Amid government's decision to devaluate yuan against the dollar, China’s exports of textiles and apparel further witnessed a double-digit decline in July even after it managed to narrow month-by-month losses in the second quarter.

According to latest figures released by the General Administration of Customs, China’s exports of textiles and apparel dropped by 10.2 per cent year-on-year in July to $30.35 billion. The export of textiles declined by 5.9 per cent to $9.51 billion, while that of apparel dropped by 12.4 per cent to $ 17.74 billion.

Experts point out that since both China’s Export Leading Indicator and New Orders Index of China’s foreign trade declined in July, the prospects of textile and apparel exports in the third quarter are not optimistic. In the first seven months of this year, China’s exports of textiles and apparel totaled $155.62 billion, down 4.4 per cent from a year earlier. The export of textiles dropped by 1.5 per cent to $62.42 billion, while the export of apparel declined by 6.2 per cent to $ 93.2 billion.

However, despite all reports and studies pointing at how falling currency, rising raw material and labour costs in China are impacting the country’s apparel market, forecast by Euromonitor says, the country will exceed the United States to become the world’s largest apparel market by 2019.

Customs.gov.cn