China’s textile and apparel exports fell 11.61 per cent from January to February 2019. Textile exports were down 7.82 per cent from the same period last year, while apparel and accessories exports fell 14.55 per cent from the same period last year. In January this year, textile and apparel exports reached a new high since September last year, while in February, textile and apparel exports suffered a sharp decline, which reached a new low since February 2017. The main reason is the effect of the spring festival. China’s textile and apparel exports have fallen below the level created in the financial crisis of 2009.

The belief is that enterprises were anxious to export in order to avoid the risk of tariff imposition by China and the United States, so the data of the previous two months cannot reflect the real export situation. Though in the background of the global slowdown in trade, China’s textile and garment exports will continue to face pressure, with the expectations of the Sino-US trade negotiations improving, exports are reversing the downward trend and stabilizing.

In the meantime, China’s footwear exports increased 9.4 per cent in January 2019, an increase of 15.5 per cent year on year.