Attention: China'S Textile Industry Takes The Lead In Recovery

After discussing the two topics on October 20, the International Textile Federation 2020 annual meeting entered the second day on October 21. Industry leaders, experts and scholars from various countries and regions around the world had in-depth exchanges and discussions on four major topics: "fiber (artificial fiber + cotton)", "sustainability and circular economy", "SLCP social labor integration project" and "the future of China's textile industry" 。

Sun Ruizhe, President of China Textile Industry Federation, Wang Tiankai, former president, Xu Yingxin, Duan Xiaoping, Yang Zhaohua and sun Huaibin, vice presidents, as well as heads of various departments and professional associations of China Textile Federation attended the meeting in Beijing, China.

How can China's textile industry recover from the influence of epidemic situation

The outbreak of Xinguan epidemic has caused a serious impact on the supply and demand of the global textile and clothing industry. China's textile industry is also deeply affected by the epidemic. However, with the joint efforts of the government, industry and enterprises, it takes the lead to recover, ensuring the product supply and arousing the attention of the world textile industry. In order to let the global peers understand the current situation and future development of China's textile industry, the meeting set up the topic of "the future of China's textile industry", and invited sun Ruizhe, President of China Textile Industry Federation, to look forward to the future of China's textile industry from the perspectives of how the textile and garment industry develops under the epidemic situation and the new changes of China's textile and garment industry under the changing situation.

Like the world textile industry, the epidemic situation has also brought a significant impact on China's textile industry, but China's textile industry has shown strong toughness and vitality. From January to September, the industry has shown five major characteristics: steady recovery of production, sustained recovery of domestic demand market, accelerated growth of industry export, sluggish investment confidence and improvement of operation quality and efficiency.

In addition, China's textile industry has made an important contribution to the prevention and control of the new epidemic situation in the world. According to statistics, from March 15 to September 6, China exported 1 billion masks, 1 billion protective clothing and more than 200 countries and regions. In terms of countries, from January to July, the United States imported masks from China (US $1 billion), accounting for 87.3% of the US import share from the global market; from January to August, Japan imported masks from China (billion yen), accounting for 92.0% of Japan's import share from the global market; from January to June, the EU imported masks from China (billion euro), accounting for 92.0% of the EU's import share from the global market.

Sun Ruizhe shared several experiences on how China's textile industry first recovered from the impact of the epidemic: first, China's textile industry has established a vertical industrial chain since the founding of new China, which has laid a stable foundation for future development; second, in the late 1970s, China began to open up to the world, and China's textile industry made full use of the international machinery After entering the new century, China's textile industry has seized new opportunities and provided better products and services for the world market. During the world financial crisis, through the support of the Chinese government and the efforts of various industries, China has become an early country out of the financial crisis. Fourth, China has embraced the digital economy earlier First, it has the advantages of online and offline integrated development; fifth, the implementation of China's "belt and road" initiative has enabled China's textile industry to expand into a wider market.

Sun Ruizhe analyzed that under the influence of the epidemic situation, the textile and clothing industry needs to adapt to a different world. Because of the epidemic situation, the world economy has fallen into a synchronous recession; the global resources have accelerated the deconstruction and restructuring, and the industrial chain cooperation is under pressure; changes in production and lifestyle have promoted the extension and sinking of the digital economy; green production and lifestyle have accelerated the formation of "green recovery" and "green stimulus" have become an important choice for economic restart in many countries around the world.

In such a changing situation, sun Ruizhe summarized four new changes in China's textile and clothing industry

One is "data + manufacturing" to create a more flexible new supply. Data has been fully integrated into the industrial production system and operation system, and has become the most active element throughout the entire industrial system, and the flexibility of industrial supply chain has been significantly enhanced.

