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China''s fashion exports gallop |
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2004-7-19
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A 30 percent jump in export orders in the first half was registered as the global economy rebounds and buyers are returning to China because textile quotas will be scrapped in 2005.
Leading knitwear manufacturer Fenix Hong Kong, witnessed a 20 percent rise in exports of its high-end fashion year on year.
Fenix''s Hong Kong director Bernia Chan informed that retailers from Italy, the traditional fashion hub, were now importing their clothes from China.
"Given that the costs of operating a factory in the mainland are so much lower than Italian ones, and that we''ve already imported their technology into our factories, we have an edge here," she said.
European market for China hold even better promise, as costs and wholesale prices would go down further after the global textiles quotas was abolished in 2005 under a World Trade Organisation agreement.
Another knitwear manufacturer, Fast Base Enterprises, said sales are up by at least 30 per cent over the previous year.
Fast Base marketing director Dicky Kwok said sales surged as consumer sentiment improved and the global economy saw positive growth.
The firm, where 60 per cent of its sales come from Europe, 10 per cent from the US and the remaining 30 per cent from the Middle East, expected that sales would continue to grow in the second half.
Local exporters are also planning to tap into the mainland market by opening more outlets. Fast Base, for instance, is planning to add 20 outlets to its existing 40 Allure Noir outlets in northern China.
Kwok expected that the company would own 150 outlets in China within two years - 70 per cent of them on a franchise basis and the remainder wholly owned by the company.
“It''s a vast market with great growth potential. In the next 10 years, it''s likely to become one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world, with the first-class cities being the show window for 5 fashion brands all over the world,” he said.
Fenix, which opened its flagship Anteprima store in Shanghai last year on trial basis, also planned to open more stores in the coming year.
“The purchasing power of mainland consumers is surprisingly high, sometimes they even spend much more than Hong Kong people do...
That''s why I''d say the market for high-end fashion is really big,” Fenix''s Chan said. |
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