Trade And Investment Cooperation In China Africa Textile Industry Opens Wider Cooperation Space

The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation in 2024 adopted two important documents, the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All weather China Africa Community of Shared Future in a New Era and the Forum on China Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027). China Africa relations are at the best time in history, and are ready to upgrade again.

The new orientation of China Africa relations will also open wider cooperation space for China Africa textile trade and investment cooperation. from Xu Yingxin, Vice President of China Textile Industry Federation and President of Textile Industry Branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade The Chinese textile and clothing entrepreneur delegation led by September 22-30, 2024 Visit Tunisia and Morocco, carry out investment research and cooperation negotiations in the textile and clothing industry between the two countries, and deepen China Africa textile industry cooperation with practical actions in the new historical period of China Africa relations.

The delegation consists of 23 people. The enterprises in the delegation are involved in chemical fiber, printing and dyeing, clothing fabrics, clothing, textile machinery, etc. Duan Xiaoping, Vice President of China Textile Industry Federation, Dong Chunxing, President of China Hemp Textile Industry Association, Chen Zhihua, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of China Printing and Dyeing Industry Association, China Cotton Textile Industry Association, China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, and relevant leaders of China Garment Association Lanxi Tianxianfang Linen Co., Ltd., Lutai Textile Co., Ltd., Yuanxin Industry Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Guanchen Industry Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Jinma Automation Technology Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Jincai New Materials Co., Ltd., Xinde Group Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Xinruibei Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Tianxi Import and Export Trade (Guangzhou) Follow up visit of entrepreneurs and executives of companies such as limited companies.

The first stop of the delegation was to visit Tunisia. Leaders of relevant government agencies and industry associations attached great importance to the delegation's visit. Mr. Samir ABDELHAFIDH, Minister of Economy and Planning of Tunisia, welcomed and met the delegation. Subsequently, the delegation held a joint meeting with the Tunisian Investment Agency (TIA), the Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), the Tunisian Textile and Garment Federation (FTTH) and more than 10 local textile and garment enterprise executives, and investigated three local garment factories to gain an in-depth understanding of the country's textile and garment industry investment policy, environment, industry status and development direction.

　　 Senior government meeting

During the high-level meeting of the government, Mr. Samir ABDELHAFIDH, Minister of Economy and Planning of Tunisia He said that he very much welcomed the delegation of China Textile Federation to visit Tunisia. Tunisia is an important trade partner and friend of China, and the political and economic relations between the two countries have been friendly and stable for a long time. In recent years, Tunisia has actively improved the investment environment and successfully attracted many world-renowned enterprises to invest in Tunisia. At present, 19 Chinese enterprises have invested in Tunisia. It is expected that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation in the field of textile and clothing and deepen the bilateral cooperative relationship.

Xu Yingxin, Vice President of the China Textile Industry Federation and President of the Textile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, made a multi-dimensional introduction and sharing with relevant institutions and industry representatives in Tunisia on the current development of China's textile industry, the status of overseas distribution of enterprises, and suggestions for China and Tunisia to strengthen cooperation in the textile industry.

　　 President Xu Yingxin said: China has the most complete modern textile manufacturing industry system in the world, and the production and trade scale of major products in the whole industry chain rank first in the world. In recent years, facing the complex external environment, China's textile industry has risen to the challenge, demonstrated resilience and achieved steady development in general. In 2023, the total fiber processing volume of China's textile industry will stabilize at more than 60 million tons, accounting for more than 50% of the world's total; The total export of textiles and clothing reached 310.5 billion US dollars, accounting for 35.6% of the world's total. Since the "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed in 2013, China's textile industry has invested more than 12 billion dollars in the world. China and Tunisia have traditionally been friendly, and bilateral relations have been developing healthily and steadily for a long time. Tunisia actively supports and participates in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", and is one of China's important partners in North Africa. Over the years, the bilateral trade between China and Tunisia has maintained a good momentum of development. Even though experiencing the test of the new coronal epidemic, the average growth rate of the total import and export trade between the two countries from 2019 to 2023 remains at a high level of 9.6%. It is hoped that the textile industry organizations of China and Tunisia will actively create cooperation opportunities in the future, and inject new impetus into promoting the cooperation of the textile and clothing industries of the two countries.

