The sales of down coat in China have registered negative growth over the past four years, according to the annual meeting of the Down Coat & Products Committee of China Garment Association recently held in Shanghai.

Jiang Hengjie, Chairman of the Committee delivered a speech on current situation and future tasks of the industry, while Gao Dekang, Standing Vice Chairman of the Committee presented a working report.

The report points out, in 2011, under the background of weak demand, high production costs, order loss and small firms struggling for survival, the Chinese garment industry has conscientiously stepped up on the road of transformation and upgrading. Last year, above-scale down coat producers produced 264 million pieces of down coat, up 12.02% year-on-year; the export of down coat totaled 67.74 million pieces and amounted to US$ 2.05 billion, up respectively 27.59% and 50.42% compared to last year and the unit export price reached US$ 30.26/piece, up 17.89%. However, due to warm weather and great impact of online sales on traditional market channels, the sales of down coat dropped by 2.1% year-on-year in 2011.

The report also defined future tasks for the sector: strengthen dynamic analysis and research on the developing trend of the sector, strengthen industry self-discipline and quality control, help enterprises open up market at home and abroad and provide customized personal training to enterprises.

Source: China Textile Leader