According to the data of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, from 2016 to December, the added value of textile industry increased by 4.9% year-on-year, and the overall production operation was stable; the investment in fixed assets of textile industry increased by 10.7%; the production and sales rate of textile industry reached 98.4%, and that of garment manufacturing industry was 97.7%; but the delivery value of textile exports decreased by 0.9% year-on-year.

In response to recent media reports on the market level, rising labor, raw materials and energy costs have made China's past world factory price advantage no longer apparent, and more and more international textile buyers are turning to European suppliers.

It is reported that when a European garment manufacturer chooses wool supplier, it does not choose Chinese manufacturer as it did in the past, but Italian manufacturer, which is regarded by many industry experts as one of the signs of the change of the times.

Industry insiders believe that when wages in China are no longer so low, the attraction of transporting raw materials to China and then returning products to Europe is no longer the same. At the same time, consumers hope that Western clothing brands will provide more abundant product lines, and the demand for customization is also growing. The closer the suppliers are, the better.

Although this is only one case, it also shows that China's textile industry will face more challenges in the new international economic situation. The situation of textile industry in 2016 is summarized as "to integrate the industrial chain to cope with the cost problem, to innovate to cope with homogeneity, to cope with international competition by science and technology". Under the combined effect of multiple factors affecting the development of the industry, the transformation and upgrading of growth momentum of the textile industry are still not smooth.

Looking forward to 2017, under the macro guidance of the 13th Five-Year Plan and the outline of building a strong textile country, China's textile industry will build a "new third board" and launch the "going out" campaign, showing a good momentum of development.

Focusing on the overall goal of building a "textile power" during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Sun Ruizhe, president of China Textile Industry Federation, stressed that in the future, China's textile industry needs to coordinate the three relationships between industry and society, industry and environment, industry and consumption; go through three transformations from traditional industry to science and technology industry, fashion industry and green industry; and finally build manufacturing industry sector and fashion industry. The "new three-board" industrial structure of China's textile industry in the sector of plate and science and technology industry.

On the other hand, the overall situation of "going global" in 2017 is stable and good. Xu Yingxin, Vice President of China Textile Industry Federation and Executive Vice President of China Trade Promotion Association Textile Industry Branch, predicts that China's textile industry "going out" will remain strong. He analyzed the positive factors mainly reflected in three aspects. First, the central economic work conference once again made a clear decision to implement the strategy of "one belt and one road"; the two is that the internal driving force and internal demand of China's textile industry in transnational layout have not changed; three, the industry is actively carrying out global productivity layout and resource allocation through international capacity cooperation, and transferring with domestic industry. The path of positive interaction in upgrading has not changed.

"However, there are risks that require special vigilance. First, the financing of overseas projects in 2017 may be difficult; second, the gathering of international political risks in 2017 will lead to increasing uncertainty. Xu Yingxin reminds us.

Briefing on Economic Operation of Garment Industry in January-February 2017