Garment production migrates to Sichuan

Tag : ramie dyeing

Chinese mainland textile and garment manufacturers are making abeeline to Sichuan Province in search of opportunities.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Importers and Exporters ofTextiles organised a trip for operators of more than 120export-oriented textile and garment enterprises, including Silique from Guangdong, Shenda from Shanghai and Weiqiao from Shandong, to visit the Western province at the end of March.
While the relocation of the garment industry from the coastal areasto inland provinces brings exciting opportunities to Sichuan, theprovince also faces the problem of crucially "missinglinks" in the industry chain.
There are now attempts to bridge the gaps. Chen Yunfeng, vicechairman of the Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce in Sichuan and chairmanof the Zhejiang Kobron Group , plans to open an increasing number of stores in Sichuan.
So, Zhejiang is speeding up its development of an industrial park in Xinjin forgarment processing enterprises to enable Sichuan to complete itsgarment industry chain.
Another group of garment manufacturers has recently contacted the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Sichuan in the hope of setting up adedicated garment processing base in the province.
Corridor of textile industry parks
Sichuan now has over 10 garment industrial parks and clusters,including the Dayi Double Star Garment Industrial Park , Pujiang Industrial Park and Jintang Jiulong Garment Industrial Park in Chengdu; the garment processing base in Deyang; and the Chengnan Garment Industrial Park in Nanchong.
These industrial parks form a "textile corridor"extending from Qingbaijiang to Jintang, including Suining, Nanchongand Dazhou.
However, garment enterprises in Sichuan remain small, scattered andwith mixed operations, according to observers, while a completegarment industry chain has yet to take shape. Many of theseenterprises operate in the form of "factory at the back andshop at the front" models and are producing mainlyunremarkable goods.
Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu have developed specialised services in support ofgarment production. In many cases, a village is also the largestsupply base for a particular type of garment linings in thecountry. Basically, people know where to go if they need fabricsfor suits or T-shirts.
In order to attract large garment manufacturers from the coastalareas, Sichuan must first solve the problem of these kinds ofsupporting services. Otherwise, missing links in the industry chainare bound to push up production costs.
Sichuan still lacks a complete supply chain for garment fabrics,linings and accessories. There are difficulties meeting the demandfor the production of high grade and high value-added products.
In particular, fabrics are the "bottleneck" restrictingthe development of the garment industry in southwestern China. ManySichuan enterprises have to import fabrics from Guangzhou andFujian, which undoubtedly increase costs.
So, there is great potential for fabric and accessory productionenterprises from coastal areas to move into Sichuan.
Sichuan has well-developed silk and ramie industries but isrelatively weak in cotton textiles, chemical fibres, printing anddyeing. More supporting facilities and enterprises producinggarment accessories have to be built to form a complete industrychain, to prepare for larger-scale industry relocation.
Although Sichuan's garment production and marketing enterpriseshave to deal with rising prices, they're in a better position thantheir coastal counterparts where costs in terms of water,electricity, land and labour are concerned.
However, Sichuan's garment industry only produces local brands andlacks national brands and brand-name products.
from Tina Wu, Chengdu Office
(Image courtesy of Xinhua News Agency)