Xinji Leather Dream Of Russia'S Self Salvation

This is the only train from Beijing to Xinji City in Hebei Province. This is the second time that Cao Wei has returned to his hometown this year. This native Xinji leather merchant has been out in the market almost all year round. This time he is going home to prepare for the work before the opening of China (Xinji) International Leather City (hereinafter referred to as Xinji International Leather City).

"Since the end of 2008, Xinji leather industry suffered from Russia's closure crisis, we have been looking forward to building Xinji into an international leather city. It must be safer to do business at home." Cao Wei plans to contract a 100 square meter booth in Xinji international leather city. He is full of expectations for Xinji International Leather City, which will open at the end of September.

? ? Myth makes wealth

　　 ? Xinji is a famous center of leather industry. It has a long history of leather manufacturing and leather trade. It has enjoyed a high reputation as early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "When I was a child, Xinji was called Lianguan hall," Liang Guoshen, a 65 year old man, told China's economy and informatization. At that time, there was a saying that they bought leather clothes to Lianguan hall. "

　　 ? Liang Guoshen is the chairman of Xinji leather city. More than 60% of the buildings in Xinji leather enterprises (including clothing and leather making) were built by Liang Guoshen.

Xinji's leather industry is divided into two regions & mdash& mdash; Leather industry area and clothing industry area. In 1992, Xinji municipal Party committee and municipal government began to plan the construction of leather city“ Before this, people were scattered production in their own villages, and there was no centralized production place Xinji leather City garment industry zone deputy director Feng Zhanjun said.

Although the leather city was built in 1993, the leather city still maintained a decentralized production and sales model. On the second floor, there are factories at the top, stores at the bottom, factories at the back and stores at the front.

　　 ? The key step to break this loose mode and further have a profound impact on the development of Xinji leather industry is the construction of leather industry zone in southeast corner of Xinji City in 1996 and the simultaneous construction of sewage treatment plant in the area. After that, the leather city changed into a garment industry area on the basis of retaining its own scale. Since then, Xinji's leather and garment industrial areas have been formed, which has laid a good foundation for the development of Xinji's leather and garment enterprises as well as the launch of Xinji's regional brand.

From 1993 to 2000, Xinji's leather industry was dominated by domestic trade, radiating North China, Northeast China and even covering all parts of the country“ Fujian also has our clothes. Even if we don't have our clothes, we also have our leather. " Feng Zhanjun described it vividly.

It is in this short period of less than 10 years that the leather industry has made Xinji a group of millionaires“ More than 500! " Hu Zhijie, director of the Publicity Department of Xinji municipal Party committee, sighed to the reporter of China's economy and informatization.

? Impression leather making area

Quite different from the scene of cross flow of sewage and pungent smell in the tannery area, Xinji's leather industry zone has almost no criticism of environmental damage from the traditional leather industry.

It's about 10 minutes' drive from Xinji city center to leather industry area. The weather is gray, with light rain and humid air covering the earth. It is hard to smell the strong smell of leather factory in my impression. It is hard for the reporter of China economy and information technology to imagine how the tannery industrial zone can achieve this.

　　 ? At the end of 1996, Wang Jianzhu was transferred to be the deputy director of the Management Committee of the tanning industrial zone. At that time, Xinji leather industrial zone was just established.

　　 ? After the reform and opening up, there was only one state-owned leather enterprise in Xinji (Xinji fur factory, now bankrupt), and the rest were private enterprises, which generally made leather for farmers in their own villages. At the beginning of 1996, these private enterprises scattered in the villages spontaneously formed two leather manufacturing concentrated areas& mdash; East Liuke village in the north of the city and trial artillery Camp Village in the west of the city. Other tannery enterprises are still scattered in the villages, not very concentrated.

　　 ? “ In the past, the scale of leather making was relatively small, there were no pollution control facilities, and the national policies were not strictly controlled, which gradually formed a hazard. " Wang Jianzhu recalled.

　　 ? In this year, the Xinji municipal Party committee and the municipal government realized the harm and decided to take land to build a new leather industry area to standardize the two traditional leather manufacturing areas. Tannery enterprises in scattered villages can choose which area to move into.

　　 ? ? In 1996, the "decision of the State Council on Several Issues concerning strengthening environmental protection" explicitly banned and shut down 15 kinds of heavy pollution small enterprises. Among these 15 kinds of small enterprises, small tannery enterprises cover them, that is, tanneries with an annual processing capacity of less than 30000 pieces of leather (converted into standard sheet of cow leather) (2 pieces of pig skin are converted into 1 piece of cow leather, and 6 pieces of sheep skin are converted into 1 piece of cow leather). With this trend, on the basis of banning small-scale tannery enterprises in Xinji, the Management Committee of Xinji tannery Industrial Zone compulsorily requires tannery enterprises with a certain scale to enter the zone for development.

