In 2017, China's textile industry persisted in deepening supply side structural reform, striving to resolve various external risks, and overall maintained a stable and improving development trend. All economic operation indicators achieved positive growth, with some indicators accelerating compared to the same period last year. The quality and efficiency of operation steadily improved, and the results of transformation and upgrading gradually showed.

The production growth rate of the textile industry has slowed down, but the sales situation in both domestic and foreign markets has rebounded, indicating that the industry's production capacity and supply structure are constantly optimizing and adjusting. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the industrial added value of textile enterprises above designated size increased by 4.8% year-on-year in 2017, which is 0.1 percentage points lower than the same period growth rate in 2016. The industry's exports have shown a trend of stabilization and recovery. According to customs data, the total export value of textiles and clothing in 2017 reached 274.51 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%, and an increase of 8.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The domestic demand market continues to maintain stable growth, and online consumption continues to grow rapidly. In 2017, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, needles, textiles above the designated size in China increased by 7.8% year-on-year, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The retail sales of online clothing products in China increased by 20.3% year-on-year, an increase of 2.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

The textile industry operates with good quality and efficiency, and investment in transformation and upgrading continues to increase. In 2017, textile enterprises above designated size achieved a total main business income of 6893.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, and a growth rate increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year; The total profit achieved was 376.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, and the growth rate increased by 2.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. The sales profit margin of enterprises above designated size is 5.5%, 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year; The turnover rate of finished products is 20.8 times per year, and the total asset turnover rate is 1.5 times per year, both of which are basically the same as the same period last year; The proportion of three fees is 6.5%, slightly higher than the same period last year by 0.1 percentage points. Under the condition of stable operation and good quality and efficiency, the investment confidence of textile enterprises is generally stable. In 2017, the fixed assets investment of projects above 5 million yuan in the industry reached 135073 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2% year on year. Among them, the investment in the eastern region increased by 7.9% year-on-year, 2.4 percentage points faster than the same period last year, accounting for 87.2% of the national investment increment. Due to the relatively small amount of new production capacity in the eastern region, the rapid investment growth indicates that enterprises have a high enthusiasm for transformation and upgrading investment.

In 2018, the textile industry is expected to continue to maintain a stable development momentum, and the economic growth rate is expected to be basically comparable to 2017. Internationally, the global economy is showing signs of sustained recovery, with economic growth likely to accelerate slightly compared to 2017. Consumer confidence will increase as the economy improves, and stable commodity prices are also conducive to production recovery. It is expected that the export situation of the textile industry is expected to further improve compared to 2017. On the domestic side, the national economy will continue to maintain a stable growth trend, providing a healthy and favorable economic environment for domestic consumption; The continuous promotion of the "Three Product Strategy" will promote textile enterprises to accelerate adjustment and upgrading, continuously enrich product varieties, improve quality, increase brand added value, provide more choice space for domestic consumption of textiles and clothing, and better tap into domestic demand potential.

At the same time, the development of the textile industry still faces many uncertain factors, and various risk issues still need to be strengthened and addressed. The pressure of high costs has not been alleviated, and the prices of factors such as electricity and labor in China are still significantly too high compared to countries such as Vietnam. The problem of difficult and expensive financing has not been effectively solved for a long time, and the impact of "replacing business tax with value-added tax" on textile enterprises is limited. The international market competition is becoming more intense, and in 2017, China's textile industry's share in the traditional market is still losing. From January to November, its share in the three major textile and clothing import markets in the United States, Japan, and Europe decreased by 0.4, 0.9, and 0.9 percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year. This trend can still be continued in 2018. Domestic environmental regulatory measures are becoming stricter, and textile enterprises have a heavy burden of environmental investment. In some regions, production suspension is the sole regulatory measure, which limits the production and investment activities of enterprises, becoming a bottleneck constraint for the stable development of the entire textile industry.

In 2018, the textile industry will follow the overall tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, further deepen the supply side structural reform, accelerate transformation and upgrading, actively resolve various risks and contradictions, and strive to ensure that the industry operates stably and the quality of development steadily improves, making due contributions to promoting the sustained and healthy development of the economy and society.

(Source: China Textile Economic Information Network)