General Administration Of Customs: China'S Clothing Export To EU And Japan Decreased For The First Time In July

According to the statistics of the General Administration of customs, from January to July this year, China's clothing (including accessories, the same below) exports reached US $911.9 billion, up 33.5% year-on-year and 10.9% higher than that of the same period in 2019. In July, clothing exports reached 17.08 billion US dollars, an increase of 8.8% year-on-year. The growth rate continued to narrow compared with the previous months of this year, with an increase of 2.1% compared with July 2019.

Since the second quarter, the growth rate of clothing export has slowed down month by month. In the first quarter of this year, China's clothing export maintained a growth rate of nearly 50%. Since the second quarter, due to the rebound in the base of last year, although China's exports remain relatively prosperous driven by factors such as the recovery of international demand and the return of orders, the growth rate of China's exports has fallen month by month from 65% in April to 8.8% in July, basically returning to the export scale in 2019.

The export of knitwear is increasing rapidly, and woven garment is declining for the first time

From January to July, the export of knitted apparel increased by 52.6% year-on-year, 13.9% compared with the same period in 2019. The growth rate of woven clothing export is obviously relatively low, only 12.7%, and the export scale is slightly lower than that in the same period of 2019. It is worth noting that the export of woven garments decreased by 4.1% in July. If this trend continues, it is bound to slow down the pace of overall export recovery.

Since this year, the export growth of knitted apparel is significantly higher than that of woven clothing, and the trend has been sustained and expanded month by month. There are three main reasons: first, medical protective clothing is classified as chemical fiber woven clothing. The export of protective clothing decreased by 71.1% from January to July, which reduced the export of woven clothing on a year-on-year basis; Second, affected by the epidemic situation, the demand for knitted clothing such as sports and home has increased significantly, while the demand for commuting woven clothing has continued to decline; Third, affected by the new round of delta epidemic in Vietnam, the return of knitted apparel orders is prominent.

Export growth to the U.S. fell and exports to Europe and Japan declined for the first time

From January to July, China's clothing exports to the United States increased by 54.1% year-on-year, while exports to the European Union and Japan increased by 21.8% and 11.3% respectively. The recovery of the US market was significantly better than that of the European Union and Japan. China's "belt and road" countries have generally achieved growth, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 40.2%. Exports to ASEAN, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America increased by 33% - 43%.

It is worth noting that, under the combined effect of factors such as the increase of the base last year and the drag of the delta epidemic, the growth rate of China's clothing exports to the United States dropped to 19.6% in July, while the exports to the European Union and Japan declined for the first time, with the decline rates of 2.1% and 5.8% respectively.

China's clothing market share remains stable in the international market

From January to June, China accounted for 27.9% of the U.S. imported clothing market, an increase of 2% over the same period last year, but still 1.3% lower than that in the same period in 2019 before the epidemic. From January to may, China accounted for 27.9% of EU clothing imports, which was basically flat on a year-on-year basis, with an increase of 2.5 percentage points over the same period in 2019. From January to June, China accounted for 53.9% of Japan's clothing imports, unchanged year-on-year, down 1.7 percentage points compared with the same period in 2019.

The export of major provinces and cities increased

From January to July, Guangdong's clothing export increased by 58% year-on-year, accounting for 20% of the national export, ranking the first, with an increase of 15.3% compared with the same period in 2019. Zhejiang and Jiangsu have increased by about 20%, and the export scale has not recovered to the same level in the same period of 2019. The export growth rate of Shandong and Fujian both exceeded 40%, with an increase of more than 20% compared with the same period in 2019. In addition, the export of Hebei, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shanxi and other central and western provinces increased significantly, with an increase of more than 100%.