(Wang Dongtang, Director of the Trade Section of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce)
Dear Director Luo, President Zhou, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning!
Entrusted by Deputy Director Jiang Fan, I would like to have a brief exchange with you on the basic situation of China’s foreign trade and textile trade issues.
1. China’s foreign trade development and operation.
Since the beginning of this year, China’s entire foreign trade has maintained a sustained growth trend. According to China Customs statistics, from January to April, the country’s import and export reached US$1.33 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 14%, of which exports were US$695.87 billion, an increase of 17.4%, and imports were US$634.88 billion. , an increase of 10.6%, of which textile and clothing exports were US$80.16 billion, an increase of 16.5%. Currently, China’s foreign trade operations have the following features worthy of attention:
First, China’s foreign trade export growth rate is higher than that of other major trading partners. Except for Hong Kong’s export growth of 14.0% from January to April, the growth rates of other major trading partners were generally low or even negative. Exports from the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan increased by 0.8%, 0.4%, and 1.5% respectively (January to March), the European Union increased by 5.7% (January to March), Japan decreased by 13.2%, India increased by 0.9%, and Brazil, Russia, and South Africa respectively. Declines of 4.3%, 38.7% and 9.5% were far lower than China’s export growth rate of 17.4% in the same period.
Second, the market structure of foreign trade has become differentiated. On the one hand, the market share of the two major exports to the EU and Japan is declining. In the first quarter of this year, our share of the EU import market dropped by 0.8% compared with 2012, of which the market share of textiles and clothing dropped by 1 percentage point. Our share of the Japanese import market dropped by 1.2% compared with 2012, of which The market share of textiles and apparel decreased by 2.2%. At the same time, our trade with emerging markets such as ASEAN, Russia, and Africa maintained a high growth rate. From January to April, the growth rate of my country’s textile and apparel exports to ASEAN reached 61.2%, and Russia’s exports reached 45.7%, which is much higher than the overall export growth rate.
Third, the overseas transfer of labor-intensive industries is currently accelerating. According to incomplete statistics, the total investment amount of Chinese-funded enterprises in setting up labor-intensive enterprises in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Laos and other countries has exceeded 1 billion US dollars. Due to the rising comprehensive costs of domestic labor and other factors, as well as the still serious inversion of cotton prices in domestic and foreign markets, foreign-funded enterprises have increasingly moved overseas, and orders have subsequently shifted overseas. In 2012, the share of China’s seven major categories of labor-intensive products (textiles, clothing, furniture, toys, bags, shoes and hats, and plastic products) in the EU market fell by 0.7 percentage points compared with 2011, and the US market fell by 0.5 percentage points. , Japan’s market share fell by 2.1 percentage points.
2. The current situation facing China’s foreign trade development. Although the foreign trade performance in the first four months of this year was better than expected, China’s foreign trade development throughout the year still faces many challenges and is full of variables.
First, demand growth in major export markets is weak. The world economy is still deeply affected by the quantitative easing policies of developed countries and the sovereign debt crisis. The phenomenon of insufficient external demand has not fundamentally improved. The International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization have recently lowered their forecasts for global economic and global trade growth in 2013.
Second, international competition has become more intense. As my country’s industrial upgrading and other developing countries undertake international industrial transfers, China has begun to compete head-on with developed countries in technology- and capital-intensive industries, and competition with developing countries in traditional labor-intensive industries has become increasingly fierce. At the same time, a considerable number of foreign trade companies, including textile and garment companies, are still weak in technological innovation, standard setting, marketing network and resource integration capabilities.
Third, the traditional competitive advantage of foreign trade has weakened. At present, rising raw material and labor costs, increasing energy, resource and environmental constraints, especially the recent appreciation of the RMB exchange rate, have weakened the company’s low-cost competitive advantage. Many traditional industries and small and medium-sized enterprises are in a dilemma between survival and development and competition adjustment due to lack of necessary funds, technology, talent accumulation and weak risk tolerance. There is an urgent need to accelerate transformation and upgrading and cultivate new advantages in international competition.
Fourth, trade protectionism continues to heat up. In 2012, my country encountered a total of 77 trade dispute investigations initiated by 21 countries and regions, involving a total amount of US$27.7 billion. Year-on-year increases of 12% and 369% respectively. Among them, the textile and apparel industry has always been the hardest hit area by trade protectionism. In the first quarter of this year, 12 more countries and regions initiated 22 trade dispute investigations against us, a year-on-year increase of 22%.
3. Cultivate new advantages in foreign trade competition and enhance the competitiveness of textile and clothing exports.
