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Children's Wear: Open Sesame to Better Life
Children's wear, a new selling point in China, has improved life for farmers in a small town, and helped revive the local textile industry.
Zhili, a town in Huzhou city of east China's Zhejiang Province, is the home to high quality textile products. Since the late 1970s, local farmers have stepped up efforts to boost the textile industry. Pillowslips, embroidery, bedding and garments produced in Zhili soon took a lion's share of the Chinese market.
In mid 1980s, when demand for traditional textile products was falling off, the farmers saw the potential in children's wear. "As more Chinese become better off, parents can afford more and better clothes for their children" they said.
The small town soon developed a large production base of children's wear. Some 6,600 enterprises, with a total of 70,000 employees, became involved in the designing, manufacturing and processing.
Last year, Zhili took 15 percent of the Chinese market share, with a total revenue of 2.5 billion yuan (US$301 million) . Now most farmers have savings and some can even afford cars.
The revival of the textile industry has also accelerated the urbanization of the town. More roads have been built to link the small town with the outside world, and new buildings have risen up to accommodate local farmers as well as those from neighboring provinces who have crowded into Zhili to look for jobs.
Related industries, including dyeing, weaving, sewing machine building and transportation, have ushered in a new age of rapid growth.
Economists said that Zhili has kept pace with the economic globalization drive as China arrives at the doorstep of the World Trade Organization.
"Most enterprises have upgraded their facilities, launched technological renovation and recruited top designers from major Chinese cities, in an effort to set up a good corporate image", says a source.
Today, children's wear is also "open sesame" to the world's garment market. Many local brands are being sold to Europe, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. Some have won top prizes in international dress design contests.
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