In recent years, with rising production costs and stringent environmental regulations, an increasing number of manufacturers have shifted their production of lower-end products to the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asian countries. Their manufacturing operations in Hong Kong are focused on sophisticated and high value-added items, including quality ring-spun, open-end yarn, fine gauge knitted fabrics as well as complicated dyed and printed fabrics.
HK, a global sourcing hub of clothing
Hong Kong is both a leading production centre and a global hub for apparel sourcing. As such, Hong Kong's textiles industry is well positioned to serve both local and overseas clothing manufacturers and merchandisers. While many Hong Kong textile manufacturers and traders supply products to clothing manufacturers in Asia, particularly on the mainland, international textile companies are using Hong Kong as a gateway to promote their products to other Asian economies. For instance, Brazil’s fast-growing fashion industry is attempting to leverage Hong Kong’s trade platform to promote their textiles and apparels on the Chinese mainland.
The industry is capable of producing a wide range of quality products in bulk and specialised items within a short lead-time for varied applications. Its competitive edge lies in the superb quality and swift response to fashion trends and market demand. The industry has also earned a worldwide reputation for unique quality, expertise, workmanship and flexibility.
Hong Kong is an ideal one-stop shopping centre for buyers looking for new and trendy fabrics. Organised by the HKTDC, the Hong Kong International Home Textiles Fair offers a wide range of high quality products such as bathroom textile, bedroom textile, kitchen textile, carpet and floor covering. It is a specialist platform, giving exhibitors and buyers of home textiles immediate access to markets in Asia and beyond. The Hub, a bi-annual fashion and designer trade show, also showcases a wide range of products from textile, leather and fashion industries.
Boosting global export competitiveness
To enhance competitiveness in the global market, some Hong Kong textiles companies have formed strategic partnership with indigenous Chinese companies. For instance, some of them join force with mainland cotton suppliers in producing cotton textiles.
Hong Kong's textiles industry is a major supplier to the local clothing industry. Producing textiles locally, Hong Kong textile manufacturers have an advantage in accommodating orders from local garment manufacturers in short notice. Following a 9 per cent fall in 2014, Hong Kong’s textile exports decreased 6 percent in the first five months of 2015. Re-exports, accounting for almost 99 per cent of total textiles exports, experienced a decline of 6 percent, while domestic exports plunged by 41 per cent. With 75 per cent of the textile re-exports originating from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong’s re-exports of textiles of China origin registered a decrease of 3 per cent in January-May 2015.
Asia is the leading market for Hong Kong’s textiles, accounting for 93 per cent of textile exports in the first five months of 2015. Of the top 10 export destinations, nine of them are in Asia. The Chinese mainland remains the city’s predominant export market, accounting for 57 per cent of Hong Kong's textile exports in January-May 2015.
Other major export markets of Hong Kong textiles include Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the US, Thailand, India and the Philippines. In particular, because of Vietnam’s cheap labour and WTO membership, many foreign investors, including those from Hong Kong, have set up garment factories there. This gives rise to sustained demand for textile imports, making Vietnam the second largest market for Hong Kong’s textile exports, after the Chinese mainland.
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