In recent years, more and more enterprises in the garment industry from mainland China have entered ASEAN. Experts said that business opportunities in the apparel field between mainland China and ASEAN are gradually increasing, and strengthening cooperation will help promote the joint “upgrading” of both parties in this industry.
Xu Ningning, mainland China’s chief ASEAN affairs expert and executive deputy secretary-general of the China-ASEAN Advisory Council, said that the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has facilitated economic and trade cooperation between enterprises on both sides, and ASEAN has become China’s A key area for mainland garment companies to go global. On the one hand, ASEAN countries have abundant labor and there is no difficulty in recruiting workers, and the labor costs in some ASEAN countries are lower than those in mainland China; on the other hand, the textile and clothing products of ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are exported to countries such as Europe and the United States and There are few regional restrictions, which is the main factor for mainland Chinese garment companies to invest in ASEAN.
In the special economic zone built by Hongdou Group, a garment enterprise from mainland China, in Sihanoukville Port, Cambodia, light textile clothing is the main industry, and some garment enterprises from mainland China have set up factories here. Clothing is the main industrial product and export product of ASEAN countries. In recent years, ASEAN has imported an increasing number of raw materials, accessories, textile and garment machinery, etc. for garment production from mainland China. Mainland China’s textile and apparel exports to ASEAN increased by 35.7% over the previous year in 2010, an increase of 34.1% in 2011, and reached US$26.6 billion in 2012, an increase of 34.2%. ASEAN has become the fastest growing region in textile and apparel exports. The main export products are composed of In the past, fabrics were transformed into clothing, with exports accounting for 40.7%; fabrics accounting for 39%; finished products accounting for 14.1%; and yarn accounting for 6.2%. From January to February 2013, mainland China’s garment exports to ASEAN reached US$2 billion, an increase of 183.9% compared with the same period in 2012, becoming the fourth largest market for mainland China’s garment exports.
The Mainland China-ASEAN Free Trade Area provides convenience for garment enterprises from both sides to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation. Xu Ningning suggested that industry associations on both sides should strengthen exchanges and cooperation, strengthen mutual information and technology exchanges, and organize mutual visits and exhibitions between enterprises. In mainland China, there are many professional exhibitions in the textile and apparel industry every year, such as the Guangzhou International Fashion Festival to be held in August and the Shanghai Fashion Exhibition to be held in September. We welcome the active participation of garment industry enterprises from ASEAN countries. Strengthening cooperation between mainland China and ASEAN’s garment industry is an effective way to use the preferential policies of the free trade zone to promote the upgrading of mainland China’s garment industry and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in the region.
It is reported that the 4th Mainland China-ASEAN Industry Cooperation Conference co-sponsored by the Chinese Secretariat of the Mainland China-ASEAN Advisory Council and the Kunming Municipal Government will be held in Kunming in June, with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam The presidents and business representatives of textile and garment industry associations from six ASEAN countries, including Laos, Cambodia, and Laos, will attend the meeting to discuss cooperative development with representatives of the garment industry in mainland China.