The second is "content + product" to create a more sticky new consumption. Content e-commerce is deeply embedded in the product marketing system, and interaction and fun have become an important node in cultivating customer groups. Short video, live broadcast and other content e-commerce provide consumers with accurate and immersive product services through strong interactive consumption scenarios. Content empowerment of products with culture and IP can enhance the added value of products and create new customer groups.

The third is "industrial cluster + new economy" to create a new ecology of collaborative innovation. Industrial clusters are becoming an important incubation ecology for new economic formats such as vertical e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce. The rapid development of new economy has become an important way to stimulate the vitality of cluster resources.

Fourth, "domestic market + international market" to create a new cycle of mutual promotion. China's textile industry relies on large-scale domestic demand market and is also a typical representative of China's open economy.

Sun Ruizhe pointed out that China is about to enter the "fourteenth five year plan" period. Under the height of building a community of shared future for mankind, the textile industry needs to strengthen global cooperation and find a new orientation for the industry in social and economic development: pillar industry for national economic and social development, basic industry for solving people's livelihood and beautifying life, and advantageous industry for international cooperation and integrated development. In the future, China's textile industry will be responsible development, innovative development, collaborative development and intensive development.

Sun Ruizhe interviewed the participants in the group.

Q: at present, the production costs of the whole world, especially the developing countries, are increasing. How can China continue to maintain its competitiveness in this situation?

Sun Ruizhe: cost is a very important factor in textile manufacturing. The cost mainly includes raw material cost, logistics cost, energy cost and labor cost.

If we look at the upstream and downstream, we will find that the upstream labor cost is not so important, but if we look at the downstream, the labor cost accounts for a relatively large share. Fortunately, there are more than 200 industrial clusters in China. These clusters bring related enterprises together to form an industrial chain, which not only improves efficiency, but also reduces logistics costs.

At present, we are more concerned about the cost of electricity, energy and other aspects, as well as geopolitical factors. Geopolitics may bring additional costs, such as tariffs, which is very important. How to deal with the cost problem? I think we have to follow the trend. Today, we must respect the people's desire to live a better life, so we should give them higher wages and better opportunities, instead of just thinking about controlling labor costs. What we need to do is to think about how to make this industry more efficient, so information technology and artificial intelligence become more important. The application of these new technologies not only reduces the demand for labor, but also controls the cost.

Q: the appreciation of RMB is unfavorable to China's textile export. How can China's textile industry maintain its own advantages?

Sun Ruizhe: RMB appreciation will certainly bring some fluctuations to the industry. As mentioned just now, costs may be affected by many factors. Therefore, we are more concerned about two very important additional costs. One is the additional tariff, which is caused by the change of international policy, that is, the geopolitical factor; the other is how to control the cost of electricity and energy. If there is no big fluctuation, the cost of other aspects is controllable.

Q: is China's man-made fiber overcapacity?

Sun Ruizhe: it's a paradox to say that man-made fiber has excess capacity. With the development of society, people's demand for fiber is increasing. For example, during this year's epidemic, textiles have new applications in the fields of masks and protective clothing. In addition, there is a great demand for industrial textiles in the fields of geotextiles, vehicles and large aircraft, which means that there is an additional demand for fibers. If only to meet people's clothing needs, then the current production capacity of man-made fiber is enough. But looking forward to the future, there are other and unknown applications of fiber. It seems that the production capacity can be doubled again, because many things in the world can be done by textiles, and the prospect is very wide.

Q: will China's textile production continue to increase its transfer to Vietnam?

Now Vietnam and EU are paying close attention to Vietnam's FTA. China's textile investment in Vietnam, including fiber, spinning, dyeing and finishing, is an investment in vertical industrial chain. In the future, with the development, Chinese textile enterprises will also make some adjustments in overseas investment, and will pay more attention to countries with better policy support to invest in these countries. China will continue to invest in Vietnam according to the current situation.

Q: does the current trade environment accelerate China's overseas investment? Is there more overseas investment in other overseas countries and regions, such as Latin America?

