The textile and apparel industries of China and Brazil are complementary to each other, which makes great room for further cooperation and mutual development, Mr. Wang Yu, vice president of China Textile Import & Export Chamber of Commerce, said in his keynote speech at the China-Brazil Textile and Apparel Brand Products Forum held in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo last month, according to a press release from China’s Ministry of Commerce.
China is Brazil’s first largest importing source of textile & apparel, and Brazil ranks no.19 on the list of China’s exporters. From 2008 to 2012, the bilateral trade volume in textile & apparel industry has increased by 1.3 times. Meanwhile, Brazil is China’s main source of cotton, and China’s cotton import from Brazil has maintained consecutive growth in recent years and increased by 14.1 times in 2008-12. Thus, the industries of both the countries are complementary to each other, which makes great room for further cooperation and mutual development, Mr. Yu said.
Although the volume of Brazil’s export to China is not very large, there is rapid growth. Moreover, with distinctive characteristics, Brazil’s products enjoy great potential in China’s market. China also needs further refinement to Brazil’s export to better satisfy the demand of both Brazil’s industry and market so as to learn from each other and realize win-win cooperation, Mr. Yu added.
Mr. Zhang Yankai, vice president of China Textile Association said China cannot develop without industrial integration and mutual cooperation with international society. Brazil’s apparel industry is relatively mature and has demands for material made in China, which leaves great room for cooperation in trade as well as production.
China has 1.3 billion people consumption market, which could offer many opportunities for China and Brazil to cooperate in clothing design, brand construction and market sales. In China, many entrepreneurs with abilities and conditions are considering building plants overseas and Brazil is one of the important destinations, Mr. Yankai said.
He was hopeful that China’s textile industry would be able to make use of the opportunity to deepen the communication with the textile industry in Brazil, get to know the market demand of South American countries centering on Brazil, clear the air and understanding between the industries, integrate resources and achieve complementary cooperation to benefit the industries in both Brazil and China.
Mr. Wang Qingyuan, commercial counselor at the Chinese embassy in Brazil, said in recent years, trade in textile and apparel has taken up higher percentage among trade between the two countries. He hoped that the textile industries in both countries can hold activities such as exhibitions, forums and technical exchanges to deepen the connections and communication and put their separate industrial chains’ advantages into full play.
“China’s textile and apparel market enjoys great potential and we expect that more enterprises from Brazil can enter into China’s market,” Mr. Qingyuan said.
The Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT) expects the per capita textile consumption in the country to increase to 20 kg in 2014 from 12.8 kg in 2012. With the income growth and stable economy development, fabrics, apparel and accessories consumption is expected to increase by 50 percent in the coming years, according to ABIT.
According to Custom Statistics of Brazil, total importation of textile and apparel amounted to US$ 6.4 billion in 2011, of which main categories were chemical/blended fabrics, woven apparel, chemical yarns, industry/functional textiles, trimming and accessories, etc.
