In the context of the global economic recovery, Chinas textile and garment industry has shown a steady growth trend. According to the latest data released by the China Textile Importers Association, Chinas textile and garment trade volume reached $711.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.3% in comparison. This growth is mainly due to increased exports to the U.S., ASEAN and EU markets, showing strong competitiveness of Chinas textiles in the international market.

Specifically, total exports amounted to $659,1 billion, with a growth rate of 1.8%, while total imports reached $52,4 billion, with a growth of 9%. This contrast not only reflects the strong momentum of Chinas textile exports, but also shows an increase in domestic market demand for high-quality textile imports. In the first quarter, Chinas textile and clothing exports to the United States, ASEAN and the European Union grew by 3.5%, 6.2% and 0.6% respectively, while exports to Japan showed a narrowing trend, which may be related to the heating of consumption in the Japanese market.

In terms of commodity categories, of the four major export goods, the exports of welded lines declined by 1.8% compared to the same, while the exports of fabrics, household textiles and clothes grew by 10%, 22% and 12.6% respectively. This data shows that, despite global market demand fluctuations, Chinas textile industry is still able to cope with market changes by adjusting product structure and enhance its international competitiveness.

However, March data showed that textile garment exports failed to keep up with the growth of the previous two months, with exports of $208,2 billion, imports of $18,6 billion, and overall trade of $226,8 billion, down 16.1% compared to the same year, which may be mainly due to higher base figures in the same period last year and the uncertainty of the current global economic recovery.

Analysts pointed out that while Chinas garment exports were stable in the first quarter of this year, the industry is still under pressure and needs to accelerate transformation and upgrading and adjust the global supply chain to solidify international market share.

Despite the challenges, the recovery trend in Chinas domestic economy, the gradual stability of enterprise expectations, and the rapid development of new industries such as cross-border e-commerce, all bring new opportunities for textile and clothing export companies.

Overall, Chinas textile and garment industry is in a critical transformation period.Through continued product and market innovation, as well as more flexible supply chain management, Chinas textile and garment industry is expected to continue to play an important role in the global market and continued trade growth.