Textile and Apparel Weekly April 12, 2013 EXTRACT Content: Yulin Invest CNY 2.1 Billion to Forge Textile Industrial Park Manufacturing index points to growing recovery Second Sight Surprise jump in March imports Yulin Invest CNY 2.1 Billion to Forge Textile Industrial Park DATE: 2013-04-12 Invested by a private enterprise, "Yulin Wool and Cashmere Industrial Base" recently inaugurated. This industrial base will become a new textile town in Yulin, Sha anxi Province. It is reported that during the 12th "Five-year Plan" period (2011-2015), Yulin will revitalize local textile industry. By taking the advantages of rich wool resources and geographical location, it will set up the largest "wool cold-proof coat production base" in China and the largest "wool and cashmere industrial cluster" in the northwest of China. Meanwhile, it will also set up "China Yulin Wool Clothes Market", which will be the first of its kind in the northwest areas. These projects will cost a total investment of CNY 2.15 billion. Source: China Textile Leader via CNTEX Manufacturing index points to growing recovery DATE: 2013-04-12-1 - Improved production bodes well for overall economy, analysts say Industrial activity maintained a moderate recovery in March, with economic indicators reflecting positive growth. "The economic environment in Europe seems to have improved, but it has not brought us the sharp increase in orders we had expected for the first quarter," said Zhang Wenhua, owner of a company in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, that exports machinery to Europe. A bustling textile factory in Huaibei, Anhui province, reflects the growing momentum of China s manufacturing sector. Xie Zhengyi / For China Daily "We just hope there will be more growth in the next three months," Zhang said.
The purchasing managers index, a measure of economic expansion and contraction, reached 50.9 in March, slightly above the equilibrium mark of 50. The index rose to an 11-month high after hitting 50.4 in January and 50.1 in February. It has remained above 50 for six consecutive months. The National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reported on Monday that PMI subindexes for manufacturing output rose to 52.7, overall new orders to 52.3, and export orders to 50.9, the highest since May. The PMI for small enterprises jumped to 49.3 from 46 in February, reaching a 12-month high, though still in contraction. The PMI for large companies was 51.4, up from 51.3 in February, and that for medium-sized companies was 50.3, up from 48.8 in February. The slow recovery surprised some analysts, who expected the manufacturing PMI to rise to somewhere around 52 in March as many factories resumed full production after pausing for Chinese New Year in February. Lu Zhengwei, chief economist of Industrial Bank, said trends will continue toward moderate recovery. China needs to maintain steady macroeconomic policies, "neither too loose nor too tight", Lu said. The subindex of raw material purchasing prices dropped to 50.6 in March from 55.5 in February, and the raw material inventory also shrank by 2 points to 47.5. Liu Ligang, chief economist in China with ANZ Banking Group, said Chinese factories willingness to increase inventories of raw materials was still weak, which is also expected to add downside pressure to global commodity prices. Liu is worried about the economy s growth momentum. "Compared with the extent of the after-holiday rebound in past years, the recovery in March was noticeably weaker, resulting in an average PMI of 50.5 in the first three months, the same as the average in the fourth quarter of 2012," he said. HSBC Holdings Plc also released a separate manufacturing PMI reading based on its own survey, which posted 51.6 in March, up from 50.4 in February and 52.3 in January. "China s recovery continues, and it is mainly driven by the gradually improving domestic market demand," said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC. "The decline in input prices suggests a modest pace of demand recovery and moderating inflationary pressures. This, plus the lingering external headwinds, implies that Beijing policymakers should keep a relatively accommodative policy stance in place," he said. Lian Ping, chief economist with Bank of Communications, predicted that industrial output may rebound slightly in March to 10.1 percent year-on-year from 9.9 percent during January and February. "In the first quarter, industrial production may be described as sluggish, as demand was weak in both the domestic and overseas markets. Also, investment in the manufacturing sector remained far from strong," Lian said. In the coming few months, investment in infrastructure and properties is likely to accelerate, responding to the government s urbanization boost. With the steady pace of recovery in the US and Europe, this may also help China s overall economy improve, according to Lian. - 2 -
