China Vietnam Shoe Enterprises Shoe Orders "War" Increasingly Fierce

Vietnam and China scramble for shoe-making orders.

Experts here say that China's position in the international market is not worrying at the moment, but it needs to accelerate its pformation.

According to the latest reports from Vietnamese media, Nike (Nike store), Adidas (Adidas store), Puma (Puma store) and other leading shoe making enterprises have shifted their orders from China to Vietnamese enterprises.

Du Shenghai, Vice Minister of Vietnam's Ministry of industry and trade, said that the world famous shoe industry brand is expanding its business in Vietnam.

Vietnam's footwear industry should seize the opportunity to promote production and trade and improve product competitiveness.

At present, Vietnam has become the second largest exporter of shoes after China, and the footwear industry has become one of the three pillar industries of the country's exports.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of industry and trade, Vietnam's shoes output exceeded 150 million pairs in the first 7 months of 2014, up nearly 20% compared with the same period last year, and the export volume of shoes reached 5 billion 750 million US dollars, up 22% from the same period last year.

Some analysts believe that the rapid development of Vietnam's footwear industry is mainly due to the low cost of labor and other production factors.

In sharp contrast, with the shift of labor force from unlimited supply to limited supply, China's labor-intensive industries will have to spend more money to recruit front-line workers.

In addition, a number of provinces have repeatedly raised the minimum wage standards, which also makes the labor costs of enterprises continue to rise.

To a large extent, this has affected export competitiveness.

However, despite the threat, China has no need to worry about its footwear export status.

Bai Ming, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce of China, pointed out to reporters that despite the low cost of manpower, Vietnam's infrastructure is still lagging behind, and its comprehensive capacity to accommodate industrial pfer is limited.

The Vietnamese media admitted that about 60% of shoemaking enterprises in the country are processing enterprises with low added value. Raw materials are highly dependent on imports and the profits are not high.

Vietnamese official data show that in 2014 1-4, Vietnam imported textile raw materials and leather about US $1 billion 400 million, of which imports from China about US $470 million, an increase of about 35% over the same period last year, accounting for 1/3 of the total imports of similar products in Vietnam.

Analysts believe that Vietnam's footwear industry is good at low-end manufacturing, while China has a certain voice in quality.

Zhu Qinghua, a light industry researcher at CIC, said that in the face of the rise of Vietnam's footwear industry, Chinese shoe enterprises should win by quality and no longer struggle in the "price war".

Su Chaoying, chairman of the China Leather Association, has also pointed out that enterprises should take design innovation as the starting point, increase the added value of brands, and actively promote industrial pformation and upgrading.