Voice of the Two Sessions | How can China's textile industry "break through" the situation of Xinjia

      As an important industry for foreign exchange earnings, China's textile and clothing industry achieved a new high in export scale in 2022, with a trade surplus exceeding 300 billion US dollars. According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the total export value of textiles and clothing in China reached 340.95 billion US dollars in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%. The export scale has remained above 300 billion US dollars for the third consecutive year, and China continues to become the world's largest textile and clothing exporting country.

      But in the complex geopolitical context of 2022, the export map of China's textile industry is undergoing subtle changes. China's textile and clothing exports to the United States, the European Union and Japan decreased by 5.4%, 1.1% and 0.2% respectively year on year, while its exports to markets along the "the Belt and Road" and RCEP trade partners grew by 11.3% and 9.7% respectively in the same period. The exclusion of China's textile industry by a few Western countries and the continuous rise of textile power in Southeast Asian countries have made China's textile industry face a more complex external environment in 2023.

      Shi Weidong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from Nantong, the "hometown of textiles", and president of Nantong University, presented a proposal this year to promote the high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road" and ensure the safety and stability of the international supply chain of the textile and clothing industry. In this proposal, he pointed out that facing the complex global situation, there are still significant risks and challenges to the safe and stable development of China's textile industry's international supply chain.

     On March 6th, Shi Weidong stated in an interview with Global Times that in recent years, under the leadership of Western countries such as the United States and Europe, the trend of international procurement orders has gradually emerged. The so-called "Xinjiang related Act" in the United States has entered the enforcement stage, seriously hindering the entry of Xinjiang cotton and products into the international market; While the West is suppressing, international market competition is becoming increasingly fierce. The rapid development of textile and clothing industries in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh poses a significant risk of weakening the international supply chain advantages of China's textile industry in the post pandemic era.

      In the context of increasing external environmental uncertainty, Shi Weidong also pointed out that national policy funds (funds) provide less support for overseas textile cooperation projects. Enterprises going abroad mainly rely on individual efforts, and the government's investment in overseas investment guidance, risk prevention training, and the awareness of upstream and downstream cooperation to go abroad for textile and clothing enterprises is not strong. At present, the advantages of China's textile industry are mainly concentrated in the manufacturing process, lacking control over excellent resources such as raw material resources, design and research and development, and related channels at both ends of the international industrial chain. The sustainable development of the industry is constrained by the prominent situation of terminal companies in developed countries

      In order to continue to maintain the dominant position of China's textile industry, Shi Weidong believes that in 2023, the textile and clothing industry should further stabilize its role as a "ballast" for people's livelihood, promote the industry to jointly build the "the Belt and Road" high-quality development, and ensure the safety and stability of the industry's international supply chain.

      Firstly, the textile and clothing industry should be included as a key focus area in the top-level design of national foreign cooperation. Shi Weidong told reporters that it is recommended to list the textile and clothing industry as a key recommendation and recommended industry for the "the Belt and Road" initiative, the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, and the Lancang Mekong Cooperation. Especially in countries and regions with great potential for cooperation with China, such as the five Mekong countries in Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the "Cotton Four" countries in Africa, it is necessary to strengthen communication and cooperation in the textile and clothing field at the government level.

      He stated that secondly, Chinese enterprises are encouraged to carry out mutually beneficial and win-win inter industry cooperation in key areas through joint ventures, green space investments, and other forms, and provide financial support for key investment projects of textile and clothing enterprises; The third is to encourage and support domestic leading enterprises to actively control and integrate the raw materials, research and development, and market channel resources of the global fiber fashion industry through equity mergers and acquisitions, asset acquisitions, and other means.

      In addition, Shi Weidong also suggested that textile and clothing projects be included in the national foreign aid project system. For example, we can increase training programs for textile talents in Asia and sub Saharan Africa; Shi Weidong believes that we should support the construction of international trade platforms led by ourselves and encourage enterprises to actively establish the image of China. He believes that "policy and financial support should be provided for ethnic companies to explore emerging markets and establish the image of Chinese clothing companies

      Another National People's Congress representative, Liu Zibin, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency: If we want to enhance the industry's global voice and occupy relevant positions, we cannot rely solely on 'stabilizing quantity', but must put effort into 'improving quality'. ”As the Chairman of Shandong Lutai Textile Co., Ltd., Liu Zibin has been very concerned about how the industry can achieve high-quality development in recent years.

      Liu Zibin said that at this year's conference, he mainly put forward suggestions on the overall development of cotton related policies, ensuring the security and stability of the international supply chain of the textile and clothing industry, and strengthening the vocational education cooperation of the "the Belt and Road" investment countries. He believes that the textile and clothing industry is an advantageous industry for China's exports, and the industrial chain has extended to various parts of the world. China needs to accelerate the implementation and promotion of intelligent manufacturing, technological innovation, and the "dual carbon" strategy. We need to make further efforts in related areas, tackle key issues in raw materials and technology, and deeply participate in international division of labor and cooperation in industrial and supply chains. Only in this way can we better seize development opportunities and ensure development security.

       Regarding how to achieve high-quality development of the industry, Liu Zibin pointed out that the textile industry is an important component of China's manufacturing industry and also an industry with international competitive advantages. It can be said that China's textile industry has been widely integrated into global development. To enhance the industry's global voice and occupy relevant positions, we cannot rely solely on "stabilizing quantity". We must put effort into "improving quality" and steadfastly pursue the path of independent innovation. He stated that he aims to achieve new breakthroughs in areas such as intelligent manufacturing, research and development design, industrial applications, and industry standards, continue to expand industrial advantages, and achieve high-quality development of the industry.

       Liu Zibin stated that Lutai will steadfastly adhere to the path of independent innovation, leverage the advantages of the industrial chain, deeply participate in international industrial division of labor, focus on "stabilizing quantity" and "improving quality", continuously enhance the global discourse power of the industry, and promote high-quality development. One is to focus on policies, accelerate the research and implementation of industrial policies, undertake relevant technical projects, industrial activities, business docking, and other content, so as to make policies implemented and produce practical results. Secondly, we should focus on innovation and utilize our own industrial chain advantages to increase deep cooperation with relevant universities and enterprises in fiber materials, process technology, and other areas, in order to solve the technical problems of textile bottlenecks. The third is to rely on projects as the starting point, further optimize the "internationalization" strategy, coordinate the operation of the "one center" of the Shandong headquarters, and develop multiple domestic and foreign projects. Accelerate the release of production capacity for projects such as the Functional Fabric Smart Industrial Park and the Xirui New Materials Industrial Park, and accelerate the implementation of overseas printing and dyeing, clothing, and other projects, making the group's industrial structure more complete, industrial chain more complete, and product categories more diverse. The fourth is to adhere to the customer-centric approach, always focusing on customer needs, getting closer to customers, and continuously optimizing service intensity and depth.