Ｓｅｅｋｉｎｇ Ｃｈａｎｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ Ｃｒｉｓｉｓ

Mould Industry is seen as the \"mother\" of other industries. In recent years， this industry in China has had a fast devel-opment. From 1996 to 2002， the produc-tion value of die and mould industry in- creased at a rate averaged 14% per year or so. In 2003， the production value increased by 25% from a year ago， to RMB 45.0 billion， amounting to US$5.0 billion and ranking the third in the world. According to the data from CDMIA， in 2008， the import and export value of this industry in China totaled US$3.926 billion， increasing by 13.27% from the year before， including US$2.004 billion of import value， down by 2.39%， and US$1.922 billion of export value， up by 36.02%. Generally speaking， the export market still firms up. However， for numerous small and middle-sized ex- port-oriented die and mould companies in China， they are facing a great challenge. There are about 5 to 6 thousand die and mould companies in Ningbo， the center of this industry in China， including 200 plus above the designated size.