China's textile and clothing exports rose to US$12.72 billion in
November, up by 30.85 percent from November last year, the highest
monthly growth in two years, Customs figures show.
However, experts warned against believing the high indicated a
new wave of rapid export growth. "It's only a temporary flourishing
before fading away," the China Securities Journal reported
on Monday.
The newspaper, run by Xinhua, attributed the hike to export
firms that were catching their last chance to benefit from higher
export tax rebates.
The Ministry of Commerce announced in September that tax rebates
for textile exports would be cut from 13 to 11 percent, but
companies that signed export contracts before Sept. 14 and cleared
their goods through the customs before Dec. 14 could still claim
the original tax rebates.
The government had hoped the measure would force domestic
textile firms to be more aware of technical innovations and to
develop more products with proprietary intellectual property
rights.
The move coupled with the appreciation of Renminbi, however, has
pushed Chinese textile manufacturers to mark down their prices this
year to sustain their exports and offset the negative impact of the
rising yuan.
"The sudden hike in November will not last long. A decline will
appear in December," said the newspaper, adding that overcapacity
would continue to haunt the industry despite the rising domestic
demand.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show retail sales
of clothing in China climbed 21.5 percent in November. The growth
was 7.4 percentage points higher than the average.
In the future, the focus of China's textile and clothing
industries would gradually shift from abroad to home, said the
newspaper.
After the European Union and the United States set caps on
China's textile exports in January, more than 69 percent of
China-made textiles and clothing have gone to the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Republic of Korea and African
countries.
As the textile industries of India, Pakistan and ASEAN are
developing fast, domestic competitors could soon lose their
comparative advantages in costs, it said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2006)