　　 ? However, the cost of entering the zone is not low. Tannery enterprises need to pay high land price before entering the park, including the cost of building sewage treatment plant in tannery Industrial Zone included in the land price. Second, the cost of new equipment. The process of enterprise relocation is a process of upgrading. In the past, when I was in the village, the factory buildings of leather enterprises were not planned, and the equipment and technology were obsolete“ Just as we move, people have such a mentality that when they move from an old house with broken furniture for more than ten years to a new one, they will certainly not move the old furniture. " Wang Jianzhu smiles as an example.

Xinji leather industry zone is located at the downstream of urban drainage and southeast of vertical line of southwest wind. The first task of the construction of leather industry zone is to control water pollution. Tanning enterprises have moved in with the long-term consideration of making money. They have their own needs and do not repel each other. There are strict requirements for water, drainage and sanitation in tannery industrial zone. Adhere to three-level treatment in the process of sewage treatment& mdash; Tannery enterprises do simple sediment treatment for sewage to prevent blockage of drainage pipeline in the process of drainage; The sewage enters the wastewater treatment plant of tannery industrial zone through drainage pipeline for secondary treatment; Finally, it enters Xinji water treatment center. After being treated by Xinji water treatment center, the water can be directly discharged.

　　 ? At present, there are four sewage treatment plants in Xinji tanning Industrial Zone, which can be connected in parallel, which can meet the daily drainage of 45000 tons of 80 manufacturing and leather enterprises in the area. Even if there is a sudden power failure, it can operate normally without being affected.

? Dream of Russia

　　 ? Before 1998, when Xinji leather domestic trade market was in full swing, Xinji leather enterprises found another fertile land& mdash; Russian market. At that time, when it came to Russia, the bosses of Xinji leather enterprise were able to be said to have two bright eyes. In fact, Wenzhou, not Xinji, was the first to develop the Russian leather market. But when Xinji entered the Russian leather market, it quickly seized the dominant position. As early as 1994, Xinji leather enterprises in Russia to do leather goods, although the shipment is not too large, but the profit is also considerable. Feng Zhanjun recalled: "later, the more dry, the more exciting and mature."

As Feng Zhanjun described, since 1998, 90% of leather goods in 70% of Xinji's leather enterprises are used for foreign trade. The Russian based Eastern European market was their main export destination at that time. It is no exaggeration to say that at that time, 80% of the leather clothes worn by Russians were inseparable from Xinji leather enterprises.

　　 ? What is puzzling is that at that time, Xinji leather enterprises were willing to give up the domestic trade market, which was well done, and transferred to the foreign trade market one after another?

　　 ? To put it bluntly, it is no more than Xinji's leather enterprises that have seen attractive profits in the Russian market. Liang Guoshen explained the problem with a simple data, "at that time, a leather garment made 1000 yuan in domestic trade and 3000 yuan in foreign trade.".

　　 ? After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Russia urgently needed to import a large number of goods, and a large number of Chinese businessmen started private trade between China and Russia. In order to encourage import and simplify customs procedures, the Russian customs Commission allows customs clearance companies to handle import business for the consignor. Customs clearance companies and customs officials work together to help imported goods enter the Russian market at a tariff lower than the statutory level“ "Gray customs clearance" not only accelerates the clearance of cheap goods and enriches the Russian market, but also provides convenience for Chinese businessmen who do not understand Russian and are not familiar with the complicated local customs declaration procedures“ The "gray customs clearance" has become a hidden rule of the Russian government, which has become increasingly rampant.

From 2002 to 2007, the customs registration number of Xinji leather enterprises to Russian market trade reached 700 million US dollars every year. This figure does not include the transaction volume of border trade settled in RMB. If we take the number of border trade into account, it is conservatively estimated to be about 1 billion US dollars per year.

From 2000 to 2008, another less than 10 years, Xinji's multimillionaire group rose.

However, for Xinji, 2008 was a rough year. The bad news came on September 11th of the year. On this day, Russian officials raided the act market on the pretext of cracking down on "gray customs clearance" and seized the shoes, clothing, socks and other daily necessities stored in warehouses by Chinese businessmen. The leather goods of Xinji leather enterprise are also involved. This seizure has seriously damaged Xinji leather industry, which has been in a smooth flow in Russia.