Sun Ruizhe is worried about the sustainable development of Chinese and American textile enterprises. Sustainable development not only focuses on the environment, but also on how to maintain China's textile and garment market share in the international market. Therefore, we not only export textiles, but also transfer production capacity to all parts of the world. At present, Vietnam is the first choice for overseas investment, followed by Africa. There are also many opportunities in Latin America, and we hope to enhance our understanding of Latin America.

Sustainable development of fiber

This paper introduces the scale of the innovation of the company. In recent years, seideli has carried out resource integration, greatly improving the product quality of the enterprise, expanding the production scale, and further improving the stability of the enterprise's industrial chain, and realizing the traceability of each fiber. In the process of sustainable development, Sedley has always been in accordance with international laws and regulations, and its standards have always been higher than the industry standards. It has also discussed sustainable development with upstream and downstream customers through various platforms. Saideli stressed that no matter how the enterprise develops in the future, it will follow a principle: it is good for the environment.

R.D. udeshi, from reliance industries, India, introduced the impact of the epidemic on polyester industry and recycled fibers. In 2020, the global economy will further decline. In early June, the company expected the turnover to decline by more than 30%, but the actual decline rate in September was 16%. This may be because the company has started to receive new orders since June. In 2020, the global polyester industry is expected to return to the level of 2018, with a decline of 3% - 4% compared with that in 2019, that is to say, the demand for polyester will decrease. However, manufacturers need not be pessimistic. This decline is only temporary, and the industry will certainly recover in the future. India has been considering the introduction of renewable fiber into the sustainable fashion field. Zero pollution and zero emission are becoming the new pursuit of the industry.

Alexei from wood Mackenzie international energy macro research, Singapore Sinitsa said that the new crown epidemic has greatly reduced the demand, which has brought a great impact to the whole industry, including the fiber industry. It is estimated that it will take 10 years to recover to the pre epidemic level. However, from another perspective, the lack of demand also makes the current supply of fiber raw materials very sufficient to meet the potential increase in production demand. For the sustainable development of fibers, Alexei sinitsa believes that biodegradable renewable materials can be used, recycling efforts should be increased, and pollution emissions can be reduced. He predicted that in the next decade, there might be a "bottle war" in the world, and now it is necessary to think about the recycling of packaging materials.

Vinay Kotak, vice chairman of Cotton Association of India, introduced the cotton association of India and prospected the future development of the industry. India is the world's second largest cotton production and consumption country, and the third largest cotton exporter. Due to the impact of heavy rain on September 15, this year's cotton harvest may be greatly affected. Due to the influence of the epidemic situation and other factors, the association predicted that cotton production would not fully recover to the pre epidemic level until October 2021. In order to solve the problems of poor quality and pollution of cotton, the Indian government has launched a series of measures to produce high-quality cotton. The Ministry of textile plans to launch a new policy concept in 2025. This policy will help promote the modernization, sustainable development and inclusiveness of the whole industry, and support the development of the textile, clothing and industrial textile industries.

Khuman introduced the new cotton challenge from Egypt. The new crown epidemic has led to a 30% reduction in textile orders in Egypt. Enterprises are trying to improve their R & D capabilities, open up e-commerce channels, and develop medical products to meet the challenges. In addition, the Egyptian government also attaches great importance to cotton production. At present, it is introducing advanced technology and equipment to improve cotton production efficiency, improve product quality and reduce pollution. Meanwhile, the sustainable development of Egypt's cotton is realized through cotton bag traceability and other certification projects.

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Mark messura of American cotton company introduced the innovation and sustainable development of cotton in the world supply chain to meet the needs of textile manufacturers. Cotton also has a lot of innovation. In the past, cotton companies have introduced some new technologies, especially those applicable to product design and development, which are becoming more and more important. For example, electronic tracking, simulated retail, and so on, these technologies have been for some time, but the most interesting and innovative technology is actually about product design software, especially the use of 3D design software to create and design clothing. Why do people begin to use more digital methods for procurement design? Because this method can realize people's idea faster, can make the product appear on the market faster, can control the product cost, can carry on the tailor-made product for various consumer groups and markets, and is more in line with the trend of sustainable development.

