At present, Southeast Asian countries are relaxing epidemic prevention and control measures and accelerating the resumption of work and production, and its impact will soon be reflected in the field of foreign trade. Taking the textile and apparel industry as an example, some textile and apparel companies in my country have observed foreign trade orders flowing to Southeast Asia. However, since most of the losses are mid- to low-end processing orders, they can still afford it.
“The company’s foreign trade situation this year is better than last year. Although the situation was not good some time ago this year, many orders have come since the depreciation of the RMB exchange rate. In addition, raw materials are not as expensive as in previous years, and the cost of raw materials has little impact on the market. .” Ouyang Hong, general manager of Suzhou Jingzhi Textile Technology Co., Ltd., told the China Trade News reporter, “I have also seen some orders flowing to Southeast Asia. Most of the textile orders currently transferred to Southeast Asia are processing. The textile industry has a long industrial chain. Some links are complex and cannot be fully undertaken by Southeast Asian countries. However, we have also noticed that Southeast Asian countries have a certain industrial foundation and accumulation in the garment industry, and can win many orders in the garment trade.”
Ouyang Hong also revealed that a foreign buyer came to him to purchase textile fabrics. Instead of transporting the textile fabrics to a certain domestic processing location, he asked him to send the textile fabrics directly to Vietnam. Obviously, they were to be processed in Vietnam. clothing. However, Ouyang Hong’s company will not transfer production to Vietnam because the company’s textile business involves a lot of ingredients and requires supporting support. The domestic related industrial chain is relatively complete, but Vietnam can only complete part of the processing. If it is transferred, it will still cost money. It takes a lot of effort and cost to find supporting manufacturers, which is not convenient and cost-effective.
Han Yangling, general manager of Zhejiang Yiheng Knitting Co., Ltd., said that the company produces many varieties of socks with various colors and high market prices. At present, most of the orders transferred to Southeast Asia are mid-to-low-end socks. Products have little impact on the company for the time being.
Zhang Xiaofeng, deputy secretary-general of the Zhejiang Garment Industry Association, told reporters that the transfer of textile and clothing orders to Southeast Asia does exist. Vietnam’s textile and clothing exports have grown rapidly this year, data shows. Many orders were transferred from domestic companies, including a considerable number of Zhejiang companies. He said that Southeast Asian countries have low labor costs and can avoid certain trade barriers. Although Vietnam, Thailand and other countries lag behind China in overall economic development, their textile and clothing industries and food industries are very prosperous, with good industrial foundations and can undertake Industry transfer, but high-end industries such as machinery and electronics cannot undertake it.
Li Shunhong, a lecturer in the Foreign Trade Department of the School of Economics at Yunnan University, analyzed that the phenomenon of the textile and clothing industry moving to Southeast Asia has always existed, involving factors such as the demographic dividend. The current flow of textile and clothing foreign trade orders to Southeast Asia is related to the vigorous promotion of resumption of work and production in countries such as Vietnam. , although the epidemic situation in Vietnam has not actually improved.
How should Chinese companies respond to this? Regarding labor cost issues, Ouyang Hong’s company has communicated with machine manufacturers to strive to continue to upgrade equipment, thereby reducing the use of labor. For example, product packaging used to be manual packaging, and a packer’s salary was 7,000 yuan/month, but now it has been changed to automatic packaging. , higher efficiency; product loading used to be carried on the shoulders of workers, and the operation was slow, but now automatic loading is also implemented.
Zhang Xiaofeng believes that the transfer of part of production capacity by Chinese enterprises to Southeast Asia is a choice made by enterprises based on market conditions. From the perspective of domestic industrial development, high quality development is the only way out , and at the same time, we must create a good business environment.
Specifically, Zhang Xiaofeng analyzed that the company’s business involves two major costs – wages and rent. At present, domestic wage costs cannot be reduced. The monthly salary of front-line workers in Zhejiang is 7,000 to 8,000 yuan; while the cost of raw materials is more affected by the international market. Big, it cannot be changed for a while. What enterprises can do is to change themselves and improve product added value and product quality. Textile enterprises should comprehensively improve fabrics, styles and brands.
“Of course, we must also see that improving quality and brand international awareness requires a process. After our country’s textile and apparel companies build a good brand, product profits and added value will be high, and they will be able to better cope with rising costs and order transfers. Pressure.” Zhang Xiaofeng said.
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