The economist forecast that China s GDP may grow by 8.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, up from 7.9 percent in the last quarter of 2012. Source: China Daily via CNTEX Second Sight DATE: 2013-04-11 Paul Lai believes that groovy spectacles allow their wearers to assume different identities. Rebecca Lo discovers that his Vintage Glasses are supplied to a client list that includes celebrities such as Zhang Ziyi and Andy Lau. One evening last year, I walked from an appointment in Hung Hom to meet some friends for dinner in Tsim Sha Tsui. Along the way, I passed a small shop with a simple yet striking glass front that showcased some of the most distinctive glasses I have ever come across. After being advised that the wire-rimmed spectacles I admired were over a hundred years old and not for sale, I found a pair called Rachel that I immediately coveted. They featured a built-in nose rest and the wide plastic lenses were framed in a fine granite pattern. A row of left facing swastika made up a decorative silver band along the earpieces - which I learned was one of Vintage Glasses' signatures. Another detail was its double set of vertical screws to connect the earpiece to the frame. Trying them on, I felt like a completely different person. Paul Lai grew up with two grand passions: films and glasses. The Hong Kong native loved that artists and actors wear funky spectacles that are more fashion statements than for correcting vision. In his favorite movies, glasses become an intrinsic part of the character that actors portrayed. Clark Kent, anyone? After leaving school, Lai lived for a few years in Tokyo and began to collect glasses that caught his eye from the wide selection available in Japan. He gravitated toward antique, contemporary and cool shades with beautiful details and craftsmanship. Though he got a day job when he returned to Hong Kong, he began to hawk glasses in front of trendy local boutiques featuring up and coming designers in Tsim Sha Tsui in the evenings. Lai was 18 years old and it was 1996. "I made a 3-by-3-foot cart out of wood to display my glasses," recalls Lai. Lai's cart can be easily opened and closed. It had wheels to facilitate quick escapes from occasional crackdowns by the cops. He found that after awhile, the boutiques themselves were his best and most reliable customers, as they dressed up their mannequins with his glasses. Many shop owners gave him a break and sold his glasses on consignment, finding that their style suited the trendy apparel they were offering. Lai finally ditched his cart after one too many arrests and began going door to door with suitcases full of glasses. He was one of the first to break into D-Mop and I.T. when those brands were still up and coming. - 3 -
"I wasn't afraid to enter any boutique, no matter how fancy, to sell my glasses. And I was lucky: A lot of times, the owners were there and were willing to look at my products," Lai acknowledges, chilling out in the sixth generation of Vintage Glasses' retail space, a small shop in a nondescript building in Tsim Sha Tsui where his father operates a sushi restaurant downstairs. His dog Yazoo keeps a steady watch, and there are just as many memorabilia to films and celebrities as there are glasses on display. A large chandelier dominates the room, and display cases include antique cabinets and handmade furnishings. Lai sources his products from Japan, Italy and England mainly. He will often find collectibles while on holidays in flea markets. Initially, he went to shops and sought out people about to retire so that he can buy their entire collection of eyewear. Then he began to go directly to their factories and began producing his own label, Vintage Glasses, in different manufacturing facilities across Guangdong province, Japan and southern Vietnam. His glasses are limited editions, with 100 being maximum quantity produced for any particular style, with prices ranging from HK$500 to HK$10,000 ($65-1,300) for a pair. He enjoys working on special projects such as commemorative editions of spectacles worn by legendary musicians such as Kurt Cobain and John Lennon. "I love dreaming up these types of projects to remember and pay homage to my favorite artists," Lai says. His shop is set up more like a showroom, with hundreds of models on display. He carries Linda Farrow's collection, perhaps best known for a whimsical black flip-up Mickey Mouse sunglasses design sported by Lady Gaga. Lai counts actress Zhang Ziyi as a customer, and sold her more than 20 pairs of glasses and sunglasses when she was in town in a private sale. In addition, he has worked closely with the Hong Kong film industry over the years supplying props for movies such as the upcoming Blind Detective starring Andy Lau. "The glasses are an integral part of his character, since he is blind in the movie," notes Lai. The actor has become a big fan of Vintage Glasses, and can often be seen sporting Lai's products off the set. Eason Chan's circular black specs made famous in his 2010 concert in Macao were also supplied by Vintage Glasses. For the 30th edition of the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011, Lai worked with the organizers on a campaign to outfit leading filmmakers and stars in custom-designed black and bronze glasses. "My customers can be roughly divided into two categories: The very fashion conscious and vintage glasses collectors," says Lai. Recent trends include thick plastic frames with metal trim along the earpiece and nose piece. As Lai enjoys strong relationships with his factories, he is able to produce very low quantities and entertain unusual requests or custom designs. "Collectors tend to be older and may not wear them but will seek me out every once in a while to see what new products I have. My best sellers are labels that have a lot of history - and those are the products that I love personally. If you're looking for Dior or Gucci, then you're looking in the wrong place." Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn via CNTEX - 4 -
