Video Conference On Textile Industry Of China, Japan And South Korea

On November 19, a video conference on textile industry of China, Japan and South Korea was held. Xu Yingxin, vice president of China Textile Industry Federation, Fuji Xianyi, vice president of Japan fiber industry alliance, and Zheng Dongchang, vice president of Korea Fiber Industry Federation, attended the meeting. Yan Yan, director of the social responsibility Office of China Textile Industry Federation and Zhao Mingxia, director of the Ministry of industry, attended the meeting.

Affected by the new crown epidemic, the 10th Japan China South Korea fiber industry cooperation conference, originally scheduled to be held in Osaka in November this year, was postponed after three parties' discussion. Japan fiber industry alliance proposed to hold a video working conference on textile industry of the three countries in November this year to exchange and discuss "the current situation and Prospect of textile industry under the new crown epidemic situation". China and South Korea expressed support.

At the meeting, Fuji Kenichi, vice president of Japan fiber industry alliance, first introduced the relevant situation of Japan's textile industry. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Japan's GDP growth rate in the second quarter of 2020 decreased by 28.8% compared with the same period last year. In the third quarter, the GDP growth rate was reversed driven by export demand, far higher than the same period last year. In terms of production index, the fiber industry recovered earlier than the overall textile industry, which was mainly due to the increase in demand for anti epidemic materials such as masks and protective clothing. According to the survey of household expenditure in Japan, the expenditure on clothing and footwear fell to the lowest in April, then recovered briefly in June, and continued to decline after June. In terms of clothing sales, physical sales suffered heavy losses and gradually improved after entering the second quarter, with chain stores selling better than department stores. In terms of import and export, Japan's textile exports to China and South Korea continued to decline in the first half of the year. In the second half of the year, exports increased and exports to China continued to pick up, but still lower than the level of the same period last year. Imports: from February to may, the import of textiles from China surged. After July, the import of textiles from South Korea increased rapidly.

Xu Yingxin, vice president of China Textile Industry Federation, introduced the relevant situation of China's textile industry. In recent years, with the change of the external situation and the expansion of the industry itself, the development of China's textile industry has entered a period of slow growth and deep adjustment and transformation. Since 2020, under the influence of the new epidemic situation, the pressure on the operation of the industry has increased significantly. The production scale of the industry has decreased year-on-year, but the decline rate shows a continuous narrowing trend. In terms of export, driven by anti epidemic materials such as masks, textile industry exports achieved positive growth. In the first half of the year, the situation was more severe. In the second half of the year, with the restart of overseas economy, the situation improved, and in August, clothing exports turned negative to positive for the first time. In terms of domestic demand, with the positive results of epidemic prevention and control in China, the resumption of work and production in various industries has been steadily promoted, the domestic sales of textile and clothing commodities have continued to pick up, and the growth trend of online sales is even better. China's textile enterprises are still faced with weak demand, insufficient orders and low product prices, and their operation pressure is prominent. The continuous spread of Xinguan epidemic in the world has a certain negative impact on the international cooperation of the industry. The progress of foreign investment in the industry slowed down, and the amount of foreign direct investment in the first half of the year decreased by 42.4%.

Zheng Dongchang, vice president of the Korea Fiber Industry Federation, said that the impact of the new crown epidemic on the whole world is huge, and the economic impact is more profound than the "2008-2009 economic recession", with different degrees of damage from countries, industries and small enterprises. The global supply chain has been disrupted. Under the background of the new crown epidemic, the economic situation of South Korea is not optimistic, and the recovery of domestic demand is slow. The export trade in the second quarter fell by 16.5% compared with the first quarter, and the national unemployment rate has been rising since March. It is expected that with the support of the government's expansionary fiscal policy, the economic situation of South Korea will improve in 2021. South Korea's textile industry, production index fell below 63 points in the second quarter, and has rebounded recently. In terms of clothing sales, online sales increased by 10% in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. In terms of textile and clothing import and export, from January to September this year, the export decreased by 15.5%, of which, the export to Japan decreased by 7%, the export to China decreased by 1%; the import decreased by 6.1% year on year, of which, the import from Japan decreased by 11.5%, and the import from China decreased by 0.04%.

When it comes to the future outlook of the industry, the three parties agree that it largely depends on the trend of the epidemic situation, as well as the response of countries and subsequent adjustments. In addition, once the agreement of origin and trade between Japan and China takes effect in November, the trade cooperation agreement between China and Japan will be further promoted Easy access.

At the end of the meeting, the three parties tentatively will hold the "10th Japan China South Korea fiber industry cooperation conference" in November 2021 in Japan.