Status quo of textile industry in the first half of 2017

by+Shen+Da

In the first half of 2017， under internal and external environment of high comprehensive cost and greater international competition， textile industry still adhered to accelerated transformation and upgrading， promoted smart manufacturing and green manufacturing， as well as cultivated new driving forces for industrial development. As the supply-side structural reform was promoted steadily and the strategy of “variety， quality and brand” was effectively implemented， textile industry showed the characteristics of “steady for the better & quality and efficiency in the lead”.

The main production indexes of textile industry showed a steady trend in the first half this year. According to National Bureau of Statistics， the production of chemical fiber， yarn， cloth and clothing of above-scale enterprises grew by 4.8%， 5.1%， 4.5% and 1.9% respectively， keeping a steady and slight growth. From January to June， the industrial added value of textile industry increased by 5.3%， up by 0.4 percentage point compared with last year， so textile industry made a turnaround.

The scale of investment continued to grow steadily. The paid-in fixed-asset investment in projects above 5 million yuan in the whole industry added up to 613.01 billion yuan， up by 9.1%， with growth rate increasing by 2 percentage points from a year earlier， so it gradually picked up since 2017. With the continuous layout adjustment， the paid-in fixed-asset investment in the eastern， central and western regions increased by 7.9%， 11% and 9.8% respectively from January to June this year. Only the investment growth in central region saw an increase of 8.8 percentage points from a year earlier， to a double-digit growth level； while the growth in eastern and western regions slowed down 1.2 and 21.6 percentage points respectively over the same period last year. With the expansion of base， Xinjiang province saw a significant increase of 49.3% in investment from January to June， and the growth fell slightly from a year earlier， but the contribution of incremental investment reached 150%.

Textile industry has shown a steady pick-up in exports since 2017. According to China Customs Express， Chinas accumulative exports of textile and apparel registered 124.05 billion yuan in the first half， an increase of 2.2%， and the growth ended the 22-month consecutive negative growth since March， 2017. Among them， exports of textile yearn， fabrics and products amounted to 53.12 billion US dollars， up by 3.1%； exports of garments and accessories amounted to 70.93 billion US dollars， a slight increase of 1.4%. For the main types of export enterprises， total export of private enterprises grew by 3.3%， accounting for 67%， an increase of 1.8 percentage points with a more robust endogenous power. The coordination of textile industry to make a turnaround has been improved.endprint

For market structure， the traditional markets of the U.S.， Japan and Europe were fierce. From January to May， Chinas market share in the three markets decreased by 0.9， 1 and 0.5 percentage point respectively； while Vietnams market share in the three markets increased 0.8， 1 and 0.2 percentage point respectively； Bangladesh grew by 0.4 percentage point in European market； Malaysia also improved both in Japan and European markets. The developed countries accelerated the backflow of textile industry， with a continuous improvement of supply capability. The emerging countries in Southeast Asia sped up industrious layout with a significant comparative cost advantage， so it put forward higher requirements for Chinas textile industry to maintain stable export competitiveness. In the first half of 2017， the accumulative textile and apparel exports to countries along the “Belt and Road Initiative” amounted to 42.91 billion US dollars， accounting for 34.6% of Chinas total exports of textile and apparel， an increase of 0.9 percentage point from a year earlier. Among them， export to Vietnam reached 5.79 billion US dollars， accounting for 13.5%， which was Chinas largest export market； export to Russia registered 3.79 billion US dollars， accounting for 8.8%， close behind Vietnam. From January to June， Chinas export of textile and apparel to Africa amounted to 9.42 billion US dollars， up by 4.1%， which accounted for 7.4% of total exports and was approximately equivalent to exports to Japan.

Due to the good performance of Chinas macro economy， the recovery for demand promoted increase of resident income and expansion of public expenditure， which continued to improve consumption of textile and apparel. From January to June， retail sales of textile products above national limit saw an increase of 7.3% year on year， up 0.3 percentage point over the same period last year. Online retail sales growth has accelerated， with retail sales increasing by 20.8% year on year， up by 3.9 percentage points from a year earlier and by 5.2 percentage points from the first quarter， which made the highest growth since 2016.

The operation quality was steady for the better， with main business income and total profits growing faster， becoming the “l(fā)eader” of main operating indicators of the whole industry. From January to June， main business income of above-scale enterprises achieved 3.66092 trillion yuan， an increase of 9.6% year on year， with growth rate up by 5 percentage points from a year earlier. Total profits amounted to 188.03 billion yuan， an increase of 11.6%， with growth rate up by 5.3% over the same period last year. Sales profit margin of above-scale enterprises was 5.1%， flat with the same period last year； turnover of finished products was 21.82 times/year， up by 5.4% from a year earlier； turnover of total asset was 1.61 times/year， up by 2.7%； ratio of three fees was 6%， down by 0.1 percentage point over the same period last year.endprint

In the first half this year， textile industry maintained a steady and good development trend， setting a solid foundation to complete the annual target. International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank have both raised Chinas annual economic growth forecast to 6.7%， which affirmed the positive prospects for Chinas economic growth. In the second half this year， the recovery global economy， rebalanced economy in China， stable expansion of consumption， import and export， and service industry， as well as stabilization and recovery of private investment will improve consumer confidence and moderate growth of market demand. But uncertainty of global trade continues to increase； external development environment is complicated and changeable； export competitiveness of the industry is still facing greater challenges； insurance of textile raw material needs to be strengthened； comprehensive cost is high； the desire to accelerate transformation and upgrading is still urgent； as well as there still exists operating pressures to be steady and better for the industry. Under the guidance of strategy of supply-side structural reform and innovationdriven development， textile industry will continue to make progress while ensuring stability， grasps and leads the important feature of consumption upgrade， as well as consolidates the foundation for steady economic growth. With steady cotton prices， we strive to maintain a slight rebound in industrial added value， and keep main business income and total profits in steady growth， as well as make exports better， so as to achieve annual development targets.endprint