"Made In China" Shoes Exports, Remove Shadows Continue To Develop

As one of the main export commodities in China, the export volume of shoes has a good performance every year. However, since China's accession to the WTO in 2001, the volume of foreign trade has been increasing year by year. The trade frictions against "made in China", such as anti-dumping, countervailing and technical barriers have emerged. These unfair trade remedy measures and all kinds of trade barriers have cast a strong shadow on the export of China's shoe products.

Our country Shoe enterprises In 2011, there was also a glimmer of good news. In March 31st, the European Union formally abolished the 16.5% high anti-dumping duty on Chinese shoe products for 5 years after being jointly accused by China's shoe manufacturers and WTO. After six months, the WTO formally ruled that the EU's high anti-dumping duties on shoes exports to China were in violation of WTO principles. But the world is in the overlapping period of the European debt crisis and the post financial crisis. The market demand is generally low and consumption power is still fatigued. It is foreseeable that the European and American countries will continue to build unreasonable trade barriers on China's shoes, such as green, safety and environmental protection.

First, the current situation of China's shoe products export

It ranks first in the total export of light industrial handicrafts in China. It is also one of the ten largest export products in China. Because of its low price and good quality, Chinese shoes are popular among consumers in the international market, and the market share has been expanded to about 65%. According to the statistics of the Customs Department, in 2010, China exported 35 billion 600 million yuan of footwear, an increase of 27% over the same period last year. In 2011, the total export footwear products of our country exported 41 billion 720 million dollars, an increase of 17.1% compared with the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2012, footwear exports amounted to 9 billion 80 million US dollars, up 2.8% over the same period last year.

But in our country footwear In the export structure, the proportion of high-grade footwear products with independent intellectual property rights is very low. Generally, OEM production and a large number of low-end products are the main products, so the export of 1 pairs of shoes has an average profit margin of only $2.8. While China shares its depleted demographic dividend and production data to the world, it has benefited little from itself. The "made in China" industry has entered the era of high cost. Under the impact of foreign trade barriers, the number and volume of footwear exports in China have been showing signs of stagnation since 2011. The hidden worries behind the gorgeous figures are accelerating.

Two, the new situation of China's shoe products export at home and abroad

World footwear manufacturers can be roughly divided into three categories: the first category is represented by China, Vietnam and other countries, and has strong competitive advantages. It occupies a large share in the world shoe market. The second category is represented by the United States, and the shoe industry in the country has few left to brand output, and the third is a traditional shoe making country represented by Italy, Spain and other European countries.

European and American countries are losing the competitive edge of the international market because of their high prices and the current global economic downturn. But they do not want to give up the territory of the shoe industry, and frequently publish the news of the surge in the number of imports of Chinese shoes to protect their industries, causing a collective panic in the footwear industry in the region.

At the same time, emerging markets such as ASEAN and Latin America have a cheaper advantage than "made in China". At the same time, they spend huge sums of money to speed up the matching of infrastructure, attempting to replace China's position in the middle and low end industries and occupy the market share of "made in China". For example, Vietnam has replaced China as Nike's largest sports shoe production base in the world, and some European and American businessmen have begun transferring orders to countries such as India, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Our country Shoe products Facing the new situation at home and abroad, the urgent need for China's foreign trade research and policy makers to co-ordinate two international and domestic markets, calmly analyze the complexities of opportunities and challenges, and dig out the underlying causes that affect the export of Chinese shoes.

(1) the new situation of foreign countries, 1., the poor international economic environment, slowed down the pace of international economic development, and insufficient demand for foreign trade in shoes and clothing, which has a direct impact on China's foreign trade volume.

At present, the European countries are in the upgrading stage of the European debt crisis, the market demand is generally depressed, and the consumption ability is continuously fatigued. Many shoe companies reflect foreign partners who have normal contacts before. Now, except for small orders, short periods, low prices and urgent orders, the minimum volume has been bargaining since 2012.

2. the United States will continue to levy a duty rate of 7.5% or 12.5% on footwear with textile outsole in accordance with the "interpretation of footwear with some textile materials or rubber outsole". The United States clothing and Footwear Association (AAFA) submitted its comments to the US Customs and Border Protection Bureau (CBP) in 2011. It adopted the "interpretation of some rubber or plastic outsole shoes with textile materials". It is required that footwear with textile outsole will be collected in December 3, 2011 if the textile materials used on the sole of the footwear are more than 50%, and the 7.5% or 12.5% tax rate will continue to be collected theoretically. To cope with this change, CBP has also developed a new US Customs Tariff (HTSUS) note to ensure that footwear manufacturers can not enjoy this low tariff by adding textile outsole in their shoes.

