What Else Does China'S Garment Enterprises Lose Their Cost Advantages?

Due to the huge increase in labor costs in China, Japan's clothing and grocery enterprises will reduce their production ratio in China and pfer part of their production links to Southeast Asia.

At the same time, the advantages of Southeast Asian countries are becoming increasingly prominent and become strong competitors that Chinese enterprises can not ignore.

With the development of various new trade protection and the green standard threshold of developed countries, the development of Chinese clothing (000902, stock bar) enterprises is becoming more and more narrow. The era of relying solely on cheap to earn eyeballs has passed, and the path of industrial pformation of refined production and branding is imperative.

UNIQLO (UNIQCLO), H&M, ZARA, etc.

In a H&M store in Beijing, the reporters found that there are many different kinds of clothing, and the garments from "China, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Kampuchea, Bangladesh, Morocco, Bulgaria" and other "world factories" are gathered here.

However, the quality of clothing from different origins is not good.

Miss Di, who loves UNIQLO, has also expressed a similar view: "the origin of UNIQLO is all over Asia. I think the quality of Jiangsu's production is the best, and that of Guangdong Dongguan is also good.

Kampuchea is the most unreliable. Vietnam is also very strong. Bangladesh is doing well.

She exemplified with her own experience: "I bought a Vietnamese made product.

Lost order

Despite the good reputation of Chinese textile products, the plan for international brands to pfer production to low-cost countries outside China is still in order.

According to the Japan economic news, Japanese clothing and grocery enterprises will reduce their production ratio in China and pfer part of their production to Southeast Asia, due to the huge increase in labor costs in China.

It is reported that the fast selling (FastRetailing) Company of UNIQLO is planning to increase production from Bangladesh and Indonesia factories from the low price clothing brand G.U., and increase the production rate of 20%~30% outside China to 50%.

After 3 years, the co - operation plant in China has been reduced from 229 to 86 in China. The purchasing ratio from China has been reduced by half from 60%, and the purchase of wood products such as furniture and groceries has also begun to increase from Southeast Asia.

BruceRockowitz, the president of the world's largest trade buyer, said months ago that the rise in wages in southern China could force producers of consumer goods to move out and "quickly" to lower cost areas in the next five years, including Western China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

After the business of Qingshan, following Vietnam, Burma and Kampuchea, it will also be commissioned to produce in Indonesia this year. Southeast Asian factories mainly undertake sewing processes, and the fabrics needed are still purchased from Italy and China.

In addition to the pfer of commissioned production, some companies have also set up new factories outside China.

TSI holdings, Tokyo's STYLE, invested 1 billion yen and began building new factories in Vietnam since August of this year.

Women's clothing brand Honeys will also start production in the new factory in Burma this fall.

It is reported that in the past two years, China's labor cost has doubled, about 5 times that of Bangladesh.

The sewing process began to gradually move beyond China because it relied mainly on the latest equipment and did not need too many skilled workers.

However, at present, the countries with the ability to undertake sewing and weaving processes in Japan are only China. Therefore, the production beyond the sewing process will continue to be mainly carried out in China.

Yin Guoxin, chairman of CHENFENG group, known as "the largest OEM factory in the world", confirmed to our reporter that since August this year, the orders of international brand customers have been significantly reduced, and the trend of pferring to Southeast Asia is becoming more and more intense.

"Not only Japanese brands, but also European and American brands.

As time goes on, orders will be less and less. "

Yin Guoxin bluntly said.

But he also said that the middle and high grade products of CHENFENG group are still popular, and have the advantages of complete industrial chain and exquisite workmanship.

But the high-end products account for only 5%~10% of the order. In the background of winning the international brand by the low end, cheap and fast selling line, it can not compete with the Southeast Asian countries.

According to the relevant person in charge of the China Textile Import and Export Chamber of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the textile chamber of Commerce), the phenomenon that international brands pferred part of their origin to China began to take place three years ago.

For example, the chairman of the Adidas had made a public statement three years ago, saying that China's wages were high and began to move to India, Vietnam and other countries. At that time, about half of them were made in China.

At the end of 2008, UNIQLO's parent company Xun marketing group had formed a joint venture with Hong Kong textile mill, garment factory, Jingyuan and a Bangladesh enterprise to produce fabrics and clothing in Bangladesh.

About 85% of the Xun group's products were made in China, but Xun plans to increase production outside China to 1/3, so as to reduce costs and reduce dependence on China.

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Cost competitive advantage

According to the head of the textile chamber of Commerce, although the order pfer problem has existed in recent years, this year's situation is particularly serious.

Mainly because of the rigid growth of domestic labor costs and the high price of raw materials such as cotton, many merchants can not afford the price rise of Chinese products, and pfer the processing and production of a large number of low-grade products to Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Indonesia and other countries.

Zhang Yanan, an analyst at Qing Research Center, further pointed out that since 2009, factors such as rising labor costs, RMB appreciation, raw material price fluctuation and loan interest rate increase have increased the operating costs of enterprises and affected the international competitiveness of Chinese textile enterprises.

"Domestic wage costs have been rising, and workers' wages have risen by 20% so far."

Yin Guo Xin said.

