The latest bulletin of Euratex, which includes an analysis of EU external trade in 2015 global sector, as well as main EU suppliers and customers, says the China’s leading position continued to be eroded by the increasingly vigorous entry of other production zones. The report says, while in 2010, its market share of EU textiles and clothing imports stood at 40.8 per cent, this had fallen to 35 per cent by 2015. The tendency for China seemed to be more and more textile exports whose production was facilitated by more sophisticated and productive machinery, at the expense of garments which are much more labour intensive.

Euratex reports that the Mediterranean countries, which have long enjoyed the advantage of their proximity to the EU-28, have experienced the same scenario as China. Although this area was still a major supplier, its share had contracted from more than 20 per cent in 2009 to 18 per cent in 2015.

According to the report, the main beneficiary was the SAARC zone, which has gone in the opposite direction to China since 2010. From 19 per cent in 2010, its market share of textiles and clothing imports in 2015 was 24.6 per cent. The ASEAN zone, which is smaller than the SAARC area, showed enough drive and economic dynamism to grow its share of textile and clothing imports from over 6 per cent in 2010 to 8.6 per cent in 2015.