3. as China vigorously develops Latin America and other emerging markets, especially since January 1, 2010, after the formal launching of the China ASEAN free trade area covering 1 billion 900 million population, it has opened up a growth point for China's shoe exports. From the statistics of customs statistics, the export of footwear to ASEAN from various ports in China has increased rapidly since 2011. The trade volume with ASEAN in the first quarter of 2012 has been enjoying 9.2% growth, and ASEAN's position as China's third largest trading partner has been further consolidated. In addition, China's trade growth with emerging market countries has also maintained a high level of growth, with 8.8% growth in BRICs exports.

4. the technical barriers to trade imported from European and American countries are emerging one after another. In recent years, some countries have put forward stricter restrictive instructions for leather and leather products, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, methyl esters of fumaric acid, organotin, lead, six valent chromium and identification certification, which are harmful to human body and environment. Such as polymethyl benzene, fumaric acid, methyl ester, organotin, lead, six valent chromium and identification certification. In order to avoid the risk of compensation for the negative effects of certain chemicals on human health, international distributors impose strict limits on the import of leather products from developing countries.

5. the London Olympic economy has brought a beautiful vision to our famous brand sports shoes enterprises. The Beijing Olympics has mobilized the biggest consumer enthusiasm of Chinese consumers, stimulated sales of sports footwear, and made PEAK, Anta, XTEP, Hongxing Erke, Lining and other major sports shoes enterprises full of money. For China's famous brand footwear enterprises, it is hard to conclude from the Olympic Games cake of Adidas, Nike and other old sports shoes enterprises. {page_break}

(two) the new situation in China

1. footwear costs continue to rise, the profit margins are further compressed and market share continues to decline. The cost of footwear materials, including cotton, rubber, leather and logistics costs, has risen sharply in recent years with the impact of inflation. The supply structure of China's rural labor force is changing from "unlimited supply" to "Limited surplus". The labor increment between 16 and 64 years old decreased from 13.6% to 13.6% per year between 2004 and 2011, and is expected to stop growing in 2015, that is, the demographic dividend is gradually disappearing. Therefore, since 2010, more than 30 provinces in China have raised the minimum wage standard. The average monthly wage of shoemaker workers is more than 1500 yuan, and some factories even give more than 2000 yuan. According to statistics from the International Labour Organization, the wages of Indonesian workers are 148 dollars / month, Vietnam is 85 dollars / month, and Kampuchea is only 61 dollars, which is far lower than that of our country. The high cost of labor has gradually reduced the price advantage of China's shoes exports, and some European and American businessmen have begun to transfer orders to lower cost countries such as India, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

2., the continued downward trend of credit rating in Europe and the United States has led to the pressure of appreciation of the renminbi. The major shoe companies are afraid to rush to take up the list of foreign trade, so as to avoid losses caused by exchange rate fluctuations.

For export-oriented enterprises such as footwear exports, the real effective exchange rate has risen by 1%, and the export / sales ratio has decreased by about 0.3%~0.5%. Therefore, the exchange rate is only a factor, and the raw material cost of raw materials has risen by at least 10%~20% for the whole year. At the same time, the currencies of other countries in the world have continued to appreciate against the US dollar. This double exchange loss is more serious to export enterprises than the increase of raw materials and labor costs.

3. the integrity crisis has damaged the healthy and orderly development of China's footwear industry. In the debt crisis of private enterprises appearing since last year, the credit of Chinese businessmen seems to once again drop to "freezing point". As a member of Chinese businessmen, Chinese shoe makers can not be left alone. Since last year, a number of shoe manufacturers in Wenzhou, Guangdong and Fuzhou have gone through hundreds of incidents of shutting down and shutting down businesses due to the debt crisis. The lack of internal capital flow leads to debt crisis. The demand for cash settlement by external trade parties has created a "internal and external" situation for Chinese shoe enterprises, resulting in more serious financial pressure. The active and passive default of enterprises has increased the credit again, which has created a vicious circle and seriously interfered with the healthy and orderly development of China's shoe enterprises.

