According to China’s General Administration of Customs, the nation’s exports of textiles and apparel in 2018 increased by 3.5% over the previous year to US$276.73 billion (provisional), thus increasing for the second consecutive year.
Exports of textiles grew by 8.1% to US$119.10 billion, and also grew for two straight years. 2018 textile exports reached an all-time high, surpassing the previous record of US$112.13 billion made in 2014. The growth was 3.3 percentage points greater than the 4.8% growth in 2017.
In reflection of a favorable apparel market worldwide, apparel exports slightly rose by 0.3% to US$157.63 billion, thus rising for the first time in four years since 2014.
Meanwhile, December 2018 exports of textiles and apparel decreased by 3.6% compared to the same month of 2017 to US$23.11 billion: textiles, US$9.88 billion (down 2.6%) and apparel, US$13.23 billion (down 4.4%).