The Accumulated Advantages Of Jiangsu Textile Leave Time And Space For Transformation

The game among major countries is intensifying, regional conflicts are deadlocked, and the restructuring of the global supply chain is accelerating... At present, the drastic changes in the international situation make the way of textile and clothing enterprises to sea more difficult, and the transformation and upgrading of the industrial chain is imperative. But how to "turn", how to "rush"?

On March 28, a special matchmaking activity for textile enterprises to go out and expand the market was held in Nanjing. As a major textile province, textile enterprises in the province came to the venue to "find a way out".

　　 Firm confidence and accumulated advantages leave time and space for transformation

"Going to sea is becoming more and more difficult." This is the common aspiration of textile and clothing enterprises at the docking meeting, and also the dominant problem facing the entire industry.

At present, China's textile enterprises are facing two pressures: on the one hand, the growth of international market demand is slowing down, and the efficiency of the international supply chain is declining. The data of the World Trade Organization can best illustrate the problem: the average annual growth rate of the world's textile and clothing exports is declining year by year. The average annual growth rate was 6.4% from 2001 to 2005, 1.9% from 2016 to 2019, and only 1.2% from 2020 to 2023.

On the other hand, the procurement pattern of the international supply chain has undergone important adjustments. Developed countries have promoted procurement diversification strategies, driving the distribution of the international industrial chain to become more vertical and decentralized; The change of the external environment has also increased the long-term uncertainty of the foreign trade environment of China's textile industry.

Despite the difficulties, Hua Shan, the director of the research office of the China Textile Industry Federation and the director of the China Textile Economy Research Center, suggested that the enterprises present should not worry too much, "the huge advantages before left time and space for the transformation of China's industrial chain." She came up with a set of data: China's textile and clothing exports accounted for 38% of the world's exports before the epidemic, After the epidemic, it has also remained at about 35%. "Thanks to the stable release of the international competitiveness of China's textile industry chain and the slight improvement of some market demand, China's textile and clothing exports have recovered under pressure since 2024, and the total export volume has basically kept growing."

According to the data of China Textile Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, in 2024, China's textile and clothing export volume will reach 301.13 billion US dollars, an increase of 2.8%, showing great resilience in a complex environment. Among them, as a major textile and export province, Jiangsu's textile exports will reach 47.86 billion US dollars in 2024, an increase of 8.7% year on year, accounting for 15.9% of China's textile and clothing exports. Its total volume is second only to Zhejiang, ranking second in the country.

Experts believe that this is due to the "breakthrough" of the whole industry through continuous transformation and upgrading. First, the product structure has been continuously optimized, such as the year-on-year growth of 6.1% in the export of yarn and fabric, which exceeds the overall growth in the export of textiles and clothing. Second, important achievements were made in the maintenance of traditional markets. Exports to the United States and the European Union, two traditional key markets, stopped falling and rebounded. Exports to emerging markets such as ASEAN kept rising. RCEP dividends continued to release. These trends have also continued this year. In the first two months, the United States, ASEAN and the European Union were still the top three markets for China's textile exports. Third, cross-border e-commerce and other new formats and new models have developed rapidly and become the main force driving exports. According to the preliminary statistical analysis of the General Administration of Customs, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export in 2024 will be 2.63 trillion yuan, up 10.8% year on year, of which textile and clothing are important categories.

　　 On site recruitment, how to use cross-border e-commerce to promote product launch

Cross border e-commerce is one of the themes of this matchmaking meeting.

The person in charge of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology disclosed that in the special survey with the Provincial Textile Industry Association, many enterprises reported that in the past, they mainly carried out export business with foreign enterprises and brand merchants in the form of attending domestic and foreign exhibitions, visiting customers, mail, etc., but cross-border e-commerce delivered goods quickly, cost less, and was easier to meet customers' personalized needs, Therefore, more and more enterprises hope to promote brand products to the sea through cross-border e-commerce, but suffer from no specific direction.

"There are many problems for enterprises to really participate in cross-border e-commerce." At the event site, a person in charge of a textile enterprise confessed to reporters that, first of all, in the initial stage, how to choose a suitable cross-border e-commerce market and platform for enterprises is a difficult problem. The second is "compliance difficulties". The import and export policies, tax requirements and intellectual property protection regulations of different countries are complex and diverse. In addition, in terms of partner selection, how to select appropriate third-party service providers such as logistics and payment gateways, and in terms of supply chain integration, how to build a stable global supply chain network need comprehensive judgment.