The advantages of Southeast Asian countries have become increasingly prominent and become strong overseas competitors that Chinese enterprises can not ignore.

"Its advantages are mainly reflected in the labor force, exchange rate, preferential tariff for exports and so on."

Textile chamber of Commerce responsible person said.

First, the cost of labor in Southeast Asian countries is lower than that in China.

According to a survey published in October 2010 by the Japan Trade Promotion Agency (JETRO), employers pay the highest salary in China, reaching 463 dollars per person per month, significantly higher than other Asian clothing producing countries.

Philippines and Indonesia are between us $250 ~300, Vietnam and Kampuchea are US $153 and US $125 respectively, and Bangladesh is the lowest, only US $85.

In addition to Bangladesh, the wage level in these countries is probably 1/4~2/3 in China. "

The head of the textile chamber of Commerce said.

Secondly, the exchange rate of these countries' currencies against the US dollar has fallen or increased less than that of China.

"In 2005, the yuan rose to 30% against the US dollar, while Vietnam's currency accumulated 24% in the same period.

There is a big gap in cost between one rise and one drop.

The Indonesia shield had a relatively large fluctuation during the period ~2009 in 2008, and accumulated a total of about 8% during the whole period.

The cumulative increase in Philippines's peso is almost 32%, but it has gone up and down in the process, unlike the renminbi.

The person in charge pointed out.

In addition, these countries have preferential policies to reduce tariffs on major markets such as Europe, America and Japan.

Kampuchea and Bangladesh are currently listed among the list of the world's least developed countries, and many developed countries can enjoy the most favored nation treatment of GSP.

Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam signed economic cooperation agreements with Japan respectively. Clothing can be imported into Japan tax-free, but the fabric used must be produced by Japan or ASEAN member countries.

The EU even allows only one step processing to make cloth into local clothing and enjoy zero tariff without considering the origin of cloth.

"Japan imposes zero tariffs on textile imports from Southeast Asian countries, while Korea, Singapore and China impose a 8% tariff."

Yin Guoxin added.

A textile chamber of commerce also pointed out that because Indonesia, Philippines, Kampuchea and other countries are not perfect in the supply chain of textile and clothing, especially upstream textile, weaving, printing, dyeing and bleaching, these links need to be developed. The quality of clothing is slightly lower than that of Chinese products.

The official also said that China's textile and garment industry has a complete industrial chain, a large number of skilled workers, and a long history and experience in textile industry, thus ensuring the quality of clothing production to a certain extent.

Therefore, some brands still prefer the OEM in China. For example, in a special counter in HONEYS Beijing, Xiao Zhou, a shop assistant, told our reporter: "our products are all produced in China, and Shanghai and Qingdao are mostly products of origin. Most of them are distributed in Jiangsu (Kunshan, Suqian, Jintan), Zhejiang Tongxiang, Tianjin, Tianjin, and so on."

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Upside down the pformation and upgrading of enterprises

Import data from the European Union, the United States and Japan show that although China is still the largest supplier of textiles and clothing in the three major markets, the growth trend has slowed down in 2011.

The share of Chinese products in the three largest markets also fell, compared with 1.7% in the EU, 1% in the US and 1.9% in Japan.

At the same time, imports from Southeast Asia, South Asia and other countries of the European Union, the United States and Japan have increased rapidly.

In the first half of this year, the EU's imports increased from 29.6%~53.4% to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia. The import growth rate of the us from Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Kampuchea was between 18%~29%; Japan's imports from Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand increased by 23%~49%.

The market share of these countries has also been raised accordingly.

Zhang Yanan, an analyst at Qing Research Center, pointed out that with the development of various new trade protection and green standards in developed countries, the extensive development of Chinese garment enterprises is becoming narrower and narrower.

"All kinds of signs indicate that the era of simply relying on cheap earning eyeballs has passed, and the path of industrial pformation of refined production and branding is imperative."

Zhang Yanan said.

Yin Guoxin believes that the pfer of international brand capital will force the pformation and upgrading of enterprises, and strive to protect high-end market in high-end products.

"We have been making efforts to pform and upgrade, improve product quality, enhance R & D capability, and invest a lot of money in equipment automation."

He said in an interview.

"Capital pfer is normal, because capital is highly sensitive to the market and seeks optimal allocation.

We do not need to make a fuss about the status of Japanese brand subcontracting enterprises moving to Southeast Asian countries. This does not presage the arrival of "dangerous situation".

An official with frequent dealings with foreign trade enterprises in Qingdao said.

The officials also admitted that relying on the leverage of tax burden, such as raising export tax rebates or reducing domestic tax burden, will eventually stay where they are.

"The key is to improve the quality of products, the government is only an auxiliary means.

Our export enterprises are highly dependent and do not invest in equipment and improve their quality after making money.

He said.

The official's attitude towards some processing foreign trade enterprises is rather "sad and unfortunate, but not angry."

He pointed out sharply: "the reduction of orders is a lesson and warning for enterprises accustomed to OEM. If we do not progress or innovate, we will encounter embarrassment in the reality of increasingly fierce competition in the light of the strength of dense labor force.

Forcing enterprises to upgrade and create brands is also a good thing in a sense.