Zheng Dongchang, Vice Chairman Of Korea Textile Industry Federation, Will Strengthen Cooperation With China's Textile And Garment Industry

In 70s twentieth Century, the rapid development of the textile and garment industry in Korea effectively promoted the economy of Korea. In recent years, the Korean textile and garment industry has made efforts to achieve the second industrial Revival on the basis of unique design and sophisticated technology, and is also strengthening cooperation with China. Recently, Zheng Dongchang, vice president of the Federation of South Korean textile industries, accepted an interview with people's website to introduce the relevant situation of the Korean textile industry.

The following is an interview.

Reporter: first of all, please briefly introduce the Federation of Korean textile industry.

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: the Federation of Korean textile industries was founded in 1975 to explore the development potential of the Korean textile industry and provide support for the industry to gain international competitiveness. The Federation has 3 departments, including business planning, industry support, and trade marketing, with more than 60 employees. To provide support for expanding exports, international marketing, international cooperation, business activities, and at the same time, we are still striving to cultivate talents and create jobs. In recent years, the Federation has also contributed to the construction of big data platform and the establishment of smart factories in the fourth industrial revolution. In addition, environmental issues have attracted much attention recently, and the Federation has also provided support for the field of sustainable development.

Reporter: please introduce the current situation and future development direction of the Korean textile and garment industry.

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: the Korean textile and garment industry began to export in 1955. In the early twentieth Century and 70s, the export volume reached 40% of the total export volume of the country, which once led Korea's economic growth. However, since 90s, the wage level of South Korea has risen sharply, and the government has shifted the focus of its industrial structure to heavy chemical industries. Korean textile enterprises have moved overseas to find cheap labor costs, resulting in a slowdown in domestic economic growth. In 2005, the original textile export quota system has been abolished completely. Although it has experienced difficulties, the Korean textile and garment industry still has the balanced manufacturing foundation of raw silk, fabric, dyeing, processing, design and clothing. Now, the textile and garment industry accounts for 11% of the total manufacturing industry in Korea. In the wave of the fourth industrial revolution, the two concepts of "speed distribution factory" and "speed distribution shop" have spawned the new vocabulary of "fast distribution shop". We are actively helping the relevant industries to develop in this direction and help them enhance their competitiveness through big data. After a long period of development, the manufacturing environment will gradually deteriorate. Improving the manufacturing environment, replacing the production equipment with sophisticated equipment, and improving production efficiency are all the topics we are studying. In addition, we are helping enterprises develop high value-added products led by industrial textiles, and are also concentrating on encouraging entrepreneurship so that young people can devote themselves more to the textile and garment industry.

Reporter: what has been achieved in the Korean garment industry's entry into China? What is the effective market strategy?

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: Korean clothing enterprises began to enter China in 1994. In 1994, the women's clothing brand "DECO" entered the Chinese market for the first time. In 1996, many enterprises such as "clothes and love" began to enter China. However, although many enterprises have opened up the Chinese market, they know little about the Chinese market, so they have little effect. In recent years, Korean enterprises have begun to strengthen their localization by signing long-term patent licensing agreements with Chinese enterprises or carrying out strategic cooperation with Chinese excellent garment enterprises. Moreover, recently, circulation channels have been transferred from offline to online. At the same time, communication among young people is also increasing. The understanding of China and Korea will also be significantly improved. The Federation of textile industry has also actively promoted cooperation with Chinese textile and garment industry, China Textile Association and other enterprises. We also use related exhibition platform to help Korean enterprises more easily access to the Chinese market. This year, Korea's international textile exhibition is 20th anniversary, with more than 150 Chinese companies coming to the exhibition every year to cooperate with Korean enterprises. In addition, in 2003, we also held a Preview in China exhibition in China with the famous Korean designers. Now, we are also working with the largest fashion show in Asia, China International Fashion and accessories fair.

Reporter: all right. That's the end of today's interview. Thank you.

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: Thank you.