Based on the latest data, China's textile and apparel exports in 2022 totaled $323.5 billion, showing a slight increase of 0.2 per cent compared to the previous year. However, this growth was much slower than that in 2021. Garment exports decreased by 0.23 per cent YoY to $175.4 billion in 2022, while textile exports increased by 0.82 per cent to $148.1 billion. The slowdown in growth was attributed to the interest rate hike by overseas governments and the economic recession. Despite this, the overall textile and apparel exports still showed a significant increase of $51.6 billion or 19.0 per cent compared to 2019 and $46.3 billion or 16.7 per cent compared to 2018. In terms of export structure, textile exports outperformed those of apparel.

When looking at specific varieties, cotton and chemical fiber products were identified as the two most important export categories. Although overall exports remained stable last year, there were changes in the export structure. The export volume of chemical fiber products was found to be larger than that of cotton products. However, it is noteworthy that the exports of woven garments made of chemical fibers performed relatively poorly among overall chemical fiber exports.

Changes in export destinations were also observed. The top 10 destinations for China's textile and apparel exports in 2022 and 2021 were compared, revealing that the proportion of the US, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Germany, and Russia declined in 2022, while the share of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Australia, Malaysia, and Kyrgyzstan increased. In general, the proportion of traditional markets decreased significantly, while that of emerging countries increased meaningfully.