In the first quarter of 2018, the domestic market for China’s textiles and apparels grew at a faster pace. Exports of textile and apparel grew in both volume and value. In the first quarter, the main business income of textile enterprises above a designated size saw year-on-year rises of 3.1 per cent. Revenues of textile machinery industry, technical textile industry and home textile industry increased 16.8 per cent, 7.1 per cent and seven per cent year-on-year.

The textile and clothing industry in China has eight major categories: garments, cotton fabrics, chemical fabrics, wool fabrics, silk fabrics, knitted fabrics, textile machinery and bast fiber. Textile fiber production in China accounts for 54.36 per cent of the world’s share. As much as 64.2 per cent of the world’s chemical fibers, 64.1 per cent of synthetic fibers and 26.2 per cent of cotton are produced in China.

The textile and clothing industry is seeing steady investment growth over the last few years. China is playing an increasingly important role as a textile supplier for apparel exporting countries in Asia. Bangladesh’s textile imports from China, measured by value, rose from 39 per cent in 2005 to 47 per cent in 2015. Similar trends can be seen in Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and other developing countries in Asia.