On April 29, ten ministries and commissions, including the
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of
Finance and the Ministry of Commerce, jointly issued a circular to
guide the restructure and upgrading of the textile industry in the
2006-2010 period.
Last year the industry was listed by the NDRC as one of the 11
confronted by overcapacity or having potential for
overcapacity.
"The textile industry is going to have a hard time in the
upcoming five years," Zhang Li, an official responsible for the
textile industry from the Bureau of Economic Operations under the
NDRC, told China Business News on May 17. "However, industry
insiders have different views on whether the industry has
overheated," she said.
According to Zhang, since the textile industry has been
internationalized and the rule that the fittest survive is well
established, whether the industry is overheated is not really the
question.
She pinpointed its structure as the most prominent problem
hindering the industry’s further development. "This is the reason
why the government requires the industry to readjust and upgrade
its structure," she said.
According to the circular, by the end of the 2010, the gross
volume of processed textile fibers will reach 36 million tons, an
increase of 35 percent from the end of 2005; per capita labor
productivity will go up by over 60 percent; energy consumption by
every 10,000 yuan (US$1,247) in added value will decline by 20
percent; and water consumption for producing one ton of fibers will
drop by 20 percent.
At the same time, the circular said, the industry needs to
develop some key technologies and home brands which are recognized
worldwide.
On the issue of trade frictions, Zhang said, exports to the
United States and European Union this year has fallen by 60 percent
and 35 percent respectively. However, trade difficulties are going
to be more diversified and complicated with some frictions more
difficult to cope with such as anti-dumping, social responsibility
and technical barriers, she added.
(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang, May 26, 2006)
