China's Garment Industry BoomsOne hundred years ago, a Shanghai newspaper flashed a banner saying "How can they survive if they have no clothes on?"One hundred years later, China has become the largest producer and exporter of garments in the world. In old days, the textile industry was self-ample and everything was done by hand. The country only had 20 cotton mills that had an annual production capacity of 500,000 spindles 80 years ago. During the first few years after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the average annual production capacity was no more than five million spindles. As a result, the government adopted a ration policy by issuing cloth coupons. Over more than 30 years, the annual output of cotton cloth in the country increased to 15.35 billion meters by 1982, which was barely sufficient to meet the needs of the population. Cloth coupons were abolished the following year. Since the country began its open-up policy and reform in the late 1970s, the garment industry has grown at a rate of 15.7 percent annually. The output in the Eighth Five-year Period (1990-1995) totaled 30 billion garment items, equaling the total for the previous 40 years. Since 1994, China has remained the largest producer and exporter of garments in the world. The total volume of exports accounts for one-sixth of the world total. In 1999, China turned out 10 billion garment items. The country's output of synthetic fibres totaled 52 billion tons a year, which is the largest in the world. Over the century, China has become home to the world's leading textile industry as the choice of attire in China has changed dramatically. |
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