From the demand for going to sea released by the enterprises on the spot that day, we can see the different development ideas among enterprises: some enterprises hope to connect with overseas enterprises and brand merchants through B2B, while others hope to directly sell clothing, home textiles and other end products to consumers through B2C cooperation with Amazon and other websites.

What kind of "cross-border" mode is the most suitable? Yang Xuehai, Deputy Secretary General of the 50 People Forum of China Cross border E-Commerce, answered questions for enterprises on the spot.

He believes that the basic logic of cross-border e-commerce is nothing more than how to choose "business flow" and "logistics" - what products are sold to what kind of final consumers in which countries through what platforms and models; Who will use which customs clearance mode and logistics mode to deliver goods to consumers faster, better and cheaper. Therefore, enterprises can adopt four modes of simple supply, self operation, joint operation and trusteeship operation based on their actual capabilities.

In order to meet the various needs of enterprises, a number of cross-border e-commerce service platforms were invited for the docking activity on the day. "All the different needs of enterprises for going abroad can be realized through a good service platform." Liu Tao, General Manager of Business Department VI of Soho Cloud Commerce Company, introduced the "Soho Cloud" cross-border e-commerce comprehensive service platform on the spot.

Since 2016, SOHO Cloud Commerce has expanded its cross-border e-commerce export business and is the first entity cross-border e-commerce company of a provincial enterprise. "'SOHO Cloud' is committed to providing 'low-cost, efficient, zero threshold' cross-border services for SMEs." Liu Tao said, in short, through blockchain AI big model and other cutting-edge technologies can create an independent B2C brand website for enterprises. It can also link to ecological resources such as intellectual property, logistics and warehousing, and finally provide compliant customs clearance services through "tariff collection", so as to comprehensively meet the cross-border needs of enterprises. He gave an example that a sweater company in Hangzhou established an "independent station" that only belongs to the enterprise with the help of "Su Haoyun", and carried out business for Amazon in the United States and Europe. Last year, the sales reached 1.5 million dollars.

　　 Prevent risks, improve development resilience and international competitiveness

Of course, cross-border e-commerce is not the "master key" for textile and clothing enterprises to go to sea. From the whole country to our province, there are a large number of manufacturing enterprises at the middle end of the "smile curve", which need to extend to both the design technology and brand services with higher added value, so as to deeply participate in the global supply chain and improve development resilience and international competitiveness.

"Our company mainly manufactures plush fabrics and garments for export, but has not yet started cross-border e-commerce business." Li Xiao, deputy general manager of Nanjing Haixin Lining plush Co., Ltd., cherishes this opportunity. He revealed that the company's products were mainly exported to North America, and faced outward transfer due to tariff and other issues. "In the future, we will increase the development of overseas factories, and at the same time, strengthen the improvement of our own capabilities such as design and development. If we have a strong voice and bargaining power in design, can increase the unit price and not be afraid of rising costs, perhaps all orders will not have to be transferred out."

It is also crucial for enterprises to take precautions against legal risks for going global and developing internationally. In order to "insure" the enterprises, legal and insurance experts were also invited to the docking meeting on the same day.

"Textile and garment enterprises must pay attention to the structure design of overseas investment." Cai Guoxing, senior partner of Shanghai Bohe Hanshang (Changzhou) Law Firm, found that many Chinese enterprises directly set up project companies as shareholders of overseas companies when investing overseas, without proper "isolation". Such a simple structure not only fails to optimize tax relief, but also may cause relatively big problems in terms of avoidance of legal liability and convenience of investment withdrawal. He suggested that enterprises should make full use of international law and the laws of the host country to minimize risks by establishing offshore companies.

At present, China's textile industry has ended the rapid expansion cycle of total volume, and will take stock adjustment and optimization as the main line of development for a long time; The slow growth of the world economy and fiber demand in the medium and long term is also an objective economic law. In the long run, how to deal with it?

Experts suggest that textile enterprises focusing on the export market need to consider the layout of an international production network system, independently master the core links of the textile supply chain, such as printing and dyeing, chemical fiber, textile machinery, and build an efficient, stable, and safe international supply chain system.

"At this stage, the maturity of the overseas investment environment is relatively low. Enterprises should not only consider labor costs and other single factors when going overseas, but should clearly define the investment goal and select the most suitable destination country by integrating multiple factors." Huashan reminded that whether textile enterprises choose cross-border e-commerce or not, it is urgent to steadily promote the international productivity layout. (Fu Qi, Li Yijia)

(Source: Xinhua Daily)