Latest data reveals, China's share of the value of EU clothing imports has declined steadily over the last five years to the benefit of South Asian countries, particularly in lower-end products. China’s leading position continued to be eroded by increasingly vigorous entry of other production zones, says a European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) bulletin.

In 2010, China's market share of EU textiles and clothing imports stood at 40.8 per cent. However, this had fallen to 35 per cent by 2015. Euratex explains that the tendency for China seemed to be more and more textile exports whose production was facilitated by more sophisticated and productive machinery, at the expense of garments which are much more labour intensive. The main beneficiary was the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) zone – Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka which has gone in the opposite direction to China since 2010.

From 19 per cent in 2010, SAARC’s market share of textiles and clothing imports rose to 24.6 per cent in 2015. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) zone, which is smaller than the SAARC, showed enough drive and economic dynamism to grow its share of textile and clothing imports from 6 per cent in 2010 to 8.6 per cent in 2015. The Mediterranean countries, however, experienced the same scenario as China. Despite having long enjoyed the advantage of their proximity to the EU-28, and still a major supplier, their share contracted from more than 20 per cent in 2009 to 18 per cent last year.