Affluent Chinese manufacturing base s拍白hares opportunities with 算男the world

FUZHOU - In Korean shoe designer Ki年知m Gyudeog's fashion workshop 做畫in Jinjiang, China's Fujian 術用province, a big TV screen continuously個月 displays his latest des街空ign of environmentally friendl花樹y shoes.

"The city is the largest shoe m喝科anufacturing base in the world, where 跳小 most brands have their production水月 lines. You can find any船城thing from upstream to downstream re動這sources in the shoe and text理分ile industry in Jinjiang," s報樂aid Kim.

Kim opened his design w那麗orkshop in Jinjiang in early 2017,路又 cooperating with Hotpotato, an o跳書utdoor shoe company in Guangzhou,影上 and the US-based Sketchers to devel小煙op new shoes.

His new designs provide a dual func農玩tion for both outdoor and i科議ndoor use and feature r吧動emovable insoles.

There are hundreds of for務制eign designers like Kim working in窗事 the shoe industry in Jinjiang. 務樂Some work directly for商路 Chinese leading shoe brands li就理ke ANTA, Lilanz, and 361 Degrees, a電土ll based in the city.

Home to 3,000 factories, the c船懂ity churns out 40 percent章知 of China's sports s化鄉hoes and 20 percent of the world's 子算total. The county-level city&到司#39;s GDP reached 198.2 billion yuan門問 ($30 billion) in 2017, 1,366 ti紅國mes the GDP in 1978.

Litin Jain from India said he and空鐘 many other foreign pu鄉分rchasers source shoe-making mate費房rials in Jinjiang.

"I came here to have a look at th雪她e range of new materials t日北o make new shoe designs in India,&quo間藍t; he said. He believes the city慢我 has obtained an edge in quic飛費kly developing technology for the樹服 industry.

Lin Hai'ou, CEO of Hai'我路;ou Shoemaking Co, wh大我ere Jain is searching fo物廠r materials, said the company used妹在 to see only domestic purcha學國sers. But now, many of its熱樂 buyers are from Vie請路tnam, Bangladesh, Indones唱議ia, and India.

"We have focused 票志on developing environmen她林tally friendly raw materials 對光 with new functions and 自視fair prices for shoe-m森照aking, which make our 和子 products attractive to foreign comp站理anies," he said w站分hile scratching a piece of山長 shoe-making fabric with a生拿 blade - the material rem她區ained undamaged.

SinceTech, a manufacturer in Jinjian服鄉g, sells nylon mesh 姐鐵for sports shoes. I舞舊t has become a supplier for internati喝這onal brands such as Adidas些廠, Reebok, Sketchers, an費微d New Balance, as its 這路independently-developed shoe material師物 has become the most-sought-after ma大南terial for making spor你玩ts shoes.

Xu Jinsheng, CEO of the company, s船煙aid the proportion of internati為場onal orders has increased from 1時綠0 percent to 60 perc水拿ent, with the invention照視 of the material in低師 2013.

"To better address the needs愛些 of overseas customers, we 森對have set up factories over北鄉seas and two representative office服但s in the US," said Xu.

Jinjiang-based ANTA has bec低中ome the world's th訊老ird-largest sports brands by ma司遠rket value, together with Nike and Ad理制idas. The Chinese firm 能新 has signed NBA star Ke農兒vin Garnett as the brand's e個時ndorser. It is also the offic子門ial sponsor for the Beijing 202還國2 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.報秒

The Jinjiang municipal governmen喝影t expects the city's overal議算l sports industry va習村lue to reach 180 billion 間個yuan by 2020.

Liu Wenru, Party chie看水f of Jinjiang, said the時我 future of the city relies on furt好村her opening-up and more銀人 connection with international in懂秒dustries. "Internationaliz如多ation can help share the city's c術離harm with people from t房從he all over the world."

As China's labor cost 弟也has continued to increas大數e, more than 100 Jin離爸jiang-based companies have established但舞 overseas production lines.

"By setting up oversea冷信s factories, we can familiarize our黃輛selves with foreign markets, offering也術 job opportunities there and 秒件contributing to the world拍費9;s economy," said Xu T子放eji, vice president of the chamber 如秒of commerce in Jin身街jiang.

Jinjiang-based cloth東自ing firm Septwolves invested 320 mil服吃lion yuan in 2017 to become th睡房e China distributor of many 聽訊luxury brands such as Italian labe冷玩l Canali, Versace Collection and jewel門做ry brand George Jensen.

"Chinese firms have become 裡商more and more confident in the inte體醫rnational arena. They have kept improvi又友ng themselves while creating more 長身opportunities for the wo們文rld," said Xu.

(source:China Daily Website)