From silk to cloth to clothes -- Zhejiang Keqiao textile industry observation

In early winter, in the production workshop of Zhejiang Xingfa Chemical Fiber Group Co., LTD., located in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, the fiber production equipment is running at full power, and the mechanical arm will transport batches of chemical fiber products that have been packed to the designated position. Soon, these products will be shipped across the world.

"One small chemical fiber after another has now gained a firm foothold in the Belt and Road countries and regions." Li Xingjiang, chairman of Zhejiang Xingfa Chemical Fiber Group Co., LTD., said that in 2021, the company's exports of products for the "Belt and Road" countries and regions exceeded 200 million yuan, and in addition to conventional varieties, they are also expanding the market in the direction of high-end chemical fiber products.

Huang Yong, general manager of Shaoxing Mulinsen Textile Co., LTD., who is also doing textile business in Keqiao, also achieved good results in the trade of the "Belt and Road" countries and regions: More than 80% of the $250 million in export sales generated by companies in 2021 came from Belt and Road countries and regions, and companies have achieved 15% to 20% sales growth for 15 consecutive years.

Unlike Li Xingjiang, who focuses on the production of "silk", Huang Yong focuses on the processing and distribution of "cloth". In 2017, he invested in the construction of a printing and dyeing enterprise in Indonesia, and the gross profit of the enterprise has been more than 30% in recent years. Many customers evaluate that the products produced by Huang Yong, a "going out" enterprise, are cost-effective.

Compared with the feelings of entrepreneurs, a set of data provided by Keqiao District Commerce Bureau more intuitively confirms the local momentum and advantages in the "Belt and Road" trade: in the first three quarters of 2022, Keqiao's foreign trade exports were 96.67 billion yuan, an increase of 25.9%; Among them, the export value to the countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" was 56.223 billion yuan, an increase of 28.2%.

Why can Keqiao textile products sell "The Belt and Road"? In the view of Li Chuanhai, president of Zhejiang Printing and Dyeing Industry Association, this is first and foremost inseparable from the quality of local entrepreneurs who dare to fight. "Relying on the 'four thousand spirit' of going through countless hardships, saying thousands of words, traveling thousands of mountains and rivers, and trying to do everything possible, Keqiao Textile people have taken every step very solid." "Mr. Li said.

Like many of his peers, Huang Yong is a "restless" person, he strives to visit customers in more than 10 countries every year, and his business footsteps cover all corners of the world. Despite the impact of the epidemic, he is still looking for opportunities to visit countries such as Turkey this autumn to understand the first-line market.

"In the Keqiao textile industry, we have a consensus: to achieve the goal of 'cloth' full of the world, entrepreneurs must first do 'step' full of the world." Huang Yong said.

Second, the local government is thinking hard about the design of policies to help enterprises "go to sea". Wu Ping, full-time vice president of Keqiao District Council for the Promotion of International Trade, introduced that the local government has created a "foreign trade sharing living room" this year to attract foreign trade related service subjects to settle in, vertically open up the government-enterprise exchange channel, horizontal docking of the market and enterprise needs, guide enterprises to explore more new models of foreign trade development, and extend the service to help enterprises to the "last meter".

"In 2022, Keqiao timely fulfilled the policy of benefiting enterprises, benefiting enterprises 4,157 times, realizing the 'one network release' of information resources, and the 'one network acceptance' of award and supplement applications, ensuring that enterprises should enjoy the policy dividend." Keqiao District commerce Bureau director Shen Qinmei said.

Chen Hao, secretary of Keqiao District Party Committee, said that Keqiao holds the World Cloth Conference every year to help enterprises climb the upstream of the global textile industry chain, hold self-organized exhibitions in Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia and other places, and set up "Shaoxing Keqiao Museum" in well-known exhibitions in the United States, France, Italy and other places, keeping up with the international trend, so that enterprises "go to sea" more stable and far.

Tang Jianxiang, general manager of Heng World Bank Fashion Design Co., LTD., has been engaged in women's fabric trading business in Keqiao for 30 years, and now he is determined to set up his own men's brand. "Those of us who have made a fortune in Keqiao by fabric always have a 'complex' in our hearts, that is, we must strive to weave the 'one piece of cloth' in our hands into the world-renowned 'Chinese clothes'." Tang Jianxiang said.