4., the independent innovation ability and brand awareness of the shoe enterprises are insufficient. The low-end products in the repeated production are very passive in the market competition. On the one hand, the product quality of domestic shoe making enterprises is very serious. The products are lack of differentiation. Basically, they imitate and modify products with others' products, which results in similar products in terms of style, material, grade, target and market, and most of them focus on the production of low grade shoes, resulting in serious excess of low-grade products and vicious competition.

Three. Some views on expanding the export scale of China's shoe products

The prosperity of the world economy needs communication and cooperation, rather than restriction and closure. In the interest of mutual benefit and win win rules, countries can achieve long-term and balanced development of the market economy. However, China's shoes, which are favored by consumers from all over the world, have been dragged into a long period of freezing point by the various trade barriers set up by some countries and enterprises in the short-term interest. If China's shoe enterprises do not fundamentally reverse the weak development of design capability, lack of multinational brands, low product quality, low technology content, and independent guidance to the market, the development of consumption ability is still lacking. The price competition and quantity expansion will continue to participate in the market competition, which will only further develop the healthy development of China's footwear products export trade. To take advantage of the EU's termination of the high anti-dumping duties and the 2012 London Olympic Games, optimize the export structure of our shoe products and bring warm exports to our shoes exports. I believe that in the coming period, the Chinese government, shoe manufacturers and trade associations can exert their efforts in the following aspects:

1., enterprises themselves should strive to expand their own brands, so as to transform their shoes from "big cargo" to "Goodyear". 5 years ago, we were proud of "made in China", but now "made in Egypt" and "made in Vietnam" can be seen everywhere, and the "made in China" industry has entered the era of high cost. If we are still in the middle and low labor intensive production capacity, price and manpower, there will be no way out for "made in China". Chinese shoe enterprises only change their development ideas, adjust their industrial structure, and introduce the world's advanced equipment and technology to develop their own brands and upgrade their taste with top grade leather materials, special accessories and new technology, so that they can be upgraded from "heavy goods" that are not strong enough to wear to "Goodyear" high-grade products, which are comfortable, wearable, and stylish.

2. enterprises and colleges and universities can strengthen the combination of schools and enterprises to achieve strong talents. Whether enterprises want to change their development ideas, adjust their industrial structure, or establish a global marketing network, the key lies in the absorption, cultivation and application of talents. The individuation, customization and high addition of shoe products also put forward higher requirements for the comprehensive quality of employees. In order to solve the problem of shortage of talents, enterprises can recruit and organize directional training courses, select excellent employees to return to school, and jointly train schools and enterprises, and so on, so as to ensure that enterprises can get a steady stream of talent input and improve the quality of workers.

Based on this, we will gradually build up excellent talents in the field of network marketing, supply chain management, R & D design, industry operation, integrated management, commodity planning, brand marketing and so on.

3. governments at all levels should vigorously encourage and support the footwear industry to form a gathering area, highlighting the charm of "Chinese shoes". In addition to the policies of the central government, such as steady export rebates and trade financing, to support the enterprises in coping with the international financial and European debt crisis, local governments with relatively concentrated footwear export enterprises such as Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and Shandong should actively guide the relevant enterprises of shoe related enterprises in their jurisdictions to form clusters of shoes and finished products, shoe machines, shoe materials, leather, footwear chemical industry, mold development, shoe design, management consulting, image planning, marketing promotion, and export agents. In addition, we should vigorously support well-known brand enterprises with independent intellectual property rights, accelerate the upgrading of industrial structure, create superior brands, and highlight the charm of "Chinese shoes".

4. trade associations such as China Council for the promotion of international trade and China Light Industry Federation should give full play to their positive role in coordinating market resources, organizing forum activities and assisting government management, and strengthen contacts and exchanges with international trade organizations and major traders. We should make full use of the WTO/TBT notification system and WTO rules to guide enterprises to establish a crisis prevention system, use legal means to safeguard their rights and interests, and strive for a reasonable market position. As a non-governmental organization, trade associations are more likely than the government to organize relevant enterprises to carry out various summit forums, providing us with a platform to explore the latest technical regulations, standards and requirements for strengthening footwear products, and to strengthen the exchange of typical notification recall cases. As a result, it has a certain organizational form and has good hardware resources and a considerable number of senior analysts. It can help enterprises to collect, collate and analyze foreign footwear technical regulations, standards, conformity assessment procedures, publish timely warning information, and guide enterprises to actively respond to trade barriers, and strive for a reasonable market position.