China'S Footwear Industry Is Facing A New Round Of External Shocks.

Shoes are the most typical labor-intensive export industry in China.

In March this year, the EU formally abolished the high anti-dumping duties against Chinese leather shoes. Many Chinese shoe companies once dreamed of dreaming that the European market could flourish again.

However, over the past six months, the market craze seems to have not appeared: the demand for footwear products worldwide has not increased significantly. Meanwhile, more and more orders are being pferred to China's neighboring countries and regions as well as Latin America with the pfer of production capacity.

Huang Wanyi, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Dongyi shoes industry Co., Ltd., said that when the EU began to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese shoes a few years ago, it had a great impact on the enterprises, because the affected shoes accounted for about 60% of the total export shoes of the enterprises.

However, the proportion has dropped to below 30%. "These exports are mainly made up by other countries and regions."

Some enterprises believe that the reason why the EU finally abandoned anti-dumping is not entirely because of the WTO ruling, but also the rising cost has greatly eliminated the competitive advantage of China's ordinary leather shoes.

Behind the shoes is the objective reality of the increase in the overall price increment of the traditional labor intensive enterprises in China.

The first three quarters of the trade figures released by the General Administration of Customs in mid October showed that the actual export volume of China's textile, clothing, shoes, toys and other labor-intensive products increased by only 2.8%, 3.2% and 0.6%, respectively.

"The market is relaxed, but the volume is difficult to go up. The reason is that many international competitors are strong."

Jiang Jinhua, vice president of Jiangsu High Hope International Group Corporation Limited, vice president of textile and garment export.

For many market participants, the shoe industry is like a signal for the movement of global labor-intensive industries. The export volume of China's shoes exceeds 8 billion pairs per year, equivalent to producing a pair of shoes for the whole world. A considerable part of the output is completed by large-scale or even large scale foreign investment enterprises, and these enterprises have been "the vanguard" of global industrial pfer.

"Before and after 2008, some foundry enterprises did shift. The main purpose is to circumvent the EU's anti-dumping rulings and other international trade frictions and trade barriers.

But things are quite different now.

The relocation and pfer of large scale foundry enterprises is mainly due to the rising prices of domestic production factors, affecting the global market layout and profitability of these capitals.

Guo Weiwen, Secretary General of China's anti dumping Federation of leather shoes, said.

Luo Chunyuan, commercial director of Zhejiang Taizhou Shoes Co., Ltd., said that unlike the recent years of rising costs, the price of the shoes in the European and American terminal market has not changed. This also means that manufacturers and traders have been compressing profit margins, which is not a permanent solution.

"We are local enterprises, relocation is not the first consideration, but those multinational enterprises and foreign investment factories are different. They are more motivated by profit and more accustomed to the global pfer of production capacity. Relocation will naturally become their priority."

Luo Chunyuan said.

When the low end capacity of foreign capital is pferred into a trend, how should China's industries and enterprises respond? Some enterprises choose to migrate through internal migration.

However, in the view of more enterprises, the competition of low end capacity has not much meaning.

It is a real test for China's traditional labor-intensive industries to maintain the "middle end capacity" of the labor-intensive industries in the future.

"We must realize that in terms of low end capacity, we have no advantage over the neighboring countries and regions.

In Europe and America, only five years ago, we could only see "made in China", but now, "made in Egypt" and "made in Vietnam" has been seen everywhere, even coming from behind.

The labor intensive industry has no way out, just by combining prices and manpower.

Jiang Jinhua said.

Jiang Jinhua said that in the high-end market is difficult to achieve overnight, low-end market competition is weak, the key to the survival of China's labor-intensive industries is to maintain the "middle end advantage", and get room for cushion, progress and development.

"Building a brand with certain influence, further strengthening the integrity of the industrial chain, and improving the ability to use science and technology are the" kan "enterprises must turn over.

Jiang Jinhua said.