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| Issue date:01/10/2008 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Oct 2008 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
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by Staff Reporters
As one of the five districts under Foshan (佛山) city, Gaoming (高明) district is located in central Guangdong and on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The textile and apparel industry of the Gaoming district has developed fast in recent years and earned the recognition as one of the major textile production areas in China.
In this first half year, Gaoming continued a swift economic growth, reaching a total production output value of RMB 17.169 billion and a total fixed-asset investment of RMB 6.285 billion, both up 20% over the same period of the previous year. Enterprises in Gaoming also sought to optimize their production by investing RMB 978 million (+145.7% year-on-year) for upgraded machinery and equipment as well as other restructuring measures. As a result, the coal equivalent energy consumption reduced to 0.93T per RMB 10,000 GDP, down 7% from the previous year.
Gaoming was honored as a major textile production area in China by the CNTAC |
The textile industry is an economic pillar of Gaoming district. The district houses more than 1,100 textile enterprises and 20% of them are sizable enterprises with a registered capital over RMB5 million. Garment making enterprises are chiefly located in the sub-district of Hecheng (荷城).
The textile industry of Gaoming attained a total industrial output value of RMB 7.649 billion last year, accounting for 13.3% of the aggregate industrial output value of the entire district, making it a key contributor of the textile industry of Foshan city. In addition, the Gaoming textile industry planned to boost its output value to RMB 30 billion by 2010.
The competitive edges of the Gaoming textile industry lied in its complete industrial chain and high product variety, Vice President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) (中國紡織工業協會), Chen Shujin (陳樹津) said.
Textile enterprises in Gaoming district engage predominately with the production of cotton textile products, ranging from colored yarns, yarn-dyed fabrics, premium knitted fabrics to garment pieces. Additionally, there are also suppliers of knitting machinery and various textile materials.
The Gaoming textile industry should further strengthen product innovation, according to industry leaders |
More than 80 million pieces of garment are made annually, based on the statistics of the authorities. Outputs of other textile products are also impressive, including 5,000 tons of cotton colored yarns, 70 million meters of cotton yarn-dyed fabrics, and 52,000 tons of premium cotton knitted fabrics. In total, the annual output value and the export value of textile enterprises in Gaoming district exceeds RMB 3 billion and US$300 million respectively.
Gaoming is currently home for more than 10 textile brands, which are honored national and/or provincial brand names in China, while others are famous trademarks and national inspection-free products in the country. Examples are yarn-dyed fabrics of Esquel brand, cotton garment of Pai brand, in addition to Weipeng and Boton brands, reputed for jeans and garment products.
Mr Chen at the CNTAC commented that the development of the Gaoming textile industry was satisfactory. However, to attain further growth, the district should strengthen its industrial chain in the areas of product innovation and the establishment of proprietary products with added value.
Product innovation adds value to corporations
The Guangdong Esquel (廣東溢達) company in Gaoming is an example. Built by the Hong Kong-headquartered Esquel group in 1988, Guangdong Esquel manufactures a large quantity of cotton shirts, supplying to such international brands as Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Brooks Brothers, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, Lands’ End and Muji. The Esquel Group also provides garment-making services to large retailers including Marks & Spencer, Nordstrom and Jusco, exporting garments worth more than US$200 million a year.
In addition to the production facility in Gaoming, the group has also factories in other parts of China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. The Esquel group grows its own extra long staple (ELS) cotton in Xinjiang (新疆), and engages in a full range of vertical textile production from spinning to weaving, dyeing, finishing, garment, garment accessory to retailing.
Along the vertical production of textiles, Esquel emphasizes the development of fabric finishing technologies, including water repellency through nanotechnology, and iron-free finishes. Guangdong Esquel, a recognized high-tech enterprise, set up the second laboratory for postdoctoral holders in Gaoming earlier this year. With six doctorate holders for product development, the company has obtained a number of national patents for its innovative products and technologies.
In the aspect of brand building, Esquel launched its proprietary premium garment brand, “Pai” in 2000. Various collections of men/women shirts, sports clothing and knitted/woven tops under the Pai brand are now marketed by Esquel’s franchised chain in Beijing. This helps the group boost the domestic sales. The share of its domestic sales in China increased from 15% in 2005 to 20% in 2008.
