F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

Industrial WatchTEXTILEDomestic textile shoes and hats export lose USD 5.5 billion due to technical barriersIndustrial WatchChina Light Textile News reported that on May 14, theGeneral Administration of Quality Supervision releasedthe sample survey data of the impact imposed by the overseastechnical trade measures on 2,600 domestic export enterprises.The data indicates that the domestic export textile shoes andhats industry is among the top five industries severely impactedby overseas technical trade measures and the direct loss of theexport textile shoes and hats throughout the year stood at USD5.541 billion, accounting for 8.9% of the total direct export loss.The industrial insiders hold that the Chinese textile shoes andhats export departments and enterprises need to timely takeeffective measures and positively respond to overseas technicalbarrier measures in a bid to ensure the healthy export of the domestictextile shoes and hats.It is learned that in 2011, 35.16% of the export enterprisesare impacted by the overseas technical trade measures to differentdegrees; the direct loss from export reached USD 62.259 billionlast year, USD 4.018 billion more than 2010, accounting for3.27% of the export volume during that period, and 0.42% lessthan that in 2010; in response to the overseas technical barriermeasures, the domestic enterprises spend USD 25.962 billionmore, up by USD 1.571 billion over that in the previous year.The sampling shows that the technical barrier measuresimplemented by the major trade partners impacting the Chineseindustrial products exports can be categorized into five classes—certification requirement, technical standard requirement, limitof toxic and hazardous substances, label identifying requirementas well as packaging and materials.Comment Confronted with more impact from various overseas technical trade measures, the Chinese foreigntrade enterprises should keep abreast of the latest development and the new regulations of theoverseas technical trade measures and timely formulate targeted countermeasures so that the impact on thedomestic foreign trade imposed by the overseas technical trade measures can be minimized. In the mean time,relevant governmental departments are supposed to establish sound technical trade barrier warning and speedyreaction mechanism in a move to create favorable conditions for the exports of the domestic enterprises.Household textile and clothing enterprises seeking new development potentialby turning to E-commerceT h e Household Textile and Clothing Exhibition washeld during May 1 to 5 at the 3rd Session of theCanton Fair. Due to the declining macro economy, in thefirst three months the household textile industry saw thebiggest negative sales growth over the past 10 years. Steppinginto such a trough, how can the domestic householdtextile export enterprises react? At the Canton Fair, thereporter found in interviews that some traditional householdtextile enterprises began to turn to e-commerce. Thedomestic export enterprises need to address the industrialdilemma by transformation and upgrading through channelinnovation.Shanghai Homes Household Textile Co,. Ltd. (hereinafterreferred to as Homes), well known as China’s “supermarketking” in the domestic household textile sector, begins to fullyenter e-commerce sales. On the occasion of the opening ofthe 3rd Session of the 111th Canton Fair in early May, DongFulong, President of Homes and Vice Chairman of ShanghaiHousehold Textile Products Association, announced thatHomes reaped RMB 10 million from online sales in April,achieving sales channel transformation and upgrading. Dongsaid that so far Homes had successfully combined online saleswith offline sales and in future supermarket supply and exportOEM ratio will decrease, while online sales will increase to accountfor a ratio of around 50%.Industrial insiders point out that at this year’s Canton Fair,Homes, the “supermarket king” in the Chinese household textileannounced in a high profile its launching into e-commerce alongwith its operation objective, which undoubtedly has landmarkimplications in the household textile sector. This signals that thedomestic textile sector begins to accelerate sales channel transformationand upgrading and that the household e-commerceera has already come.At the 111th Canton Fair, the gloomy industrial situationmade many household textile enterprises feel stressful and beginto turn to e-commerce so as to respond to industrial changes.Such brands as Lovo and Fuanna have opened their own B2Ce-commerce business and set up flagship shops on Jingdongand Taobao shopping platform. It is an inevitable trend for thehousehold textile enterprises to nudge into online sales on a fullscale.Comment Entering e-commerce provides morepotential market for the traditionalhousehold textile export enterprises and in the upcomingyears, the proportion of e-commerce salesvolume of the household textile industry will graduallyrise to 10% in the entire sales volume. In moreyears to come, the proportion may jump to 50%.36