How can textile and garment industry have a leading voice along the Belt and Road
2017 Belt and Road Forum for Textile and Garment Industry Development and National Knitting & Cotton Textile Industrial Cluster Innovation Conference are to be convened
May 23, 2017 ｜ by Zhao Zihan
Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is to be held in Beijing this May, which will be the highest-level forum under the Belt and Road Initiative since its launching over three years ago, and an important diplomatic event China will host this year. President Xi Jinping announced it at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January this year, indicating the confidence and determination of the Chinese government to build an Economic Community along the Belt and Road. The textile and garment industry, as one of the important participants along the “Ancient Silk Road”, will take part in building the Belt and Road in the new era.
2017 Belt and Road Forum for Textile and Garment Industry Development will be convened in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region during 2017 (China) Eurasia Commodity and Trade Expo to be held from August 24th to 28th. Under the guidance of People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and China National Textile and Apparel Council, the Forum is jointly organized by Leading Group Office for Development of Employment-Centered Textile and Apparel Industry in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China-Eurasia Expo Secretariat, Xinjiang International Expo Administration, Textile Industry Administration Office of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China Textile Magazine, China Cotton Textile Association, and China Knitting Industry Association.
Theme on “Global Pattern, Innovative Integration, Win-Win Development”, the Forum is to get together several hundreds of participants from both Chinese textile enterprises and many nations along the Belt and Road, who will make an in-depth discussion focusing on the current needs of Xinjiang textile and garment industry development. In addition, during the Forum, there are other two conferences, “China’s Cotton Textile Industry Cluster Transformation and Upgrading Experience Exchanges and Cluster Work Conference” and “China Knitting Industry Cluster Work Conference”, to focus on the cotton and knitting industrial clusters as well as the innovation and upgrading tasks.
The economic core zone along the Silk Road reappears
At present, China’s textile and garment industry is experiencing a crucial period of transformation and upgrading, facing various arduous tasks such as structural adjustment, green development, and intelligent manufacturing, so that the industry needs new opportunities and market to create new growth points, thereupon, a round of industrial layout along the Belt and Road is steadily advancing with Xinjiang as a focus area.
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as an important node along the Belt and Road, undertakes critical responsibility and mission of the Initiative. According to its current industrial layout, the textile and garment industry is undoubtedly leading a significant position and has been enjoying vigorous development since the launching of “The Schema for Development of Employment-Centered Textile and Apparel Industry”.
Xinjiang is located in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, enjoying a variety of special advantages in terms of raw materials, electricity prices, land, labor costs, and location as well as the strengths in its industrial base and westbound exports. Based on the Initiative and the Schema, the total fixed assets investment from 2014 to 2016 exceeded the sum of 35 years from 1978 to 2013, while the number of enterprises saw an increase to 2,083 in 2016 from 560 at the end of 2013.
2016 Belt and Road Forum for Textile and Garment Industry Development was successfully convened during China-Eurasia Expo last September, attracting nearly 600 people from all over the world, including important representatives in the economic and trade areas of some nations along the Belt and Road, such as Speaker of The National Assembly of Pakistan, Italian Trade Commission Government Agency Beijing Office, Trade Commissioner Coordinator of ICE Offices in China and Mongolia, Vice Chairman of Italian Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and Vice President of Iran China Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Forum input confidence and new energy into the textile and garment industry development in Xinjiang which again becomes a hot spot for the industry in both China and the nations along the Belt and Road.
Fresh energy for new development
2017 marks the second year of the 13th Five-Year Program, also a crucial period in which the supply-side structural reform is to be deepened and the industry development in Xinjiang is to be further advanced. Currently, the industry is still facing such challenges as the supporting and connection of the industrial chain, the coordinated development of various resources, and the training of qualified personnel. Liang Yong, Deputy Secretary-General of People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region & Director of Leading Group Office for Development of Employment-Centered Textile and Apparel Industry in Xinjiang, expressed: “Xinjiang will complete an investment of more than 72 billion yuan in fixed assets of textile and garment industry in 2017, achieving an increase in industrial added value by more than 40%.” To ensure the successful completion of the task, nine actions have been put into practice, such as environment optimization and investment promotion.
In line with the current local industry development focus, together with the growing demands of the era under the Initiative, 2017 Belt and Road Forum for Textile and Garment Industry Development will be convened in Xinjiang, striving to input new energy to the local textile and garment industry.
It is expected that the continuous Forum will play a positive role in promoting the development of textile and garment industry in Xinjiang and finding solutions to the current problems that the world and regional economy is facing, so that the Belt and Road Initiative is able to better benefit the people of all countries, while the textile and garment industry will make contributions in the construction of the Belt and Road.
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