Cotton garment exports continue to decline sharply
From January to October, knitted garment exports reached US\$66.49 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%, with export volume reaching 18.27 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%, and export prices increasing by 7.8% year-on-year. Woven garment exports reached US\$62.48 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%, with export volume reaching 10.78 billion pieces, a year-on-year decrease of 2.1%, and export prices increasing significantly by 15.6%. Apparel accessories exports reached US\$13.95 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%.
In October, major categories of garment exports all showed significant declines. Knitted garment exports fell sharply by 22.1%. Woven garment exports decreased by 11.3%, and apparel accessories exports decreased by 8.3%. Affected by the US "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," in October, cotton knitted and woven garment exports decreased by 29.4% and 25.7% respectively, with the decline continuing to widen compared to the previous month. Exports of cotton knitted and woven garments to the US decreased by 53.2% and 45% respectively.
Exports of commuter, sports, and cold-protection clothing showed rapid growth
Exports of commuter, sports, outdoor, and cold-protection clothing maintained rapid growth. From January to October, exports of shirts, coats/winter clothes, and scarves/ties/handkerchiefs increased by 32.5%, 25.4%, and 22.3% respectively. The export growth of sportswear, dresses, T-shirts, sweaters, socks, and gloves exceeded 10%. The export growth of suits/casual suits, trousers, underwear/sleepwear, bras, and infant clothing was below 10%.
In October, except for sportswear and scarves/ties/handkerchiefs, which showed a slight increase of 0.4% and 2.3% respectively, other categories all declined. Shirts, bras, and gloves saw single-digit declines. Underwear/sleepwear and infant clothing exports declined by more than 30%.
Exports to the US slowed significantly Exports to ASEAN showed outstanding performance
From January to October, China's garment exports to major markets such as the US, EU, ASEAN, and Japan were US\$33.18 billion, US\$28.86 billion, US\$13.29 billion, and US\$12.55 billion respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 0.5%, 9.3%, 30.2%, and 1.9% respectively. Driven by the positive effects of the RCEP coming into effect, exports to ASEAN have risen against the trend, maintaining a high growth rate of over 30%.
From January to October, looking at major export regions, exports to Latin America increased significantly by 24%, exports to Africa decreased by 10.1%, exports to countries along the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 15.9%, and exports to RCEP member countries increased by 13.7%. From the perspective of major single-country markets, exports to South Korea and Australia increased by 7.1% and 19% respectively; exports to the UK, Canada, and Russia decreased by 7.7%, 14.3%, and 20.6% respectively.
In October, garment exports to the US plummeted by 35.7%, marking three consecutive months of decline in exports to the US, with the decline widening. Exports to the EU decreased by 33.1%, declining for two consecutive months. Exports to ASEAN increased by 17.6%, slowing down from the 38.3% increase in the previous month. Exports to Japan increased slightly by 0.8%, slowing down from the 6.8% increase in the previous month.
Exports from major provinces and cities in October all declined Xinjiang's exports bucked the trend and grew
From January to October, Zhejiang's garment exports reached US\$29.85 billion, a significant year-on-year increase of 17.4%, far exceeding the national average export growth rate, accounting for more than 20% of the country's total garment exports. Guangdong ranked second, with exports down 6.9%. Jiangsu, Shandong, and Fujian ranked third to fifth, with year-on-year growth rates of 3.6%, 9.2%, and -7.2% respectively. Xinjiang's exports increased sharply by 82.4%, surpassing Shanghai for the first time and ranking sixth. Exports from central and western regions such as Jiangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan have surged, with year-on-year growth rates of 33.3%, 48.6%, and 31.3% respectively. Garment exports from Hebei and Shanxi decreased by more than 40%.
In October, major eastern export provinces and cities showed significant declines. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Fujian's exports fell by 12.7%, 17.9%, 29.3%, 14.7%, and 36.7% respectively. Several central and western provinces and cities showed impressive growth, with Xinjiang and Guangxi's exports increasing sharply by 66.1% and 103.7% year-on-year.
Market share in North America declined Market share in the UK and Australia increased
From January to October, China's share of the US, EU, Japan, UK, South Korea, Australia, and Canada's garment import markets were 23.9%, 30.2%, 55.1%, 26.2%, 32.9%, 61.8%, and 32% respectively. Among these, China's market share in the US, Japan, and Canada decreased by 4.3, 0.5, and 4.2 percentage points year-on-year respectively, remained flat in the EU market, and increased by 4.7, 0.3, and 1.3 percentage points year-on-year in the UK, South Korea, and Australia respectively.
