China Textile Industry Officials: Spinning Clothing Exports Down or Continue into 2013

In the past two years, the main tone of China’s foreign trade policy was “stabilizing growth, adjusting structure, and promoting balance”. At the National Conference on Import and Export Work held recently, the saying “Do everything possible to promote export transactions” was revisited. What is your intention?

Recently, Zhong Shan, deputy minister of the Ministry of Commerce and deputy deputy representative of international trade negotiations, pointed out at the National Import and Export Work Conference that 2012 is a year of special significance in the development process of China. It is of great significance to do a good job in foreign trade. At the 111th Canton Fair, foreign trade centers, trading groups, and business associations must do everything possible to promote export transactions.

In the past two years, the main tone of China’s foreign trade policy was “stabilizing growth, adjusting structure, and promoting balance”. The slogan “Doing everything possible to promote export transactions” seems to have been sealed for a long time. When was the margin separated by many years, this reference was re-clicked?

The seriousness of the foreign trade situation led Zhongshan Zhong to point out that the foreign trade situation in 2012 was more severe and complex, the tasks were more arduous and arduous, and it was more challenging to do a good job in foreign trade.

Zhao Yumin, director of the International Marketing Department of the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, said that it was of subtle significance that the statement on promoting exports was raised several years later. “In the past, during the period of promoting foreign exchange through exports, 'to do everything possible to promote exports' has received attention. However, as China’s foreign trade surplus has been increasing, the pressure on the appreciation of *** has continued to increase. It has become the main work to balance foreign trade by stabilizing exports and promoting the advancement. Zhao Yumin said.

Since last year, with the continued proliferation of the European debt crisis, China’s foreign trade has also been greatly implicated. Customs statistics show that in January this year, China’s imports and exports both fell sharply, and exports even experienced a negative growth of 0.5%. “The weakness of foreign trade began in September 2011 and has continued to decline for five consecutive months,” said Zhou Shiyu, a senior researcher at the Sino-U.S. Relations Research Center at Tsinghua University.

Take the textile and clothing industry as an example. In October and November 2011, the industry's exports declined significantly year-on-year. Xie Fangming, director of the Ministry of Industry of the China Textile Information Center of China National Textile and Apparel Council, pointed out: “In 2011, textiles and garments were affected by the economic crisis, and exports to Europe continued to 'lose out of Maicheng', and this trend may continue into 2013.”

Li Jian, a research fellow at the Ministry of Commerce, said that due to fewer orders in the near future, it is more difficult to stabilize exports and promote exports to a certain extent. However, in the long run, "steady growth, structural adjustment, and promoting balance" are still guidelines that cannot be neglected.

Zhang Yansheng, director of the Institute of Foreign Economic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission, also believes that the export situation this year is not good, and the traditional export markets such as Europe, the United States, and Japan have significantly declined.

Zhao Yumin believes that since January was four days less than the same period of last year, the corrected data should be increased. However, if exports continue to decline, it will also drag on the pace of China's GDP growth, which will inevitably cause the decision-makers to attach great importance.

The policy requires symptomatic treatment. Zhou Shiyi analyzed that there are five major problems in current foreign trade, namely, rising labor costs, inflation, weak external demand, *** appreciation, and difficulties.

*** Appreciation of the pressure on companies may be greater than the cost increase, corporate profits may disappear in a matter of months. Zhou Shijun pointed out that only when the growth rate of exports exceeds 20%, the appreciation of the local currency is appropriate. “Improve exports, while the other side is accelerating appreciation, the effectiveness of the policy may be awkward.” Therefore, we must ensure the stability of the exchange rate policy this year.

The current trade situation has undergone structural changes, and it has also caused the traditional methods of promoting exports to suffer. Zhang Yansheng pointed out that the “reindustrialization” in Europe and the United States has caused foreign-invested enterprises in China to gradually shift from “export-oriented” to “domestic-selling”, and the role has also changed from an export contributor to an import-puller. Under such circumstances, the emergence of exports has declined, with traditional The method is obviously unable to prescribe the right medicine.

Zhang Yansheng believes that relying solely on export tax rebate policies to encourage exports is not a good strategy, and Zhejiang Province's “government-owned enterprises, services out of transition” approach can be used for reference. The government went down to the enterprise to diagnose problems and fundamentally solved problems such as tight funding and lack of technology.