　　 ? However, this is only the beginning. With the improvement of Russia's economic conditions, the Russian government is more and more eager to increase tax revenue. Meanwhile, the corruption problem associated with "gray customs clearance" is becoming more and more serious. For these reasons, Russia's top leadership decided to take action to eradicate this abnormal way of trade.

　　 ? In fact, in the first half of 2008, Xinji leather enterprises have heard that the Russian government should take some measures to rectify its market. However, due to the uncertainty of Russian policy, Xinji leather enterprises could not figure out what measures the Russian government would take and could not cope with it. Xinji leather enterprises appropriately reduced the volume of foreign trade with Russia in fear. This year, the world financial crisis broke out in an all-round way, and the purchasing power of the ruble declined after the devaluation of the ruble. In those days, the trade between Xinji leather enterprises and Russia was very difficult.

　　 ? On June 29, 2009, the Russian side announced Russia's largest Chinese business market on the grounds of seizing private goods and violating health and fire safety& mdash; Moscow Cherkizovsky container market temporarily closed indefinitely. Half a month later, Moscow mayor Luzhkov declared his death penalty: "not temporarily closed, but permanently closed."

　　 ? The death penalty of Moscow Cherkizovsky container market is a turning point for Xinji leather enterprises. The specific policies and measures have been made clear. Although Xinji leather enterprises are disappointed, they are no longer hesitating. Xinji leather enterprises are looking at the situation, seeking countermeasures and actively adjusting the route.

In this year's downturn, Xinji leather industry lost 1 billion yuan.

? 　　 ? Self salvation

　　 ? The loss of RMB 1 billion may be a fatal blow to a single enterprise, but it seems that it is only a skin wound if it is apportioned to many leather enterprises in Xinji. On the contrary, this experience provided a good opportunity for the transformation of Xinji leather industry and accelerated the pace of its transformation.

　　 ? The permanent closure of Moscow Cherkizovsky container market has sounded the alarm for Xinji leather enterprises& mdash; A single Russian market is too risky. The Management Committee of Xinji leather and garment industry zone realized this point and began to actively plan the strategic transformation of Xinji leather industry& mdash; From relying solely on foreign trade to developing both foreign trade and domestic trade.

　　 ? Xinji international leather city came into being in the process of transformation, which is another masterpiece of Xinji municipal Party committee and municipal government to build Xinji leather industry& mdash; With an investment of 1 billion yuan, the main project covers an area of 380 mu. Xinji international leather city is mainly wholesale, integrating retail, logistics distribution, fashion show and leather Museum, and has a special foreign trade zone.

　　 ? ?“ Even if there are risks in the Russian market, we can also attract businessmen from Russia, Eastern Europe and border trade. " Feng Zhanjun analyzed that from Xinji leather enterprises going out for sale to inviting foreign businessmen to come in and see the goods, "foreign trade should be done at home". This kind of action of taking retreat as an advance and taking defense as an attack can be regarded as an effective strategy.

　　 ? ? Xinji leather enterprises have also strengthened the development of European and American markets, South Korea, Japan and other East Asian markets. Customers and orders have increased steadily, and the export volume has gradually expanded, accounting for about 7.32% of the total export volume in 2009. In addition, Xinji municipal Party committee and municipal government are striving to create a three hour shopping circle, striving to make Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan, Taiyuan, Zhengzhou all able to drive back and forth on the same day within three hours.

When Xinji was digging gold in the Russian leather market, Haining leather in Zhejiang province did well in the domestic market《 When talking about Haining, many people related to Xinji leather industry interviewed by the reporter of China economy and information technology have repeatedly praised Haining for being a domestic trade market, and said that they should learn from Haining to do domestic trade. This is not empty talk, Xinji does. The annual "Pi Expo" has never stopped. Since 2009, Xinji leather enterprises have renovated the existing stores in Leather City, and established more than 200 chain stores and exclusive stores in large and medium-sized cities such as North China, Northeast China and Northwest China, and held various forms of new product ordering meetings. These measures make Xinji leather domestic market start smoothly, and the total domestic trade is increasing.

　　 ? At present, Xinji leather enterprises have outstanding advantages in OEM. According to incomplete statistics, a total of 800000 pieces were OEM processed in 2009, accounting for 19.51% of the total“ OEM is the premise of development, and independent brand is development. " Liang Guoshen said.

　　 ? “ Although the proportion of their own brand and the price after the OEM is about 1:5, the profit of OEM products is quite low. " Wang Jianzhu sighed. OEM only earn processing fees, Xinji leather enterprises will not do OEM for a long time. It takes time to build their own brands, and they are also looking for their own brands.