Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

Although the growth rate of China's textile and clothing exports fell in the first three quarters of this year due to the slowdown of external demand, high temperature power rationing and the continued epidemic, the highlights are still visible. The substantial growth in the export volume of thermal insulation products and the rapid increase in the export volume of textiles and clothing to RCEP member countries and some emerging markets all show that China's textiles and clothing still has a large export potential. The relevant person in charge of the Information Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles predicted that China's textile and clothing exports would still achieve a small growth this year.

According to customs data, from January to September 2022, China's textile and clothing imports and exports reached 266.31 billion US dollars, up 7.3% year on year, including 248.86 billion US dollars for exports, up 9.3% year on year, and 17.45 billion US dollars for imports, down 15.4% year on year. According to customs data, from January to September, China's exports of textiles and clothing increased by 8.9% and 9.7% year on year respectively, and the exports of yarn, fabrics, woven clothing and home textile products of major commodities increased by 17.8%, 16.1%, 14.9% and 0.6% year on year respectively.

In terms of specific commodities, affected by the expectation of cold winter in Europe and the energy crisis caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the export of thermal insulation products such as electric blankets has experienced an outbreak of sales this year, and the export volume has achieved rapid growth. According to customs data, China exported more than 20 million electric blankets in the first three quarters, up 18.2% year on year. Among them, China exported nearly 5 million electric blankets to Europe, up 34% year on year.

From the perspective of export market, China's textile and clothing exports to the Kyrgyz market have achieved the most remarkable results since this year. According to customs data, from January to September, China's textile and clothing exports to Kyrgyzstan totaled US $6.3 billion, nearly doubling year-on-year. "Kyrgyzstan's ranking in the single export market of China's textiles and clothing quickly jumped from No. 22 last year to No. 7, surpassing traditional markets such as the United Kingdom and Australia. China's clothing exports to Kyrgyzstan grew rapidly. China's clothing exports to Kyrgyzstan in the first three quarters totaled US $5.67 billion, a year-on-year increase of 101%." Said the above responsible person.

Driven by the implementation of the RCEP agreement, China's textile and clothing exports to RCEP member countries have maintained a good growth trend since this year. According to customs data, from January to September 2022, China's total exports of textiles and clothing to 14 RCEP member countries reached 70.9 billion US dollars, up 15.7% year on year.

At the same time, the export growth of China's textiles and clothing to the US and European markets fell back at the end of the third quarter. Data shows that from January to September, China's textile and clothing exports to the United States totaled 42.61 billion US dollars, up 2.6% year on year; Exports to the EU totaled US $37.37 billion, up 9.8% year on year; Exports to ASEAN totaled USD 41.71 billion, up 22.9% year on year.

Clothing, household textiles as final consumer goods and yarns and fabrics as intermediate products in the industrial chain fell for the first time since the beginning of the year in September. According to the above analysis, the reasons for the decline mainly include two aspects. First, inflation and interest rate increases in the United States and Europe have led to consumer demand for non necessities other than food and energy shrinking, coupled with high inventories, The purchasers in the US and Europe are not willing to buy; Second, the sluggish demand for overseas end consumer goods also affected the willingness of Southeast Asia, South Asia and other markets to purchase intermediate goods, leading to a decline in the growth rate of China's textile and clothing intermediate exports. According to the introduction of some member enterprises of the China Chamber of Commerce for Textile Importers and Exporters who set up factories in Southeast Asia, the orders of local factories in September fell sharply compared with previous years, which led to a significant slowdown in the growth rate of imports of Chinese textile and garment intermediates from these regions. The data shows that from June to August, the fabric export volume index of China to ASEAN reached double digits, maintaining between 14% and 23%, but by September, the index had dropped to 9.4% of single digits.

In the fourth quarter, the global economy continued to weaken and domestic epidemics repeated. The above responsible person predicted that China's textile and clothing exports would fall back in the current quarter, with a negative year-on-year growth rate. However, based on the good accumulation of export performance in the first half of the year, it is estimated that China's textiles and clothing will still achieve a small growth of about 3% this year. In addition, it is worth noting that although the peak period for the export of thermal insulation products such as electric blankets has passed, if Europe encounters a cold winter this year, it is expected that the export of thermal insulation products will continue a wave of sales boom at the end of this year due to the demand for hot sales and inventory replenishment.