According to a trade report, as compiled by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Textile & Apparel (CCCT) based on statistics from the China General Administration of Customs, the nation’s exports of textiles and apparel during January-September 2019 decreased by 2.8% year-on-year to US$202 billion.
Exports decreased to eight of the top ten overseas markets. Compared to January-June 2019, the decrease was sharper for many of the markets.
Among the top ten markets, exports increased only to Korea (up 4.7% to US$5.9 billion) and the Philippines (up 1.9% to US$4.2 billion).
Exports to Hong Kong dropped 26.0% to US$7.1 billion (22.5% decrease during January-June 2019), and those to the U.S. declined by 4.4% to US$35.4 billion, the decline was 2.8 percentage points greater than in January-June 2019. Exports to the American market decreased this February and April, but because of a last-minute rush in exports in June, January-June exports decreased by no more than 1.6%. Because the U.S. hiked custom duties for the fourth time on September 1st, there is a strong possibility that the export decrease might become greater.
Exports to ASEAN have been growing at sharper rates during the last few years, as garment manufacturing is being relocated from China to this region, but the growth in exports to this region remained flat during January-September 2019. Exports to Vietnam during the first nine months of this year decreased by 6.8% to US$10.6 billion.