Chinese textile companies expand presence in countries along BRI

Textile industry is a traditional pillar of China’s economy. It is also important to people’s livelihood and holds strong competitiveness in the international market. At present, problems such as overcapacity, unreasonable industrial structure, increasing production cost, resource shortage, and weak core competitiveness has restrained the development of the textile industry. Internationally, the industry faces double pressure of developed countries’ “reindustrialization” and the accelerated industrialization process of developing countries. Thus, structural adjustment and industrial upgrading has become urgent.

Encountered with various challenges, Chinese textile enterprises are accelerating their transformation and adjustment paces, actively responding to the country’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and broadening their horizon by tapping into a larger market, in hope of creating a new development pattern.

Countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route are an emerging market with a total population of 4.4 billion and economic aggregate of $21 trillion. In 2016, China’s textile exports to those countries amounted to $89.15 billion, accounting for 33.4 percent of China’s total export to those countries. Due to the national policies, these countries are now becoming new hot spots of foreign trade. Textile enterprises that dare to go global are bound to create miracles.

上海紡織

Shangtex Holding Co has always been acute about market development and a few years ago, they accelerated their steps to enter the international market. Apart from building manufacturing bases in Africa’s Sudan and Ethiopia, it has also made multiple overseas acquisitions. According to its current textile industrial layout, international trade worth nearly $5 billion makes up 80 percent of the company’s total revenue. A company leader said that the pattern of global trade is changing, and the foreign trades in textile and clothing industries are indeed facing great challenges, and the challenges are expected to get even bigger in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the global layout. Only with this, the company can grasp the opportunity brought by reform to further develop its international business. The opportunity will lead to accelerating global layout when the world economy slumps.

江蘇陽光

Jiangsu Sunshine Group started transferring part of its production capacity to Ethiopia in Oct 2016. It planned to build a large textile and clothing manufacturing base there and to form a complete industrial chain covering top dyeing, spinning, weaving, after finish, and finished garment. The base is slated to start operation in January 2018. Leaders at the Sunshine Group know very well that now, the cost of China’s manufacturing industry is extremely high. The company has to go global for the sake of long-term development. The move to transfer partial capacity out of China can help improve its cost competitiveness and capacity to serve the international market, and promote further development.

山東如意

Shandong Ruyi Group started its global distribution relatively early. Currently, it has built industrial bases in five countries and formed a complete wool-spinning clothing industrial chain and cotton spinning and dyeing industrial chain. Since 2011, the group has successively purchased many world-renowned brands, and made itself into a cluster of world brands.