2014, it was a turbulent year for the textile industry in Asia - the surge in wages of Chinese workers, the riots in Kampuchea and the collapse of factories in Bangladesh. These negative news made the Asian textile industry a top priority, and also reflected that the Far East's textile industry is entering the pition period.

Reporters learned that China is no longer a cheap clothing country, because in the coastal areas of the main garment industry center, the wages of workers are about 500 dollars a month, and inland areas are 250 dollars, so foreign countries in recent years.

Retailers have moved their factories to Bangladesh and Burma.

The clothing industry in Bangladesh has grown to $25 billion and employs 4 million 400 thousand workers.

Burma is US $5 billion 500 million, providing 650 thousand of employment opportunities.

But in these cheap clothing countries, workers began to fight for higher wages.

After a labour dispute, Burma raised the monthly salary of workers to 68 dollars, an increase of 77%.

In November 2014, the Ministry of labour of Bangladesh raised the minimum monthly salary of clothing workers to $128, an increase of $75, and the monthly salary was almost two times that of Burma.

For the global procurement from these countries

For giants (e.g. H&M, Inditex and WAL-MART), the slight rise in the wages of workers in these countries is minimal for the entire business model, because they include marketing, pportation, sales, customs duties and taxes, which account for only 2% to 3% of the total production cost.

The rise in wages made local

Profits have shrunk.

However, these garment retailers have found areas to replace Asia as production centers.

H&M, Tesco and Primark have already begun to purchase from Ethiopia, because there is no minimum monthly salary limit, and for unskilled workers, the monthly salary is only 35 to 40 dollars, much lower than that in Burma.

These foreign clothing merchants are very popular in African countries, and they also benefit a lot from the abundant local labor force and energy.

The clothing industry in Kenya is also developing. Although the country's monthly salary is about 120 dollars, the government has attracted the foreign businessmen with abundant rewards.

Observers say east African countries are expected to take the place of East Asia.

Center.

In contrast to East Asia, East African countries have lower clothing costs to Europe or the United States, in addition to cheap labour.

In addition, African countries signed a special trade agreement with the United States in 2000, and American clothing entered the African market for tax exemption.

With the development of local cotton industry in Africa, local resources can be purchased to further reduce costs.