Green Consumption Tide "Catalytic Upgrading"

Moderator: Jiang Hongtao

Guest: Wang Jianping (chief engineer and professor of China marketing department, Tianxiang group)

Gong Yan (Associate Professor, School of materials science and engineering, Beijing Institute Of Fashion Technology, director of China environmental protection standard Specialized Committee)

Dialogue background

With the abolition of the quota of global textile and clothing trade, the international textile resource market has entered a "post quota era". Textile quotas are no longer the main obstacle to trade discrimination and export restriction. Instead, they are green barriers, blue barriers and low carbon barriers for product quality, environmental indicators and safety certification.

Western developed countries have formulated a series of complicated and harsh environmental protection systems and standards with their advantages in science and technology. Some EU buyers have asked for a clause in the contract that they can not meet the "EU eco textile standard" for compensation of 10% of the total amount of money.

According to a data from the United Nations Conference on trade development, China's exports of up to US $7 billion 400 million a year are negatively affected by green barriers.

Recently, the second high-level forum on advanced textile and apparel materials for textile sustainable development was held in Beijing. Experts and scholars from the world's top textile and garment industry discussed the technological development of textile and garment industry under the low carbon economy mode and textile printing and dyeing problems of sustainable development.

The current situation of China's clothing and textile industry

Market: "80% growth is driven by domestic demand."

Moderator: in the western developed countries to enhance the entry threshold of textile products, the RMB continues to appreciate, how is the export status of China's clothing and textile enterprises?

Wang Jianping: in the first three quarters of 2010, China's textile and clothing exports rebounded in general, with an export increase of 23.2%, of which clothing exports increased by 19% over the same period last year. However, it is hard to predict whether the overall level of exports can reach the level of 2008, but the difference will not be too great or even more than that.

Moderator: compared with last year's situation, there are several concerns.

Wang Jianping: four o'clock.

The share of the market is on the rise, indicating that there is still a strong competitive advantage in these markets. At least, there will be no fundamental change in the short term. Three, the possibility of continuous rapid growth of China's textile and clothing exports has been greatly reduced. The pfer of orders has begun because of the many factors such as labor costs, exchange rates, trade policies, etc., but the possibility of short-term fundamental changes is unlikely. Four, our international dependence has dropped from nearly 40% years ago to 20% at present, which means that the 80% market is driven by domestic demand. What does this mean? Imagine that when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2000, the profit of China's textile industry was 40%, which was gained through international market, when the export rate dropped by one percentage point, which means that thirty thousand people were unemployed. First of all, China's textile and clothing exports decreased by 9.6% last year, but the decline is far below the average compared with the national export market (16%). Two, last year, China's textile and clothing exports declined, while in the United States, Japan and so on.

Now that proportion is only 20%, and China will be much less affected by the big environment.

Technology: disadvantages need to be improved

Host: what are the problems of technology and management in Chinese enterprises?

Gong: Frankly speaking, our enterprises have disadvantages in terms of technology and management.

In the process of raw material to finished product production and waste disposal, enterprises still have problems such as unstrict production quality control and no inspection of raw material purchase.

From an ecological point of view, they are mainly concentrated in formaldehyde content, chlorophenol, ten brominated diphenyl ethers (high brominated flame retardants), and some harmful heavy metals and other substances in textile products. These substances are strictly limited to European Union's standard Oeko-Tex Standard 100 for underwear clothing, especially infant clothing.

Taking dyes as an example, some synthetic dyes produced in China are based on sulfur and aromatic amines. These dyes are allergenic and carcinogenic.

To export, we have to use expensive imported dyes, resulting in higher costs.

The development of eco textiles also requires the ecology of fiber materials, such as the use of a large amount of pesticides and fertilizers during the growth of cotton, which will also affect the quality of natural fibers, resulting in pesticide residues in the final textiles instead of ecological products.

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The development and production of green clothing often require high technology and large investment. Small and medium-sized enterprises are generally unable or unwilling to undertake. Many large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises are facing serious losses, resulting in their lack of internal driving force and external pressure to do well in green marketing and green production.

Therefore, the government needs to increase funds, technology and policy support for the green industrialization of textile and clothing.

To promote the cooperation of some qualified enterprises with domestic textile institutions and research institutes, improve the qualification of the third party certification, set up an eco textile testing and evaluation laboratory, and assist enterprises in developing, testing and evaluating ecological textiles.

- expert advice -

Only 20 to 30 years of wheezing: adjusting the product structure is imperative.

