Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

Statistics from the General Administration of Customs show that in the first five months, China's clothing exports totaled US$62.22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%.

Since the beginning of this year, external demand has generally improved. Although some exporting provinces and cities in China temporarily declined due to the epidemic lockdown, they quickly resumed work and production after the lockdown was lifted, and logistics resumed smooth, reflecting China's strong supply chain resilience. Among them, clothing exports maintained a steady growth trend. Statistics from the General Administration of Customs show that in the first five months, China's clothing exports totaled US$62.22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%.

Among the main clothing export products, the growth momentum of knitted clothing exports is stable and good, and the export of woven clothing shows the characteristics of volume reduction and price increase. "The pressure of restocking in the international market has decreased, and the demand has decreased, which has led to a decline in the export volume of woven garments; the added value of woven garment products is high, and the price of raw materials is higher than that of the same period last year, and the export price has increased significantly." China Textile Import and Export Cao Jiachang, chairman of the chamber of commerce, said.

Data show that in the first five months, China's knitted garment exports reached US$28.15 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%, a slowdown compared to the 42% increase in the whole of last year. The export of woven garments was 21.66 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.4%; the export volume was 5.09 billion pieces, a year-on-year decrease of 7.5%; the price increased by 26.9% year-on-year. The export of clothing accessories was US$5.55 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%; the export of plastic and rubber clothing was US$2.13 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 64.2%, of which the export of medical gloves fell sharply by 80.5%; the export of fur garments was US$220 million, a year-on-year decrease of 60.5%.

With the relaxation of epidemic prevention and control in some overseas countries, the export of outdoor and commuter clothing has grown rapidly. In the first five months, the export of coats and winter clothing increased by 45.6% year-on-year; the export of dresses, shirts, sweaters, sportswear/swimwear increased by 30.7%, 32.9%, 26.2% and 23% respectively. Due to the decrease in purchasing demand for household clothing, the year-on-year growth rate of exports has slowed down significantly, and the growth rate of exports of underwear, pajamas and bras is around 10%.

At present, among the top four markets of China's clothing exports, China's clothing exports to the United States and the European Union have grown steadily, while exports to Japan have declined. In the first five months, China's clothing exports to the United States, the European Union and ASEAN amounted to 14.93 billion US dollars, 11.71 billion US dollars and 5.78 billion US dollars, respectively, up 12.5%, 17.9% and 26.3% year-on-year; China's clothing exports to Japan amounted to 5.47 billion. US dollar, down 7.6% year-on-year.

In addition, in the first five months, China's clothing exports to Latin America increased by 36.1% year-on-year, exports to Africa increased by 3.4% year-on-year, and exports to countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 15% year-on-year. Exports of Chinese clothing to other single countries showed mixed trends. Among them, China's clothing exports to South Korea and Australia increased by 3.3% and 13.8% year-on-year, respectively, and the clothing exports to the United Kingdom, Canada and Russia decreased by 9.6%, 9.2% and 34.4% year-on-year respectively.

Regarding the follow-up apparel export trend, Cao Jiachang believes: "In the second half of the year, under the combined influence of multiple factors such as the overall impact of the epidemic that has lowered the world economic growth track, high global inflation, and the uncertainty of the Ukraine crisis, China's apparel exports will still face many risks. Challenges, downward pressure increases.”