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| Issue date:01/08/2007 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Aug 2007 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
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| The textile industry is for years the pillar supporting about 75% of the economy of Shaoxing county (紹興縣), Zhejiang province (浙江省). The county has aspired to develop itself as a city for international textile trade. |
Shaoxing is located in the south of the Yangtze River Delta (長江三角洲), close to Ningbo (寧波) and Hangzhou (杭州) cities of Zhejiang province. It has a population of 710,000 on a land of 1,130 square kilometers.
One in every 5.5 enterprises in Shaoxing produces textile and apparel products, and the textile enterprises collectively manufacture around 75% of the goods (in value) made in the entire county. Most of these enterprises are privately owned, which mushroomed between the mid-1980s and early 1990s. They together have built up a sophisticated supply chain comprising the production of chemical fiber, weaving, dyeing and printing, as well as garment-making.
In 1993, an area dedicated to the distribution of light and textile products was established in Shaoxing, the "China Textile Town (中國輕紡城)", so that the local manufacturers got more timely market information in fabric and color trends. As a result, they sought to improve themselves substantially, partly by importing advanced overseas equipments in the fields of spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing in the following years.
It was ranked among the best performing counties of China (in economic terms) during the period of the 10th five-year plan (2001-2005); some major 2006 production figures of Shaoxing are shown in the table below.
Shaoxing also features a highly comprehensive textile supply chain, supported by some of the most cutting-edge equipments operating in China to give enterprises exceptional production capacities. There are currently 35,000 modern shuttleless looms in the county. In the first five months of 2007, textile enterprises in Shaoxing invested RMB3.34 billion, jumping 92.2% from the previous year.
New first-phase China Textile City |
Looking ahead, it has outlined new targets for its future development as laid down in the "11th Five-year Plan for Shaoxing Economy and Social Development". The continued optimization of the industry is the major focus from 2007 to 2010. This points to upgrading the existing textile and garment enterprises and developing new sectors. Enterprises are encouraged to make more differentiated chemical fibers and high-end goods, as well as build up their own brands to give rise diversity. The development of dyeing and finishing technology should be intensified to facilitate enterprises from producing quality fabrics to quality garment and home textile products.
Supplying fabrics for Beijing Olympics
At the Beijing Olympics next year, the staff workers will put on uniform made of fabrics supplied by 18 Shaoxing textile enterprises. Shaoxing was also honored as one of the preferred fabrics sourcing area for the Beijing textile and garment industry.
One of the chosen suppliers is Binlitex (繽麗紡織). General Manager Wang Binbin (王斌斌) said: "When garment designers from Beijing visited Shaoxing, they were astonished at finding that the town — used to be a production base for low-end products — was now churning out quality fabrics. Upon this findings, Shan Shan(杉杉) in Ningbo and Eve Fashion (依文) in Beijing immediately placed orders with us".
He believes that some enterprises Shaoxing have built up competitive advantages in the field of producing medium and high-grade fashion fabrics by intensifying research and development in the past few years. Now, Binlitex launches new products every month and some of its fabrics have been awarded the title of "Popular Face Fabrics in China (中國流行面料)". |
Working toward clean production
Last year, according to the statistic figures, China processed 43.1 billion meters of printed and dyed fabrics, while about 30% were originated from Shaoxing, where it processed 13.2 billion meters of them. Consequently, proactive government campaigns were launched to bring Shaoxing to the fore of the nation in developing clean and energy saving production.
In addition, energy cost for water, power and coal accounts for some 40% of the total production cost of a printing and dyeing enterprise in China. Therefore, energy saving is critical to enhance the long-term development of these enterprises, as well as the sector of printing and dyeing of Shaoxing as a whole.
Shaoxing launched a "dyeing and finishing reform" in April 2005 overhauling water quality, and a "blue sky campaign" in November in the same year to control the pollution of waste gases from sizing machines in the printing and dyeing industry.
By late 2006, the county reduced waste gas emission significantly when about 90% of the sizing machines in Shaoxing were equipped with waste gas treatment systems. More than 10 enterprises installed equipments to reuse wastewater and others have adopted various approaches to reduce the effluent waste.
Wastewater reused
Many printing and dyeing enterprises in Shaoxing have installed and adopted wastewater recycling systems. Zhejiang Dongsheng (浙江東盛), for instance, has recently invested RMB5.235 million in the implementation of the first phase of a project that will be capable of handling wastewater volume up to 4,000 tons a day. The project is expected to improve the recycling rate of industrial used water by more than a half. It will reduce the use of clean water substantially as 1.35 million tons of wastewater will be reused. The project will also help reduce up to 4.5 million tons of chemical oxygen demand (COD) discharge each year.
Air-flow dyeing
By importing eight air-flow dyeing machines from Germany, Zhejiang Tianma (浙江天馬) is able to reduce the use of water by 75%, dyestuff by 30%, and power consumption by 33%, compared to those when a J-shaped jar was used. In addition, fabrics being dyed with air-flow dyeing systems have better colorfastness, softer touch and higher quality, adding the value of the resulted fabrics by about RMB3 per meter compared to that manufactured in a J-shaped jar.
Information management and automation
Last year, Zhejiang Huadong (浙江華東), a printing and dyeing mill, spent RMB4 million to purchase advanced information equipments and automated systems, with an aim to improve the computerized control of the entire production process including the wastewater recycling and insulation of equipments. In 2006, the company was able to save RMB2.12 million from the reduced water and energy consumption.
Utilizing steam from thermal power plants
Zhejiang Dahe (浙江大和) has made use of the superheated steam from thermal power plants by recovering and channeling it to the sizing process via pipes. The steam also provides heat for other printing and dyeing equipments.
In addition, the company has introduced a system to recycle condensed water, which saves the cost of RMB3.8 million to generate steam, accounting for about 10% of the annual total steam consumption.
The improved measures of clean production also enhance the overall economic performances of the dyeing and printing sector of Shaoxing.
A year ago, 64 out of 181 enterprises in the sector were clouded with poor economic records. The sector registered a sales turnover of RMB22.5 billion for the year and a profit of no more than RMB243 million; the profit rate was about 10%. After improving their production process in one way or another, these enterprises are achieving new levels of profits. In the first seven months of 2007, the sector recorded a sales turnover of RMB14.43 billion and a profit of RMB376 million, improving the profit rate to 26%.
New face of China Textile Town
The "China Textile Town (中國輕紡城)" is currently the largest textile distribution center in Asia and the second best specialized wholesale market in China for consecutively 14 years.
It covers a floor area of 2.2 million square meters, accommodating over 12,000 individual stalls to sell more than 30,000 types of fabrics. There are more than 340 stationing representative offices from abroad, and a visitor flow of 100,000 person times each day. In 2006, more than RMB30 billion of fabrics were sold from this bustling market while the turnover of the textile-related raw materials reached RMB19.7 billion. In the first half of this year, the textile town registered a total turnover of RMB12 billion, up 11% over the same period of the previous year.
New first-phase China Textile City |
The Shaoxing government has planned to improve the old market of China Textile Town by erecting a new building for the international textile trade at Dongsheng Road (東升路). Pictured is the illustration of the new first-phase China Textile City with a total projected investment of RMB450 million and a total building area of more than 100,000 square meters, to be completed in June 2008. The second phase will involve an estimated investment of RMB326 million to add another 60,000 square meters, to be finished by December 2008. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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