Recently, the US media said: "No country can compare with China (textile and garment industry) in terms of production scale, technology level, product quality, product diversity and supply chain integrity." Not only foreign media are optimistic about China, but also Chinese companies are also Constantly regaining self-confidence. Last year, after experiencing the pain of order transfer, they miraculously got some orders back. The reason is that China's textile and garment industry is superior in craftsmanship and quality. While we are complaining about rising labor costs, we should also re-examine the value of China's labor force and reshape the new advantages of China's labor force. Made in China "still has a charm" Recently, the US import data statistics released by the US Textile and Apparel Center (OTEXA) in November showed that the country's clothing imports fell by 1.16% as a whole, which is in stark contrast to the strong growth in September and October. comparison. The report lists the top ten sources of US textile and apparel imports, namely China, India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Mexico, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Korea, Honduras and Cambodia, and makes a comparative analysis of the top three. Subsequently, the American industry media expressed their views on the data and affirmed the development of China's textile and apparel industry: "No country can compare with China in terms of production scale, technology level, product quality, product diversity and supply chain integrity. ." This will undoubtedly increase the confidence of enterprises that will go to the United States to participate in the 2015 China Textile and Apparel Trade Fair (New York) Spring Exhibition. Foreign media are optimistic about China's production efficiency. Last year, American retailers stocked up in advance in response to the arrival of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and had already shipped goods from overseas to the United States before November. Therefore, the decline in overall clothing imports in the United States in November was not enough. Surprising. Despite the overall decline in imports, two countries, China and Vietnam, performed well, eclipsed by Bangladesh, which has been the third-largest source of U.S. apparel imports. According to the American Textile and Apparel Center, China, as the largest importer of U.S. apparel, has a 42.5% market share in U.S. apparel products. In November 2014, China's apparel exports to the U.S. fell by 0.16%, while strong rival Vietnam increased by 9.3%. %. Among the 10 countries, Vietnam was the only country whose exports to the U.S. remained on the rise in November 2014, while China was the country with the least decline in exports to the U.S. Bangladesh's apparel exports to the U.S. fell 15.1 percent in the month. In fact, this is the eighth month in a row that Bangladesh's apparel exports to the US have declined since February last year. Looking at the data from January to November 2014, the import volume of US textile and clothing increased by 4.7%. U.S. purchases of apparel from China rose 4.2 percent, while purchases from Vietnam rose 13.3 percent, while Bangladesh fell 6.5 percent. In this regard, foreign media commented: "Affected by the factory fire problem in 2013, Bangladesh's garment processing industry is difficult to recover, and buyers are very worried about the safety of the country's factories. In addition, Vietnam is expected to move from the Trans-Pacific Strategy. The economic partnership agreement (TPP) has made huge gains, and the international market has good expectations for the country's apparel export industry. And China, despite discussions from all walks of life, US apparel buyers are constantly looking for alternatives to China's sourcing due to concerns about China's loss of competitive advantage However, what we see is the opposite." Statistics from the Office of the American Textile and Apparel Chamber of Commerce show that China's textile and apparel market share in the United States has increased from 41.8% in 2013 to 42.2%. China's exports to the United States, the largest source of apparel imports to the United States, rose 4.2 percent in the first 11 months of 2014. The data shows that the volume of China's textile and clothing exports to the United States is four times that of its closest competitor, Vietnam. In addition, the average price of China's textile and clothing exports to the United States has dropped by 3.8% compared with the same period of the previous year. Foreign media said: "This fact tells us that China has once again successfully calmed buyers' concerns about rising costs, and the high wages of workers have been offset by the profits brought by the country's high productivity." Shan Pengchun, deputy general manager of Shanshan Fashion Co., Ltd., is about to go to the United States to participate in the exhibition. Although he knows that the export data of Chinese clothing to the United States has declined in November, he is still optimistic about the future of the American market. This is not only because the U.S. market