Jiangsu has fallen by 5%, and has not yet returned to the export scale of the same period in 2019.

Talking about the export trend in the second half of the year, the relevant person in charge of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles stated that China's apparel exports increased in the second half of the year due to the disappearance of the US$2 trillion cash subsidy effect and the hindrance of the exchange rate, freight and raw material prices. There is still uncertainty about the situation.

"It is expected that the growth rate of clothing exports in the second half of the year will be significantly lower than that of the first half of the year. First, the export base in the second half of last year is larger. Second, the US fiscal stimulus policy has gradually weakened, which has limited stimulus effects on consumption, and the recovery of markets such as the European Union and Japan is weak. The main international market procurement trend is to gradually reduce the proportion of procurement in China and increase procurement from neighboring countries. For example, in 2020, Inditex will reduce the number of Chinese suppliers for the first time, down by 13.6% year-on-year, while paying more and more attention to nearby procurement Production, the number of Turkish suppliers alone increased by 6.4%. In the first four months of this year, Turkey and Morocco's market share in the EU increased by 1.2 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. Central American countries such as Honduras also grew steadily in the United States. It should be noted that, The current return of orders is only temporary, and how long they can stay depends on the degree of resumption of work and production in neighboring countries. Fourth, foreign demand for anti-epidemic products is gradually falling, and prices are gradually falling, which will have less and less stimulating effect on clothing exports." The person in charge analyzed.