Since the beginning of this year, the RMB has continued to appreciate, the export tax rebate rate has been lowered, the prices of textile raw materials have risen, labor costs have been increased, and trade frictions have been constant. The export of textile and clothing in Suzhou has not been reduced, but has maintained a momentum of rapid growth.

According to Suzhou customs statistics, the export of textiles and clothing in the first half of the year was 2 billion 380 million US dollars, an increase of 21.1%, an increase of 5 percentage points over the same period last year.

Textile and clothing are traditional export products in Suzhou area, and 4.2% of clothing exports in the whole country come from Suzhou.

In the first half of this year, under the adverse effect of the export tax rebate rate reduction, the general clothing trade of the city exported 1 billion 720 million US dollars, an increase of 24.9%.

Of the garments exported, 28.2% were men's and women's suits, 18.9% were knitted pullovers, and the prices of export garments increased by 12.4% over the same period last year.

Foreign trade companies are the main force of clothing export in the city. Nearly 60% of the garments are sold to all parts of the world through foreign trade companies. Among them, Hengrun import and export company has become a large garment exporter in the city with more than US $100 million in export performance.

In several major export markets, although the United States was affected by the subprime crisis, clothing was a necessity for consumption. The city had little impact on US clothing exports. In the first half of this year, it exported 660 million US dollars, an increase of 17.7%. In the EU market, due to the abolition of quotas, the export volume of the EU in the first half of this year increased by 630 million yuan to 53%, and the EU has become a key trading partner of textile and clothing exports in Suzhou.

The current textile and garment industry is facing multiple pressures such as domestic policy adjustment and international market changes. The cost of garment exports continues to soar, and the profit margins of enterprises are constantly squeezed.

Under such a severe situation, Suzhou's textile and garment export enterprises and foreign trade companies, on the one hand, actively readjust the product mix, increase the added value of products, pform the export mode according to the international market, on the other hand, actively create their own brands, enhance the competitiveness of export garments, and have made remarkable achievements in traditional markets and emerging markets.

However, in the rapid development of the textile and garment export in the city, there are some problems that can not be ignored. For example, the homogenization and vicious competition of foreign trade companies, the weak capability of independent innovation, and the large number of OEM produced by the small processing fee will restrict the sustainable and stable development of Suzhou's textile and garment export.