Global focus on sustainability and circular economy

Ge Yiwen, CEO of the Hong Kong textile and clothing Research Association, introduced the sustainability of the new circular economy and the new 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) principle. After more than ten years of development, consumers pay more and more attention to climate change, and their consumption patterns have also changed greatly. They pay more attention to the environmental friendliness of consumer products. It is necessary for textile and garment practitioners to learn and analyze consumer consumption changes. This year, because of the epidemic, consumers have begun to be interested in masks and protective clothing, which means that consumers require more functions for textiles. We should not only pay more attention to the environment-friendly materials, but also pay more attention to the environmental protection of new materials.

Karl Hendrik Magnus, McKinsey, Germany, introduced how the fashion industry can act quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The research shows that in 2018, the greenhouse gas emissions of fashion industry in France, Germany, Britain and other countries can account for 4% of the world's, which is a relatively large data. Therefore, we should consider the whole chain from fiber to clothing, and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Research shows that 61% of the emissions come from fiber production, 21% is related to consumer behavior, and about 18% comes from brand manufacturers. From the perspective of investors, it is good news, because investors are willing to take some emission reduction measures, because these measures can not only achieve the goal of emission reduction, but also reduce the production cost of enterprises.

Yan Yan, deputy director of China Textile Information Center, introduced the practice of creating fashion cycle in China's textile and garment industry. She pointed out that circular economy will be the theme for a long time to come. Many European countries have mentioned the development of circular economy in recent years. The Chinese government also supports the development of circular economy and put forward the development strategy of circular economy as early as 2005. It is very necessary for China's textile industry to develop circular economy. On the one hand, China's textile and garment industry has a large scale, and its development will encounter resource constraints. On the other hand, China has a huge consumer market. The circular fashion of China's textile and garment will have great changes in the world.

Yan Yan said that the epidemic situation has made people begin to think deeply about the relationship between man and nature. China's textile and garment industry is speeding up the construction of a green cycle low-carbon industrial system, based on the global value chain to promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry, so as to achieve a more responsible and more resilient industry in the future. We systematically reviewed the recycling practice and achievements of China's textile and garment industry since 2005, and based on the international practice and trend, elaborated and prospected the future opportunities of China's industry, which is believed to provide a useful reference for the industry to explore the way of circular development.

● SLCP social labor integration project received attention

Janet Mensink from SLCP (Social Labor integration project) introduced the significance and operation mode of SLCP. The goal of SLCP project is to create an integrated assessment framework for social labor data collection and eliminate audit fatigue. And reduce the number of existing social audit tools by replacing them. At the same time, it can be used to improve the social working conditions of workers. She said SLCP has been used in more than 30 countries.

According to Abhishek Bansal of India, from the perspective of industry experience, many large and medium-sized enterprises have to conduct 8-10 audits a year, which will lead to audit fatigue. The SLCP integration project can enable the whole industry to pass a unified verification process, reduce the repeatability of audit, and help enterprises better use the energy saved in product manufacturing and technology development. The purpose of this project is to reduce audit fatigue and to improve the social labor situation of the industry. SLCP also has three levels of practices, which are beneficial to enterprises at different stages, namely compliance, maturity and leadership.

Darren chatain of gap company introduced the importance of SLCP to brand. Darren chatain introduced that the concept of gap when it was founded in 1969 was very simple, that is, to enable consumers to find a very comfortable pair of jeans. Now the company has many well-known brands of gap and public. The company has become a party to SLCP since 2015. Why is SLCP so important to enterprises? In other words, it is very simple to reduce the fatigue and innovation of the enterprise through the audit.