International Clothing Festival Opens in East ChinaThe Fourth Ningbo International Costume Festival opened October 16 in Ningbo, a major coastal city in east China's Zhejiang Province.More than 10,000 clothing manufacturers, dealers and designers from over 20 countries, including Italy, Germany, France and the United States, are attending the festival. Festival organizers said that foreign companies have occupied more than 460 booths, accounting for nearly half of the total. During the annual event, international trade and investment talks will be held, along with a fashion design competition, a series of costume forums and fashion briefings. China's first generation of western-styled tailors grew up in Ningbo at the start of the century. The city has nurtured a group of famous brands, including "Shanshan" and "Younger." The city now has more than 1,600 export-oriented clothing manufacturing and processing companies. Their combined output accounts for 12 percent of the country's total. Some world-famous brands, like Maska, Pierre Cardin and Maxim, have based their workshops in the city, whose annual clothing export makes up a quarter of the country's total. |
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