At the meeting, Xia Lingmin gave a keynote speech on the industry's operational situation and how to improve competitiveness. He said that the current textile industry is showing a slowdown in growth rate, with worries in the midst of slowdown, stabilization in the midst of slowdown, and progress in stability. In the first quarter of this year, China's textile industry overall maintained a steady development momentum in 2016. From January to February, the industrial added value of the textile industry increased by 5.0% year-on-year. Key products have also maintained a slow growth rate, with a slight rebound compared to the full year growth rate in 2016. There are still many uncertain factors facing the development of the industry.
In the first quarter, the investment scale of the textile industry maintained a slow growth. From January to February, industry investment increased by 6.3% year-on-year. From the perspective of different industries, investment in industrial textiles has shown a rapid growth momentum, with a growth rate of 40.36% from January to February.
In the first quarter, China's textile and clothing industry reversed the trend of negative export growth. From January to March, the export value of textiles and clothing was 54.882 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 0.42%.
From January to February this year, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles above designated size in China reached 25.654 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points from the previous year, and 3.4 percentage points lower than the growth rate of social consumer goods retail sales during the same period.
At present, China's macroeconomy is undergoing a deep adjustment, and the global economic recovery is still weak. The Brexit effect has not yet emerged, and the uncertainty of economic growth is high. The growth rate of world trade has been below 3% for five consecutive years, and the import demand in traditional markets such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan is not strong. It is expected that the textile industry will maintain stable operation in 2017, with single digit year-on-year growth in main business revenue and total profit; It is estimated that exports will slightly rebound in 2017.
In recent years, the highlights of structural adjustment in China's textile industry have been prominent, and the development and application of new fiber materials have accelerated, continuously achieving industrial upgrading; Accelerating the promotion of intelligent manufacturing in the industry; Green environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction have become the core concept for the development of industrial clusters and enterprises; Design upgrades to meet personalized consumption and focus on branding; New retail and new channels are receiving attention. Xia Lingmin suggests that industry enterprises comprehensively strengthen management innovation, focus on solving cost problems, cotton problems, environmental protection problems, and talent problems, and fully utilize modern management methods to promote enterprise adjustment and upgrading.
In his speech, Weng Maozhong introduced the development situation of Taiwan's textile industry. In 2016, the trade surplus of Taiwan's textile industry reached 6.6 billion US dollars, making it the fourth largest trade surplus industry in Taiwan. The fabrics, yarns, and fibers in the upper and middle reaches are the main export products. After emerging textile manufacturing countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia joined the competition, Taiwan's textile industry continued to develop differentiated products, attach importance to design innovation, focus on developing functional textiles, and vigorously research and develop low energy and environmentally friendly products in the face of global climate anomalies and other changes. He hopes to promote exchanges and cooperation in the textile industry between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait through the China Textile Entrepreneur Activity Day platform, jointly develop and create brands, and further enhance the level of cross-strait industrial cooperation and global competitiveness.
Yang Xiaoqin, Deputy Secretary General of the Taiwan Textile Development Association, said that in recent years, Taiwan's textile industry has made significant progress, and the textile stock market has surged to a new high. Especially after 2010, with the global trend of leisure and sports, various functional clothing became popular, and Taiwan became a major fabric supplier. One third of the teams in each World Cup wear jerseys made of Taiwanese fabric, fully showcasing the strength of Taiwanese textile technology and Taiwanese manufacturing. Taiwan is gradually becoming a hub for the research and production of functional and environmentally friendly textiles, filling the gap in talent and channel marketing for the design and sampling of the ready to wear industry. In the future, the demand for sports and leisure, environmental protection, and intelligent textiles will continue to rise. Taiwan's textile industry will continue to make efforts in four aspects: developing innovative textiles through technology and cross disciplinary integration, strengthening domestic and foreign production networks, developing new markets and strategic alliances, and enhancing the added value of fashionable clothing through functional and environmentally friendly textiles.
The prediction of fashion trends is crucial for increasing the added value of final textile products and improving processing depth. Among the factors that affect fashion trends, the influence of social psychology is significant. Through social surveys to understand factors such as public psychology and regional environmental characteristics, it is beneficial to provide a basis for the design and sales of general ready to wear clothing, and also to promote the development and research of upstream textiles. WGSN fashion trend lecturer Sun Chun analyzed the latest international trends at the meeting. She vividly and intuitively shared the theme of 2018 spring/summer fashion trends with attendees through videos and images, providing detailed explanations on physical digital design, as well as 2018 spring/summer fashion colors and inspirations.
At the same time as the conference, four more segmented parallel meetings were held, including the Fashion Technology Forum and Industry Connection Activities, Industry Investment and Financing Work Exchange and Dialogue, China Textile and Clothing Youth Entrepreneurs Alliance Activity, and the Maritime Silk Road Industry Connection Meeting. They respectively discussed the establishment of China Textile and Clothing Youth Entrepreneurs Alliance and Industry Investment and Financing Club, financial capital to promote industry upgrading, and how some textile towns can complement each other's advantages, To achieve precise docking and build a platform for promoting more efficient and zero distance docking and communication.
As an important component of the "Maritime Silk Road Expo", after years of accumulation, the Textile and Clothing Entrepreneur Activity Day has become a highly branded platform for docking. Entrepreneurs from multiple countries and regions around the world engage in face-to-face communication and promotion, personally practicing the cooperation and exchange of the "Pan Hai Silk Road". These collaborations have great potential in both depth and breadth. Especially in today's world where total global demand is sluggish, trade barriers are rampant, and anti globalization tendencies are breeding, the exchanges and cooperation among the participating parties will inevitably converge to promote the surging tide of China's textile industry from large to strong.