The textile and apparel industry is China’s traditional advantageous industry and a livelihood industry involving many jobs. Promoting the healthy, coordinated and sustainable development of textile and apparel exports is of great significance to China’s economic and social development. At the same time, China has long relied on its industrial chain advantages, economies of scale and processing cost advantages to provide high-quality and low-cost goods to countries around the world and our major trading partners. Without textiles and clothing made in China with fair prices and reliable quality, the lives of consumers in many countries and regions around the world will be affected. People’s closets may be mostly empty, and their living rooms and offices may look completely different than they do now.
To promote the inclusion ofForeign trade, including the textile and apparel industry, is accelerating the transformation of development methods. In 2013, the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce will focus on the following work.
First, we will intensify efforts to transform foreign trade methods and adjust its structure. Promote “five optimizations”. Optimize international market layout. While consolidating the traditional markets of the EU, Japan and Hong Kong, we will also increase the proportion of emerging markets and developing countries in the country’s foreign trade. Optimize the domestic regional layout, while consolidating the scale of foreign trade in the eastern coastal areas, and gradually increase the proportion of the central and western regions in the national foreign trade. Optimize foreign trade business entities. While adhering to the common development of various ownership entities in foreign trade, we will gradually increase the proportion of private enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises in China’s foreign trade. Optimize the commodity structure, while stabilizing the export of traditional industrial products, increase the proportion of high value-added and export brand products in the country’s foreign trade. Optimize trade methods. Continuously innovate trade methods, strengthen general trade, enhance processing trade, and develop other trade methods.
The second is to accelerate the cultivation of new advantages in foreign trade competition. The outline of China’s “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” for national economic and social development proposes to strengthen the connection between trade policy and industrial policy, and gradually form new export competitive advantages with technology, brand, quality and service as the core. Around this goal, we will carry out “three constructions”. First, accelerate the construction of foreign trade transformation and upgrading demonstration bases to provide enterprises in the base with public services such as R&D and design, quality testing, display transactions, trade promotion, information services, training, and agricultural product traceability. Increase the base’s proportion in the country’s foreign trade. In 2011 and 2012, the Ministry of Commerce approved 117 national-level transformation and upgrading demonstration bases, of which textile and clothing accounted for 24, accounting for more than 20% of the total. The second is to speed up the construction of trade platforms and promote the construction of commodity markets and e-commerce platforms that combine domestic and foreign trade. In 2012, the Ministry of Commerce identified Zhejiang Yiwu Small Commodity City, Jiangsu Dieshiqiao International Home Textile City and Zhejiang Haining Leather City as pilot projects for domestic and foreign trade. At the same time, China’s foreign trade brand exhibitions are held in Britain, the United States and Africa. Promote excellent Chinese brands, including textile and apparel brands, to relevant markets. Relying on the platform of the Canton Fair, we organize a series of “Design to Promote Trade” activities, hold product design innovation competitions, organize docking activities between domestic enterprises and well-known foreign designers, etc. The third is to speed up the construction of international marketing networks, promote the establishment of various marketing networks such as trade exhibition centers, wholesale markets and specialty stores overseas, build independent channels, and improve the foreign trade development and service capabilities of enterprises. The above three key tasks are to promote the coordinated development of domestic and regional foreign trade.
The third is to promote the coordinated development of domestic and regional foreign trade. Relying on the trade expos held in the eastern region every year, we organize foreign trade order docking activities in the eastern, central and western regions, transfer some orders that are difficult for eastern enterprises to digest to the lower-cost central and western regions, and guide the transfer of foreign trade-related manufacturing industries from the southeastern coast to the central and western regions. Promote the optimal allocation of order resources domestically.
Fourth, further optimize the foreign trade development environment. Work closely with relevant departments to continue to stabilize various foreign trade growth policies and maintain policy stability and continuity. Provide stable policy expectations and trade environment for the industry. We strive to provide good services to enterprises and effectively ensure the sound and healthy development of textile, clothing and related industries. At the same time, we are also actively promoting the construction of free trade zones with major trading partners, improving our trade friction response mechanism, and creating a good external environment for our companies to carry out import and export trade.
Ladies and gentlemen, over the years, the China International Cotton Conference has played an important platform and bridge role in promoting exchanges, communication and cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises, scholars, industries, and government officials. We hope to work together with everyone to create a good internal and external environment for China’s foreign trade development and the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. We also hope that our relevant enterprises will adhere to both domestic and foreign trade and import and export in actual work, strive to cultivate new competitive advantages in foreign trade, and contribute to the development of my country’s foreign trade and the stable recovery of the world economy.
Finally, I wish this meeting a complete success, thank you all!
