Textile firms weave success despite pandemic

Since September, many large export-oriented textile enterprises in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and other Asian nations reportedly failed to guarantee normal delivery due to the pandemic, while European and US retailers shifted many orders originally meant for these countries to China in a bid to ensure supplies during the holiday shopping seasons.

In addition, as production stagnated in most other countries due to the ongoing severe pandemic, the scale of China's exports increased sharply, driving up the cost of containers and port freight.

"The volume of foreign trade orders has seen an increase since May, and has basically recovered to the level of last year since the beginning of June, despite the damage inflicted by the pandemic," said Yan Liangmin, general manager of Zehao Textile Co Ltd in Keqiao.

"The major difficulty confronting us now is rising ocean freight costs due to the increasing demand for transport because of China's booming export volume and the poor circulation of containers caused by the pandemic," Yan said.

Freight rates for European routes, Persian Gulf routes, South American routes and other international routes have all increased since June. In October, container throughput at China's eight key hub ports rose 11.1 percent year-on-year, the highest in nearly 10 months, said the China Ports and Harbors Association.

The pandemic has had a severe impact on both supply chains and demand, said Li Xingqian, director of the foreign trade department at the Ministry of Commerce.

China is the world's largest textile producer and exporter with advantages in the export of labor intensive products. Since remarkable progress has been made in coordinating epidemic prevention and control to promote economic and social development, China has taken the lead in resuming work and production, effectively guaranteeing supplies for the international market and supporting the smooth operation of international industrial and supply chains, added Li.

Since May, orders for Chinese fabrics and raw materials for textiles have increased by more than 100 percent. Clothing industry orders have undergone a year-on-year increase of more than 200 percent, quadrupling in July, said Alibaba.com, the business-to-business online marketplace run by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.