is gradually picking up, but also because some of the orders that were transferred to Southeast Asian countries last year have returned, which gives him great confidence. "I agree with the foreign media's evaluation of the productivity of China's garment industry, and China's production efficiency is indeed higher. Not only that, but for Shanshan, many of our Southeast Asian factories can't take orders. For example, high-end suits with full wool lining technology, It is no exaggeration to say that Vietnamese factories, let alone taking orders, may have never seen this kind of craftsmanship, even in China, few companies can do it. The main difference between China and Vietnam and other countries is the quality of workers, whether it is Skills are still knowledge of products, and Chinese laborers still have advantages.” In Shan Pengchun’s view, today’s Southeast Asian countries are more like China 20 years ago. Their biggest advantage is low labor costs, but in terms of response speed , and accessories are all under China. Liu Bo, manager of Ningbo Minglang Garment Co., Ltd., also felt deeply about this. She said: "We have encountered many cases of order transfer, but the orders transferred are large and simple, such as wool, cashmere and other high-end fabrics. None of the processing and production orders in China have gone away, and the production quality in Southeast Asia is still incomparable to China. In addition, matching is also a big problem. Suits require more than 30 accessories, which cannot be solved by one or two supporting factories. In the short term, even in Vietnam, it is difficult to build such a complete industrial chain. From a geographical point of view, orders from Europe are usually rarely transferred, because European customers have high requirements for cooperation between enterprises and factories.” Liu Bo When talking about the quality of workers, he said that after a comparison of overseas customers, they usually come to the conclusion that the Chinese are the most diligent and adaptable. In addition, service awareness is also another major advantage of Chinese factories, which is firstly reflected in the fact that the factory can well understand the needs of customers; secondly, even if customers raise difficult problems, they can generally be effectively solved; Thirdly, the delivery of Chinese factories period is more guaranteed. With the rising cost of labor in China, Jiangsu Hongdou Import and Export Co., Ltd. has also re-examined the value of Chinese labor. Gao Pinya, the company's manager, said: "Hongdou has an industrial park in Cambodia, and I have also visited Cambodia. It should be said that the facilities in Phnom Penh are relatively complete, but the biggest problem we encountered is that there are too many festivals in Cambodia, and the attitude of the labor union is very Tough, workers have a lot of freedom, and they will strike when they are not satisfied. As far as Vietnam is concerned, the quality of their workers is similar to that of China, but because there are too many orders now and there is not enough capacity to undertake orders, the delivery time of orders is delayed. The infinite delay has caused many European and American customers to be dissatisfied. Therefore, some orders have begun to flow back." The phenomenon of customers "returning their minds" is a good opportunity for China to reshape its labor advantage. In Liu Bo's words: "The transfer of low-end orders is irreversible. Why don't we take advantage of our own advantages to find greater value from more challenging and higher value-added orders." Senior foreign trade people said: Chinese workers can make world-recognized high-quality products, there is no doubt! - Changshu Chen Yanyan, department manager of Haute Garment Co., Ltd. At present, the labor force of China's textile and garment industry is unparalleled. Workers in each country have their own characteristics. For example, workers in Myanmar are relatively simple, but they do not like to be criticized, and they place great importance on whether they are respected. The one closest to the quality of Chinese workers is Vietnam, but Chinese workers are more skilled and more responsive. ——Zhu Zejiang, general manager of Guangdong Foshan Tongze Company Judging the quality of a country's labor force, it depends not only on the workers, but also on the managers. The level of Chinese factory managers is higher than that of India and Vietnam. ——Li Qihan, Manager of Ningbo Xiuke Textile Co., Ltd. The quality of China's labor force cannot be said, but wages are rising too fast, especially the wages of workers in coastal areas are five times that of Cambodian workers. ——Han Huanqin of Tianjin Garment Import & Export Co., Ltd. We will transfer orders with low added value to factories in Cambodia, but Cambodian workers are really not easy to manage. They prefer to go to eat, drink and have fun if they have money, and then look for work if they have no money. life. In contrast, Chinese workers' willingness to work is very strong. ——Gao Pinya, Manager of Jiangsu Hongdou Import and Export Co., Ltd. Some orders cannot