The outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has profoundly affected the world economic development in 2020. Under the background that my country took the lead in containing the spread of the epidemic and quickly and fully realized the resumption of work and production and the market, through the joint efforts of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, Chinese textile and apparel export companies withstood the impact of the global international trade environment. The rapid growth of exports has become an important driving force for the growth of national trade in goods.

　　 China's textile and clothing foreign trade enterprises have experienced the tempering of 2020, and their resistance to pressure has been significantly enhanced, and they have established strong confidence in achieving their export goals in 2021.

　　 Looking forward to 2021, what challenges will my country's textile and apparel foreign trade enterprises face in terms of exports, and what issues need attention?

　　 The expectation of RMB appreciation is worthy of attention

　　 As China took the lead in controlling the epidemic, the economy quickly recovered, and the RMB appreciated all the way. From June to December 2020, the renminbi began to appreciate, and the exchange rate of the renminbi against the US dollar rose by more than 6,000 points during these seven months. Looking forward to 2021, analysts believe that international capital favors RMB assets, and market forces should be in a state of promoting a strong appreciation of the RMB, and the market for RMB appreciation is likely to continue in the first half of the year.

　　 The depreciation of the U.S. dollar and the appreciation of the renminbi affect the nerves of export textile and clothing enterprises. "All export companies sign US dollar orders. If the renminbi continues to appreciate, some orders will have no profit at all, or even a loss." A person in charge of a medium-sized textile and apparel export company from Jiangsu said, coupled with the increase in raw materials and the increase in shipping freight The pressure of business operations has increased sharply.

　　 A business person from a small foreign trade enterprise engaged in the export of textiles such as masks in Zhejiang said that the recent appreciation of the renminbi has reduced the company’s profits by 7% to 8%, and some of its products are at a loss. The orders received before can no longer increase the price, and the losses caused by exchange rate fluctuations can only be carried by yourself.

　　 The person in charge of a medium-sized enterprise specializing in the export of children's clothing in Fujian said that in order to avoid exchange rate risks, the price of the company's export products increased by about 5%. Some customers could not accept the price increase, which caused the company to lose some orders. "Some of our products have very low profits. Customers are unwilling to bear the risk of exchange rate fluctuations, and companies cannot sell at a loss," she said.

　　 It is worth noting that some large foreign trade companies have used financial instruments such as foreign exchange locks and hedging to avoid risks. Small and medium foreign trade companies lack the financial resources and professional skills to deal with frequent exchange rate fluctuations. How to deal with exchange rate fluctuations has become a hurdle for small and medium-sized export textile and clothing foreign trade enterprises in 2021. If the RMB continues to appreciate, it may also affect the good export situation since the second half of 2020.

　　In order to avoid the risk of exchange rate fluctuations, some professionals suggest that you can also choose RMB-denominated settlement or appropriate foreign currency-denominated settlement instead of relying too much on USD. At present, some textile and clothing foreign trade enterprises have begun to try to use RMB settlement to avoid the risks brought by the fluctuation of the US dollar exchange rate. For buyers from Southeast Asian countries, Chinese export textile companies have actually begun to use RMB for settlement very early. In addition, many foreign trade textile companies in Africa also use RMB for settlement. In recent years, the acceptance and scope of RMB has been increasing, which deserves the attention of export textile enterprises.

　　Export potential in the post-epidemic era needs to be tapped

　　 2020 is a special year. Affected by the epidemic, my country's textile and apparel exports will experience large fluctuations. In 2020, the sudden new crown pneumonia epidemic caught the world by surprise. Many countries in the world are still under severe impact from the epidemic, and when the market economy is recovering slowly, my country will give full play to its institutional advantages to contain the epidemic in a timely manner, and export textile enterprises are not afraid Difficult, the first time to organize production and vigorously deliver epidemic prevention materials to all parts of the world. Driven by the global demand for anti-epidemic materials, the export of textiles, including masks, in the first half of last year did play a greater role in promoting my country's overall export of textiles and clothing. Subsequently, due to the second wave of the epidemic, overseas production was facing stagnation. The huge "magnetic attraction" formed by the stable industrial chain supply chain system of my country's textile and apparel industry caused some international orders to return, and quickly assumed the responsibility of producing orders for the world. The important task is that since the third quarter of last year, many garment foreign trade factories began to recover or saturate orders, and even burst orders.

