Cotton textile industry in China is facing difficulties as the sales have been poor due to domestic factors and weak recovery of the international market.

 

Vice President of Fujian Hongyuan Group, Chen Cangsong said the cotton textile sales have not been desirable so far this year especially of foreign trade enterprises, xinhuanet.com reports.

 

Fujian Hongyuan Group, located in the southeast China’s Fujian province, is the largest cotton textile enterprise in the province with an annual output value of 1 billion yuan (approx. US$ 163 million).

 

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that the added value of the textile industry from January to June was greater than the same period last year. However, exports to Europe, Japan and other major overseas markets have dipped.

 

Mr. Chen, who is also the general-secretary of the Fujian textile and apparel business association, said slow demand from the global market, soaring cotton prices, high labor costs and the appreciation of the Chinese currency have led to fewer overseas orders.

 

The Government of China purchased cotton for temporary state reserve in 2011 in order to protect cotton farmer’s interests, which resulted into the rise of domestic prices of cotton compared to the global market.

 

According to the report, the Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and Cambodia purchase cotton freely at a price of 13,000 yuan per ton and have low labor costs which have brought increased number of orders to these countries from European markets that used to order from China.

 

The textile industry in China has been suffering also due to lack of availability of skilled personnel.