Last year, China's garment exports increased by 5.2% year-on-year

In 2014, China’s clothing exports achieved an overall growth, with total exports of US$186.31 billion in the year, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. The growth rate fell by 6 percentage points from the previous year, and the export unit price was 2.7 US dollars/piece, an increase of 0.7% year-on-year.

First, exports to Europe and the United States are improving, and the market in Japan, Hong Kong, and ASEAN continues to decline.

From January to December, the economic recovery momentum in the EU and the US gradually stabilized. China’s exports to Europe and the United States maintained growth, with exports to the EU at US$45.86 billion, an increase of 14.8%, accounting for 24.6%; for US exports of US$33.45 billion, an increase of 8%, accounting for 18%. Affected by the shift in Japan's purchasing center of gravity and the increase in the consumption tax, exports to Japan continued to be sluggish, with exports valued at $19.7 billion, down 10.9%, accounting for 10.6%. As the false trading arbitrage phenomenon was curbed this year, Hong Kong's exports dropped significantly year-on-year, with exports to Hong Kong reaching US$8.66 billion, down 16.7%, or 4.8%. Exports to ASEAN continued to decline. The value of exports was 13.88 billion U.S. dollars, down 2.1%, accounting for 7.5%. Among them, exports to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore fell the most, falling by 21.9%, 8.5%, and 6.9% respectively.

Second, the rapid growth of woven garment exports, the decline in the export of knitted garments

From January to December, the total export volume of woven garments was US$77.66 billion, an increase of 20.3%. Knitwear exports totaled 81.73 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 6%. Gross leather garment exports totaled 3.34 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 23.1%. The total value of clothing accessories exports was US$16 billion, an increase of 3.5%. Cotton garments totaled 65.63 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 4%. The total export of chemical fiber garments was 73.23 billion US dollars, an increase of 15%. Silk garment exports totaled 1.03 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 21.6%; gross clothing exports totaled 4.17 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 2.3%.

Third, the proportion of processing trade continues to decline

In 2014, China's general export of clothing increased by 5.7%, which accounted for 74.1% of total exports from 70.7% in 2009, an increase of 3.4 percentage points in five years. Processing trade exports fell by 3.7%, and the share of exports fell from 21% in 2009 to 12.8% in 2014, a decrease of nearly 10%.

Fourth, private enterprises are the main force driving growth in exports

In 2014, there were 50,000 garment export enterprises in China, including 39,000 private enterprises, accounting for 77%, 95.24 million foreign-funded enterprises, accounting for 18.9%, and state-owned enterprises accounting for only 3.6%. Exports of private enterprises increased by 11%, accounting for 65% of total exports. Exports of foreign-funded enterprises and state-owned enterprises decreased by 3.4% and 5.8%, respectively, accounting for 22.1% and 12.6% of exports respectively. The growth of China's garment exports has been driven by private enterprises.

5. The export growth rate of the eastern provinces and cities is stable, and the growth gap between the provinces and cities in the middle and western regions is large

Among the top five provinces and cities in garment exports, Guangdong exported US$36.35 billion worth of exports, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%. Zhejiang exported US$33.28 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, ranking top two. Jiangsu's export volume was 25.54 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year, ranking third. Fujian and Shanghai exported a total of 17.04 billion U.S. dollars and 14.19 billion U.S. dollars, respectively, a slight increase of 3.4% and 0.9%, ranking fourth and fifth respectively. In addition, the export volume of Hunan and Guizhou increased rapidly, with an increase of 170.4% and 112.6% respectively. Exports in Shanxi, Jilin, and Guangxi declined rapidly, falling by 59.2%, 32.4%, and 30.9%, respectively.