be transferred from China, such as orders from major European brands, who have high requirements on workers and pay more attention to communication costs and efficiency. Compared with other countries, foreign businessmen have the most efficient communication with Chinese factories. Our clients appreciate the diligence and seriousness of Chinese workers. ——Liu Bo, Manager of Ningbo Minglang Garment Co., Ltd. The quality of the labor force in the four surrounding countries compared with the quality and diligence of Vietnamese workers★★★★★ Work efficiency★★★★ Technical level★★★★ Cognitive ability★★★★ Response speed★★★ ★ Education level★★★★ Willingness to work★★★★★ Trade union strength★★★★ Industry advantage: Negotiating Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), or Disadvantages of industries that will enjoy export tax reduction and tax treatment: weak supporting industries; excessive dependence on imports of raw materials; too many orders, limited capacity to undertake Adjustment measures: Vietnam National Textile and Apparel Group estimates that by 2017, it will be able to provide 55% of the fabric types for Vietnamese domestic enterprises. At the same time, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association has set an ambitious target of an annual export value of 28 billion to 28.5 billion US dollars in 2015. In order to achieve the set goals, the Vietnam National Textile and Apparel Group said it will invest about VND9 trillion ($421.15 million) in the establishment of raw material production areas during 2015-2016, aiming to reduce its dependence on imported textile raw materials. Worker's salary: about 150 US dollars/month Bangladeshi workers' quality and diligence★★★★★ Work efficiency★★ Skill level★★ Cognitive ability★★ Response speed★★★ Education level★★★ Work willingness★★★★ Trade union strength ★★★ Industrial advantages: very low wages for workers, strong industrial policy support, advantages in processing thick clothing Industrial disadvantages: poor infrastructure, difficult to completely solve the hidden dangers of factory safety, large brands are afraid of human rights issues and implicated in brand image and thus withdrawing adjustment measures : Bangladesh Workers Safety Alliance and the Bangladesh National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have signed a partnership agreement to guide garment factories in Bangladesh to adopt best practices and the highest standards of construction and fire safety data widely used around the world to guide daily production. The agreement will provide guidance and training to Bangladesh Workers Safety Alliance member organizations and garment factories in Bangladesh, which will help protect the safety and health of Bangladeshi garment workers. Worker's salary: about 80 USD/month Cambodian workers' quality and diligence★★★ Work efficiency★★★ Skill level★★★ Cognitive ability★★ Response speed★★★ Education level★★ Work willingness★★★ Trade union strength★★★ ★★ Industrial advantages: enjoy the EU's GSP treatment, have advantages in the production and processing of knitted garments, and have relatively complete supporting facilities. Industrial disadvantages: workers' wages are rising too fast, workers strike frequently. Adjustment measures: workers' strikes are due to dissatisfaction with wages. At the end of last year, Cambodian national The Labour Advisory Committee decided that starting from 2015, the minimum wage for Cambodian garment workers will be raised to US$128 per month. In addition, the original allowance will be retained, which will bring the minimum monthly income of workers to more than US$140. However, 30% of textile and garment factories are facing closures due to a substantial increase in labor costs. At present, the country has not made any concrete and valid proposals in this regard. Cambodia hopes to make up for the lack of technology and maintain the scale of the industry by attracting foreigners to build factories. Worker's salary: about 140 US dollars/month Myanmar workers' quality and diligence★★★ Work efficiency★★★ Skill level★★ Cognitive ability★★ Response speed★★★ Education level★★ Work willingness★★★★ Trade union strength★★★ Industrial advantages: enjoy the GSP treatment granted by the EU, pass the US GSP treatment audit, and have sufficient labor. Industrial disadvantages: insufficient power supply, backward mobile communication facilities, and low Internet penetration. Adjustment measures: power shortage has always been a major problem in Myanmar. Even the factory in Yangon needs its own diesel generators to maintain production. At present, Myanmar is under construction of power plants, and Western countries have also invested in large-scale power projects in Myanmar. It is expected that the country's power supply situation will improve in the future. In 2014, Telenor and Qatar Telecom successively obtained operating licenses, allowing the development, construction and operation of mobile communication infrastructure throughout Myanmar. It is expected that communication facilities will also improve in the future. Worker salary: about 70 US dollars / month