INSIDE ASIA

Being the largest apparel producer and consuming country, as well as the largest apparel market in the world, China has 49,600 enterprises producing apparel and related articles with an annual production capacity of 14 billion units. The production capacity of shuttle woven apparel reached 11.2 billion units last year, up 15.48% compared to 1997, government sources say.

Approximately 96% of apparel production concentrates on fourteen provinces and cities including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shandong, Hebei, Shanghai and Tianjin.

According to the Ministry of Internal Trade, domestic demand for shuttle woven apparel amounts to 4.8-5.1 billion units yearly 2001 consumption of apparel accounted for approximately 10% of total retail sales of consumer goods (3,759.5 billion yuan or US$451,140 million).

As one of the country's biggest foreign exchange earners, the apparel industry exported 12,494 million units of apparel last year, up 37.3% compared to 1997. Of this, shuttle woven apparel increased by 38.93% to 4,686 million units, accounting for 41.84% of the total volume.

Statistics for 2001 show that exports of apparel and accessories rose by 15.34% compared to 1997 to US$36,656 million, occupying 73.6% of total exports of textile goods, 13.8% of the total trade value and 16.7% of the world's total apparel export trade.

Chinese apparel manufacturers should now pay more attention to the development and production of high-grade and high value-added products, as the nation's entry into the WTO means foreign brand names will find it easier to compete for a larger share of the Chinese market.

In addition, the Chinese apparel industry should use more new technologies including computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing to manufacture apparel 'that can compete well with international brands, as well as the Internet for the latest fashion designs and market information.

Accordingly, the country should also focus more of its attention on cultivating more highly skilled designers and workers, which is necessary for sustained development of the industry. In short, the combination of well-performing enterprises and outstanding designers is likely to be one of the fastest and best ways to create Chinese brand names for the world's markets.