The head of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce issued a speech on textile export issues in 2009
According to Paragraph 242 of the Report of the Working Group on China’s Accession to the WTO, special restrictions on textiles will expire at the end of 2008, and the China-US and China-EU bilateral textile memorandums of understanding will also end at the same time. As the expiration date of the memorandum approaches, the majority of textile export enterprises are very concerned about the relevant policies and export situation after 2008. Recently, the person in charge of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce made a statement on this:
After the textile integration in 2005, some countries such as Europe and the United States frequently adopted various trade relief measures against Chinese textiles because they were worried about the huge potential of China’s textile exports, and these measures continued to spread to other countries, affecting China’s overall textile trade environment after integration. of stability. In 2005, after multiple rounds of negotiations, China, Europe, and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral textile trade, which comprehensively resolved the bilateral textile trade frictions between China, Europe, and China and the United States. It also alleviated the concerns of other developing countries about textile issues and created opportunities for Chinese export companies. A stable and predictable trade environment will contribute to the smooth transition of global textile trade integration.
During the implementation of the China-U.S. and China-EU bilateral memorandums, China’s textile exports to Europe and the United States grew steadily, the product structure continued to be optimized, and the share of the import market continued to increase. Facts have proven that the memorandum takes into account the interests of multiple parties and plays a good role in promoting the healthy development of labor-intensive industries represented by the textile industry.
On December 31, 2008, the special textile restrictive measures in paragraph 242 of the Working Group Report on China’s Accession to the WTO and the Sino-US and Sino-European Memorandum on Textiles expired. WTO members will no longer be able to use paragraph 242 to impose restrictions on Chinese textiles. , the Ministry of Commerce will no longer implement the quantity and license management of textile exports to the United States and the management of textile export licenses to Europe from January 1, 2009.
The current international financial market is in sharp turmoil, world economic growth has slowed down significantly, and unstable factors in the international economic environment have increased significantly. China’s textile exports are facing some new situations and new problems. According to China Customs statistics, China’s total textile and apparel exports from January to September 2008 were US$136.94 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%, and the growth rate was 11.9 percentage points lower than the same period in 2007. Among them, exports to the United States were US$19.24 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%, and the growth rate was 28 percentage points lower than the same period in 2007; exports to the EU maintained a high growth rate due to the relaxation of quantitative restrictions.
Under the current situation, in order to implement the spirit of the State Council Executive Meeting and maintain the steady growth of exports of labor-intensive products such as textiles, we will further strengthen dialogue and communication with relevant countries to ensure a smooth transition and create a good environment for my country’s textile exports external environment; commercial authorities at all levels should continue to provide good services and guide enterprises to transform their growth methods and adjust product structures; relevant industry business associations should give full play to their role as bridges and ties, actively carry out industry coordination work such as self-discipline and mutual discipline, and proactively maintain Export order, maintain the stable and sustainable development of my country’s textile exports; the majority of textile export enterprises must actively change their concepts, adapt to the new situation in 2009 as soon as possible, arrange their export plans in an orderly manner, avoid blind expansion of production capacity, and strive to improve the quality of their products and added value, strive to create branded export products, and enhance the international competitiveness and risk resistance of China’s textiles.