Joint meetings

At the joint meeting, Mr. Jalel TEBIB, Director of the Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), and Mr. Haitham Bouagila, President of the Tunisian Textile and Clothing Federation (FTTH) made detailed introductions to the delegation members on Tunisia's investment policies, environment, as well as the development status and future direction of the textile and clothing industry.

　　 Mr. Jalel TEBIB, Director of the Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), introduced: Tunisia has a superior geographical position, close to Europe, stable economic development, perfect tax system and investment opportunities in many fields. In recent years, Tunisia has achieved a remarkable growth trend in attracting foreign investment. At present, the number of foreign-funded enterprises has exceeded 4000, with a total investment of 44 billion dinars, creating 467000 local jobs. In 2023, Tunisia attracted 638 investment projects, with a year-on-year growth of 13%, and the growth in the first three quarters of 2024 reached 30%. The top five countries investing in Tunisia are France, Qatar, Italy, Germany and Japan. International well-known enterprises such as Airbus, GM, Mitsubishi, Procter&Gamble, Zara, etc. have successfully landed in Tunisia. The Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency promises to provide comprehensive support and services for Chinese textile enterprises to invest in Tunisia.

　　 Mr. Haitham Bouagila, President of the Tunisian Textile and Clothing Federation (FTTH), said: The textile and clothing industry is one of the pillars of Tunisia's economy. There are 1530 companies, accounting for 33% of the number of manufacturing enterprises, of which 1200 are export-oriented export enterprises, and more than 158000 jobs have been created. Thanks to geographical advantages and regional and international integration agreements, textile and clothing exports rank second in Tunisia's industrial manufacturing industry, and the main trade markets are European countries. Different from the textile and clothing enterprises in Southeast Asia, the textile and clothing enterprises in Tunisia mainly produce high-end products with high added value, which are basically produced and processed for luxury brands. In recent years, industrial textiles have shown a good development trend in Tunisia. Tunisia's textile industry will embrace the future of expanding and deepening cooperation between textile and garment enterprises of the two countries in investment, trade and other aspects with an open and win-win mentality.

In addition, the members of the delegation had a warm discussion with the representatives of Tunisia on the cost of production factors in Tunisia's textile and clothing industry, labor, preferential tax policies for investment and other issues. The meeting enhanced mutual understanding between the industries of the two countries and opened up new possibilities for future cooperation, indicating that the cooperation between the two countries in the field of textiles and clothing will be closer and more fruitful.

Enterprise research

Wic Mic Group

Wic Mic Group, founded in 2005, is a Tunisian denim clothing manufacturer. It has 10 factories and 2 washing plants, 5000 employees, and an annual turnover of 120 million euros. In 2023, the group will produce 6 million pieces of clothing. Its customers include Sandro, Sam ? e, Calvin Klein Jens, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc'O Polo, Pepe Jens, Ganni Mustang, Hess Natur and other international well-known clothing brands.

The delegation visited the denim clothing factory and professional denim washing factory under the Group. The water washing plant is equipped with a variety of European high-level water washing equipment and automatic laser flower burning equipment, with a daily processing capacity of 22000 pieces. It mainly produces medium and high-end jeans washing clothes for several European jeans brands. Wic Mic Group has also performed well in environmental protection, adopting high-level sewage treatment and reclaimed water reuse technology, with the water reuse rate reaching 92%, and the wastewater discharge index is lower than the requirements of EU standards.

Denim Authority

Denim Authority is a denim clothing manufacturing enterprise with 50 years of development history. Specializing in the production of medium and high grade jeans, the products are mainly exported to the European market. The weekly output of clothing is 30000 pieces, and the products are mainly exported to the European market. With 50 years of professional experience in the industry and strict control of product quality, the company has become a well-known enterprise in Tunisia's denim field.

Most members of the delegation visited North African countries for the first time. Through this visit, I had a deep understanding of Tunisia's textile and clothing industry and investment environment. This visit will open a new chapter in the textile industry cooperation between China and Tunisia.

After the delegation's visit to Tunisia, its next stop will be Morocco.

(Source: China Textile International Capacity Cooperation Enterprise Alliance)