Moderator: as one of China's most competitive and export oriented industries, textile and apparel also play the role of "big polluters" in the world. About 6 million of China's employed population is concentrated in the textile industry. Is the existence of the three barriers not conducive to the growth of Chinese enterprises?

Wang Jianping: the existence of green barriers is not necessarily a bad thing. Enterprises should be rational. This helps to improve the structure of China's export products.

The development of low carbon economy has become China's pformation and development.

Ways to promote the important goal of industrial restructuring.

In fact, I do not quite agree with some media claims that imperialism is "stuck" us, simply speaking that the international market is "blocking" China's economy.

In essence, the "low carbon tide" is the demand of people's green consumption.

In Europe and America, more and more clothes are labeled with low carbon labels. Even though they are twice as expensive as ordinary clothes, there are still a large number of people who choose to buy them.

In China, with the improvement of people's living standards, the concept of safety and environmental protection, green consumption is market-oriented, and the adjustment of product structure in China's textile industry is the only way.

Why can green exports be able to move from stalls to high-end market?

Moderator: under the new situation, how should China's textile and garment enterprises find their way out?

Wang Jianping: from the export situation of the first three quarters of 2010, it is basically in expectation, but there are still variables in the latter stage.

The continued rise of the renminbi may be fatal to a considerable number of export enterprises.

This year's recovery growth has shown a good momentum, but structural contradictions have not changed significantly. The relationship between the three investments, consumption and exports has not yet been adjusted to a reasonable level, and the strategy of relying on exports and low cost, low cost and structural contradictions need to be changed.

In the 90s of last century, China's textile and garment industry was dominated by the state and had a complete orientation. Now the private economy is in the majority. It has its advantages in the early stage of pformation. Many textile enterprises in China, such as Zhejiang, belong to family businesses, but their stamina is not enough.

In the current situation, China's textile industry has about 20 to 30 years of breathing time. Under such circumstances, Chinese enterprises need policy support, but they must rely on themselves, adjust their product mix quickly, change their thinking and take the road of ecology.

With the overall development of China's textile industry as a whole, the pace of adjustment has been speeded up. Despite the cost of reform, it is urgent and time is good.

Gong: we should increase the technological innovation of low carbon and environmental protection.

Many areas with relatively backward development have not strictly checked the relevant departments for the sake of economic interests. After the "Taihu pollution incident" was exposed, the printing and dyeing enterprises in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong moved to the central part of Jiangxi and Anhui. However, during the period, the technology did not improve practically, but pferred to the blind area of environmental management to avoid strict governance and continue to pollute.

In fact, the aircraft fuselage, train body, wind power, medical equipment and so on are all woven by fiber materials. They are all high-tech derivatives of textiles. They need to be developed and expanded, and the Chinese market is large, but they mainly rely on imports.

Therefore, the three parties of the government, enterprises and colleges should attach importance to it, increase the intensity of new and high technology pformation of traditional industries, and effectively enhance the value of science and technology.

Green clothes spinning --

Green material -- natural kapok fiber {page_break}

Xu Jian (researcher of the Institute of chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences): as the chief expert of the national 973 Plan carbon fiber project, Xu Jian fully studied the special wettability and unique structure of kapok fiber, and successfully designed a new type of ecological water / oil micro classifier, which has fast operation and long separation time, and does not need extra energy besides gravity potential energy.

"We can design the lightest floating material in the world, and the water will not float in and float on the water. The average density is only about 0.015g/cm3."

Xu Jian said.

Green printing and dyeing keratin fiber

Cai Yun (chief research fellow of Commonwealth of Australia scientific and industrial research organization): the traditional method of dyed wool darker is the use of highly toxic metallic dyes. Chromium dyes are especially popular, accounting for about 20% of the market share of wool dyes.

Cai Yun introduced the keratin fiber printing and dyeing methods, using reducing dyes and sulphur reducing dyes as metal chromium free dye alternatives to achieve high fastness and deep shade.

This method has been tried in some of the cooperative factories in Australia. It can not only achieve high color fastness and lower environmental pollution, but also cost little difference from traditional chrome dyes.

Core view

The existence of green barriers is not necessarily a bad thing, which helps to improve the structure of China's export products.

In essence, this is the demand for green consumption.

- Wang Jianping

If China wants to take the road of "low carbon" and "sustainable", it can not just stop shouting slogans, but become the primary consideration of all government investment.

-- Gong Yan