Sino Turkish Textile Industry Holds Potential Cooperation

All along, Turkey's textiles in China

Recently, an exclusive interview with Ende Anki, the chief commercial counselor of the Turkey Embassy in China, made a new interpretation of the development trend of Turkey's textile industry and the prospect of Sino Turkish textile trade cooperation.

Cotton industry starts forging competitive advantage

Reporter: in people's impression, Turkey's textile industry has been famous for its cotton industry. So when did Turkey's textile industry begin to grow and develop? What period has it gone through?

Ende Anki: the development of Turkey's textile industry can be traced back to 1923. In that year, the relevant associations of textile industry were established in Turkey.

As you said, at that time, Turkey was still a big cotton producing country.

A few years later, Turkey's textile industry developed many branches.

In 1923 ~1960, the development of Turkey's textile industry was not very fast.

After 10 years of strong buffer period, the textile industry began to develop abroad.

After 1990, the scale, export and investment of Turkey's textile industry expanded rapidly.

Entering the twenty-first Century, Turkey's textile industry has been able to compete with other textile powers.

Reporter: after several stages of development, what advantages do you think Turkey textile industry has when competing with other countries?

Ende Anki: in my opinion, there are four main aspects: first, as mentioned just now, Turkey.

Reporter: the textile industry in Turkey described by you has matured. What position does the textile industry occupy in the economic structure of Turkey?

Ende Anki:

Government support to promote manufacturing in Turkey

Reporter: the support given by the government is an indispensable driving force in the development of every big textile industry. We really want to know what efforts the Turkey government has made to this end.

Ende Anki: Turkey textile industry began to expand gradually in the 80s and 90s of last century, and developed rapidly after 2000.

The government of Turkey has done a lot to support the development of the textile industry.

As mentioned earlier, at this stage, the Turkey government has increased investment in textile machinery and personnel training.

At this stage, the Turkey government focuses on three aspects: first, opening up new markets under the premise of maintaining the existing market.

The two is to encourage enterprises to develop new products, such as home textiles and high technology textiles.

The three is to create Turkey's own well-known textile clothing brand.

Textile institutions and model training institutions in Turkey have gradually developed, all of which are done in order to participate in the new round of market competition.

At present, the textile industry is a traditional competitive industry in Turkey. We very much hope to push Turkey's brand to the world and further consolidate the status of Turkey's textile industry in the international market.

Reporter: according to my observation, in recent years, the enthusiasm of textile enterprises in Turkey has become more and more popular in the international textile exhibition held in China. Is this also closely related to the promotion and assistance of the Turkey government?

Ende Anki: Yes, the Turkey Embassy in China and the Turkey business office in China have been relentlessly helping the Turkish enterprises to find Chinese trading partners.

Not only for China's exports, but also for enterprises wishing to import from China.

For Turkey enterprises who want to invest in China, we will give corresponding market information, such as local investment policy.

In addition, we will also timely convey the dynamics of China's textile industry, promote trade fairs with better business performance, and organize Turkey enterprises to visit China.

Willing to win mutually beneficial with Chinese Enterprises

Reporter: what achievements have been made in bilateral trade, especially in textile and garment trade, through the joint efforts of the two governments?

Ende Anki: since 2006, bilateral trade between Turkey and China has made great breakthroughs.

In 2010, bilateral trade volume reached US $19 billion 500 million.

In October 2010, when Premier Wen Jiabao visited Turkey, he pointed out that bilateral trade between China and the Turkistan is expected to reach US $50 billion in 2015.

Textile industry occupies a certain position in terms of trade composition between China and the mainland.

But from now on, the emerging industries such as the electronics industry are developing more rapidly.

In 2010, China exported to Turkey 2 billion 500 million of its textile garments and 150 million of Turkey's exports to China. The textile trade volume of the two countries amounted to 2 billion 650 million dollars, and the proportion of bilateral trade accounted for 13.5%.

Reporter: in the composition of textile trade, which products are more prominent?

Ende Anki: from Turkey's exports to China's textile products, textile and chemical raw materials, leather chemical raw materials increased considerably.

In terms of these products, some enterprises in China began importing large quantities of such products from Turkey, because of the stricter production standards in Turkey. Some of them were sold to third countries.

China's exports to Turkey are faster than that of garments, such as children's clothing and women's wear.

Reporter: Chinese textiles occupy a certain position in the Turkey market. Do you think this will aggravate the competition between Chinese and Turkish enterprises? What kind of development prospects do you think exist in the cooperation between the two countries?

Ende Anki: not only in Turkey, but in fact, in some countries with low demand for textile products, China and Turkey are still competitors.

However, we can see that apart from competition, in recent years, cooperation between Chinese and Turkish enterprises has been continuously strengthened. Textile trade is no longer confined to China's one-way export. Chinese enterprises are beginning to purchase textile chemicals and leather chemicals in Turkey.

In terms of investment, more and more large textile enterprises in Turkey begin to invest in China and sell them to other markets.

In Sichuan, Turkey enterprises have established textile factories, where their products are mainly exported to the United States.

In the home textile industry, Turkey's home textile industry association signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Textile Association in 2010. The two sides will help Turkey enterprises to invest in China and open up the Chinese market.

The textile trade between China and the mainland is developing towards win-win cooperation.

Reporter: in the past two years, home textile enterprises in Turkey have increased their investment in the Chinese market. How do you view this trend?

Ende Anki: in the past 10 years ~20, home textiles have developed rapidly in the textile industry.

Both China and Turkey occupy an important position in the international home textile industry, and the Chinese home textile market is expanding constantly.

Now, Turkey has strong competitiveness in products such as curtains, sofa covers, etc. but in China's market, there are still few products made in Turkey, such as sheets, quilts and so on. This is because Chinese enterprises have more competitive advantages in this respect.

At present, Turkey's annual export of home textiles to China is only 20 million ~3000 US dollars.

It is precisely because of this market potential that Turkey's home textile enterprises hope to have a share in China's home textile market.

So you will see that there are more and more exhibitors in Turkey such as China International Home Textiles and Accessories Expo. Every year, the Turkey government will organize 40~50 home textile enterprises to participate in the exhibition.

Turkey's manufacturers are eager to enter the Chinese market. They have great confidence in the Chinese market.