According to Italy’s “European Times” report, starting from the end of February, the Prato authorities once again conducted carpet inspections of Chinese companies in just over a week, and hundreds of Chinese factories were sealed during the inspection. More than 30 Chinese factories in a street adjacent to Prato China Street were all inspected within one day. No one was spared, and all were sealed by the police station. Affected by the inspection, the industrial chain of Chinese enterprises has been severely affected. Clothing model companies have no workers to process, raw material suppliers have poor sales, a large number of Chinese have moved out to find work to avoid inspection, and Chinese stores have been deserted.
Prato is a European textile production base. Most of the Chinese living in Prato are mainly engaged in the clothing industry. Chinese wholesale enterprises operate by self-design and commissioned processing, and are leading Chinese enterprises. In the Pratoio Building Industrial Zone, Chinese wholesale companies account for about 95% of the number of companies in the industrial zone.
The development of Chinese clothing wholesale enterprises has driven the development of Chinese-related industries in Prato. Enterprises focusing on raw material supply, production and processing, and related supporting services for the clothing wholesale industry have emerged in Prato, forming a huge industrial chain in Chinese society. Chinese manufacturing companies were seized, leading to imbalance in the business chain of the Chinese garment industry.
Mr. Wang, who runs the clothing wholesale business, said that when Chinese wholesale companies in Prato obtain orders, they can purchase raw materials in a very short time and entrust production companies to process and produce them. For products that are urgently needed by customers, Prato Chinese can produce and supply tens of thousands of items overnight. Nowadays, many clothing manufacturing companies have been shut down, leaving wholesale companies with nowhere to work and no choice but to politely decline some short-term orders.
Mr. Hu, a Prato clothing accessories supplier, complained that the factory was sealed and clothing wholesale companies lacked processing channels, which resulted in a large reduction in orders and a sharp decline in sales of accessories. Many clothing accessories suppliers are worried about the future.
The financial crisis has caused Italy’s unemployment rate to rise. The authorities have introduced a series of policies to protect local companies, thus increasing inspections of immigrant companies. Industry insiders believe that this is a very dangerous and irrational action. The development of immigrant companies has driven the job market. Many locals are employed in immigrant companies. There are tens of thousands of Italians working in Chinese companies in Prato alone. The government should face up to the positive role of immigrant companies and use effective measures to alleviate the crisis. Overly harsh inspections of immigrant companies will bring new negative chain reactions to society.