　　 Then, in 2021, can this kind of export stamina be maintained and continued?

　　It is foreseeable that, first, the direction of procurement in the international market will return to normal as the epidemic improves. Due to China's strong and stable supply capacity during the outbreak of the epidemic, the world's major export markets temporarily stopped the pace of outsourcing procurement and returned to China, and the international market share of Chinese textiles and apparel has rebounded. However, with the gradual relief of the epidemic, markets such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan have regained their sights on ASEAN, South Asia, and countries and regions with geographical advantages, and the market share of Chinese products may fall. Export textile companies need to focus on changes in purchasing trends, make arrangements in advance, and respond well.

　　 The second is that anti-epidemic materials are still an important force driving export growth. At present, the world has not yet emerged from the shadow of the epidemic, and the situation remains uncertain. Although my country's exports of defense-related epidemic materials have declined during the peak period, they will still maintain the characteristics of large-scale and high-growth, and they will still be the main force driving export growth. According to WTO data, in many major markets, China’s masks account for more than 2/3 of the country’s total imports of masks. Among them, in the United States and Italy, Chinese masks account for nearly 3/4 of the total imports of masks from these two countries. , And it accounts for 80% in Japan.

　　 Third, the textile and apparel cross-border e-commerce platform will be further developed in the post-epidemic era. Affected by the epidemic, online purchases and transactions in 2020 have become the main way for export foreign trade textile enterprises to open up orders, and online exhibitions have received more attention. Some experts predict that foreign trade orders will become more fragmented, small orders will become the mainstream, and the living space of pure trade foreign trade companies will become narrower. China's foreign trade textile companies, especially B2B foreign trade companies, should adjust their product lines and reposition their customer base.

　　 "From outside to inside" to seek high-quality benefits

　　 At present, accelerating the formation of a new pattern of high-quality development with the main domestic cycle as the main body and the mutual promotion of the domestic and international double cycles has become the theme of my country's economic and social development. Not long ago, nearly 70 foreign trade companies in Hunan participated in the "Export Products Transferred to Domestic Sales" event. The purpose of this event is to give full play to the guiding role of the government and the role of the main body of the enterprise. With the help of the pilot market platform for new foreign trade formats, foreign trade companies can help foreign trade companies cope with operational risks during the epidemic period, build a domestic sales platform, accurately match domestic consumer demand, and support marketable export products to expand domestic market.

　　 Actually, starting from the Sino-US trade friction, some textile and apparel foreign trade enterprises consciously shifted their focus from foreign trade to domestic trade. The person in charge of a fabric manufacturer in Zhejiang said that in previous years, their orders consisted of 80% of foreign trade and 20% of domestic trade. However, last year was affected by the epidemic on the one hand and consciously opened up new customers on the other. Therefore, they gradually shifted their focus to domestic trade. On the one hand, domestic trade currently accounts for more than 70% of the total trade volume.

　　 It should be noted that today's global economic environment is still deeply affected by the epidemic, and the textile and apparel industry is facing the dilemma of slow recovery of the terminal consumer market, especially the poor overseas economy has led to the unemployment rate and the number of bankrupt companies in some countries are still rising. Once the epidemic is repeated, foreign trade activities can easily press the "pause" button again. Therefore, my country's textile and apparel export companies should not put eggs in a basket. While developing overseas orders, they should also focus on developing the inland market, actively seeking high-quality benefits and sharing operational risks. The transition to high-quality development is the way to realize the new development pattern of "double cycle".

　　 A large textile and apparel export company from Jiangsu has done a good job in this regard. In terms of external circulation, this company relies on the advantages of a complete industrial chain to overcome difficulties, accelerate its transformation and upgrading, and continue to enhance its competitiveness in the restructuring of the global industrial chain. Among them, the supply chain platform economic model has become a new bright spot in the growth of foreign trade. It takes the economic model of the supply chain platform as the core of transformation and upgrading, and extends to both ends of the industrial chain. The efficiency of the supply chain is continuously enhanced. It actively takes advantage of its own advantages and the comparative advantages and market space of other countries and regions to promote the extension and upgrade of the supply chain. A new pattern of international division of labor with high-start intervention and extended high-end links.

　　In terms of internal circulation, this company gives full play to the advantages of the domestic large-scale market, in-depth research and judgment of market trends, using leading technology and mid-to-high-end functional products to expand and strengthen the domestic market, and explore new growth points.