China’s textile industry will maintain steady growth in 2014, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has said in its 2013 report on China’s industrial communications industry.

 

The report said a series of fine-tuning of policy measures gradually turned up the growth rate of industrial production in the second half of 2013. It said business conditions have improved and there is a significant increase in market confidence, due to steady rise in industrial economy development, which has laid a good foundation for stable and healthy development of the national economy.

 

However, the production of textile industry was more sluggish in 2013. From January to November 2013, China’s textile sector grew by 8.5 percent year-on-year. The production of yarn, fabric and apparel increased by 8.3 percent year-on-year, 5.6 percent y-o-y and 0.7 percent y-o-y, respectively, which were all lower than the increases in production registered in 2012.

 

However, textile export growth was generally stable. In the first eleven months of 2013, the textile industry exports grew by 7.2 percent, which was about 4.7 percent higher than the growth rate observed last year.

 

In the first, second and third quarters, China’s textile exports increased by 6.3 percent y-o-y, 8.5 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, followed by an increase of 5.9 percent and 8.1 percent in October and November 2013.

 

During the year, the efficiency of enterprises also improved. From January to October 2013, China’s textile industry realized profits of 243.9 billion yuan, showing an increase of 18.3 percent year-on-year. The main business income margin was 4.83 percent, up 0.27 percent compared to last year. Business loss was 14.38 percent, which narrowed by 0.2 percent compared to last year.

 

The report expects China’s textile industry to show an overall smooth running situation in 2014. It expects a steady growth in domestic consumption and external demand, and there may be a slight improvement in the demand environment.

 

However, the current difference in prices of domestic and imported cotton is still large. In addition, labour and other costs are rising too fast, which to some extent undermines the international competitive advantage of the Chinese textile industry. In fact, the share of China’s textile and garment exports in the EU, the US, Japan and other countries declined in 2013.

 

But, from a comprehensive look the textile industry is likely to maintain steady growth in 2014, the Ministry said.