Meanwhile, Esquel attaches a great importance to environmental protection and social responsibility. It continually explores new ways to save energy; for instance, it makes use of steam to drive air-conditioning facilities. It also works constantly to recycle more wastewater and reduce its environmental footprint during the manufacturing activities. A large-scale wastewater treatment centre with a daily capacity of 32,000 tons was erected, which is one of the most advanced wastewater treatment plant in China’s printing and dyeing textile industry, according to the company. Over the past five years, it poured in RMB 46 million for the efforts associated with energy savings and environmental protection.
The achievements in environmental protection of Esquel made it the first Chinese enterprise to win an “Environmental Protection Silver Award“ bestowed by the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), an association of senior business leaders from throughout the Pacific Basin and beyond.
Moving forward, Esquel has planned to invest an additional US$98 million to upgrade production lines with improved and automated equipments in the next few years.
Wu Haoliang (吳浩亮), Secretary General of the Foshan Textile and Garment Industry Association (佛山市紡織服裝行業協會), attributed the success of Esquel to its proprietary product research that allows the company to gain an upper hand in the market with high-quality and innovative products. Quick market responses, effective management and good customer services are also crucial contributing factors.
In face of the industry challenges and economic uncertainty in the world market, Mr Wu pointed out that product innovation is a key approach for the long-term development of a textile and garment enterprise in Foshan. In addition, effective measures to help protect the environment are not only costs for manufacturers, but potential ways to enhance the competitiveness of an enterprise in the global supply chain, he said.
Innovative managing skills improve corporate efficiency
While established enterprises may attempt for product innovation that requires substantial investments, some relatively young players in the industry focus on effective management.
Newly established this year, Dongying Textile (東盈紡織) is a fabric dyeing and finishing enterprise targeting the domestic market of southern China.
“We are currently operating in full capacity, thanks to a large number of orders we received this year,” said Cai Weiping (蔡衛平), manager of the company. He believed that the new company was able to have a good start, thanks to the effective management and considerable efforts in environmental protection.
Mr Cai explained that the company had developed an innovative management system for its specific needs in the daily operations. While company structure and systems are important to ensure a smooth operation, staff and skills are areas of concern for quality production. Additionally, Dongying put savings and safety as crucial attributes to meet the needs and requirements in the Chinese dyeing and printing sector. “An effective management system helps improve the corporate efficiency,“ said Mr Cai.
Dongying also stresses on environmental protection. “Environmental protection is an essential aspect for printing and dyeing enterprises. A number of dyeing and printing enterprises in Gaoming, Nanhai and Shunde were closed down last year, mainly due to their lack of relevant measures to reduce the pollution in the neighborhood,” said Mr Cai. He considered the discharge of wastewater and pollutants one of the most important areas for a dyeing and printing enterprise. The company therefore started the second phase of the wastewater treatment project to provide further guarantee in the aspect of effluent treatment and control, he added.
Hengwei (恒威) and Boton (波頓) are two other key enterprises in the Gaoming textile and apparel sector.
Brand building is an important strategy for Weipeng Group |
With reference to the recent statistic data on the sales of China’s top retail enterprises announced this June, the Weipeng jeans from Guangdong Hengwei Group (accounting for a market share of 10.16%) ranked the first among the top 10 brands in the Chinese jean market, followed by Boton Fashion (8.9% of the market).
Hengwei Group (恒威集團), founded in 1985, is known as a “jeansmith” in China due to its specialization in denim finishing and washing. Today, the company offers a full range of finishing and garment making services, including denim wear and other clothing.
The Boton Fashion (波頓時裝) company, on the other hand, engages in the production of leisure wear, jeans, down garment, knitted wear and T-shirts. The company markets its products under three brand names: Boton (波頓), Mediwell (曼狄飛) and Batikeaton (巴迪伊頓) to cater for different segments in China and overseas.
Other well-known labels manufactured in the Gaoming district include fashion clothing by Sanchuan (三川牌), infant products of Bangbi (邦比牌) and beddings of Jiamei (嘉美牌).
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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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