Surprise jump in March imports DATE: 2013-04-11 Performance boosts confidence of achieving 2013 trade growth goal China's imports registered an unexpected increase in March, which trade officials attributed to stronger domestic demand. Exports grew 10 percent year-on-year in March to $182.19 billion despite still weak global demand, a performance that boosted officials' confidence they can achieve the 2013 trade growth target of 8 percent. Imports in March rose 14.1 percent from a year earlier to $183.07 billion, the highest in more than 10 years, the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday. China's overall trade gained 12.1 percent year-on-year with an unexpected trade deficit of $880 million, the first in more than a year. "The better-than-forecast imports signal the unleashing of domestic demand, and China's economic growth will significantly pick up from the second quarter," said Chen Hufei, a researcher at Bank of Communications. "Imports will keep expanding this year as the government rebalances foreign trade, and the trade surplus is likely to narrow," Chen said. China's growth rate hit a 13-year low of 7.8 percent in 2012, but signs of recovery have been seen since the fourth quarter. "Favorable policies of stabilizing foreign trade, introduced by the central government since the second half of last year, keep delivering positive effects, which is the major driver for the steady trade growth in the first quarter," customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng said at a news briefing on Wednesday. "The recovery of China's economic growth has been strengthened amid positive numbers for factory production in recent months. Exporters' confidence is also improving as enhanced productivity partly offsets the rise in costs," he added. Robust export growth in recent months was likely inflated by overseas hot money entering China disguised as trade, said a research note from Yao Weixiao and Sheng Xu, analysts at Lianxun Securities. Yang Liqiang, a researcher at the University of International Business and Economics, said China's trade restructuring and industrial upgrading added force to the surge in exports, in addition to the boost from the improving US market. Li Yiming, chairman of Shanghai Zhengzhang Import and Export, which owns design and sales departments in Shanghai as well as production lines inland, said, "Importing more high-end materials and products from overseas turned out to be essential for standing out in the domestic market, which we've focused on since last year." Li added that the company is setting up more-convenient trading procedures with overseas business partners to export high-end products. - 5 -
More enterprises are focusing on manufacturing personalized products to certain groups of middleclass consumers instead of receiving a large number of orders to meet the lower-class market demand, said Zheng Chen'ai, chairman of Zhejiang Aobenni Garment Group. "Although statistics showed that the export sector is getting better, we haven't seen a sharp increase in the number of orders coming yet," Zheng said. China's trade with the US, the country's biggest export market in 2012, surged 10.8 percent year-onyear in the first quarter while bilateral trade with ASEAN economies jumped 15.5 percent. Trade with the EU, China's biggest trade partner, declined 1.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter and that with Japan, China's fifth-largest trade partner, dived 10.7 percent. "Japan accounts for 7.3 percent of China's total foreign trade but bilateral trade has been declining since June owing to Japan's easing monetary measures, which weakened the competitive edge of Chinese exports," customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng said. "The import of raw materials from Japan, which are used in China's processing trade, have dropped significantly since the second half of last year amid disputes over the (Diaoyu) islands," he said. Chinese exporters, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are challenged by rising operational costs, yuan appreciation, financing difficulties and weak global demand. Lackluster global trade and rising probes targeting China are also taking their toll on Chinese trade, Zheng Yuesheng said. But "China's trade this year will be slightly better than 2012, and I'm confident about achieving the 8 percent growth target", he said. Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn via CNTEX - 6 -