Under the pandemic,countries around the world become more intertwined

The outbreak of COVID-19 hit the pause button for global economy and trade. In this new global age， the fates of people from all nations are related closely. International society has become a community of a shared future， making the relationships of countries inseparable and interdependent. Faced with the pandemic，nine organizations from six major garment producing countries formed an alliance to urge global buyers to consider the procurement mode and its impact on supply chain during this period.

As the worlds largest trading country， Chinas foreign trade has been also affected. However， China， a key part of economic globalization， has been with the trend. It not only prevents and controls domestic pandemic as well as directs its economic social development but at the same time makes up global supply chain gaps and keeps economic and trade communications open at home and abroad. In addition， many Chinese traders， doing business domestic or foreign， participated in working together in the supply chain， contributing to the global pandemic prevention and control， and to the economic recovery as well.

Italian Foreign Minister： 30 million masks obtained overseas， 22 million of which are from China

On the afternoon of April 1， local time， Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Di Maio said in an inquiry in the House of Representatives that since the outbreak， Italy has received a total of about 30 million masks from overseas， of which 22 million are from China.

Chonglees first mask machine to Italy for first-aid demand

On March 23， Beijing Chonglee Machinery Engineering Co.， Ltd.， a subsidiary to China Textile Academy， signed a business contract at its medical-purposed equipment and protective gear workshop to start up the export of its first batch of face mask lines to Italy.

（Mr， Wang Xusheng {in the middle}， Vice President of China General Technology Group， and Mr. Zhuang Xiaoxiong {the forth on the right in the rear line}， Chairman of China Textile Academy， are at the ceremony to congratulate on contract signing.）

The signing ceremony was actually an in-house event as the seller and buyer both live under one roof because Beijing Chonglee Machinery Engineering on the seller side and Italian Branch Company of China General Technology on the buyer side both are parts of China General Technology Group Corp.， and the latter responded quickly to the crushing demand from the urgent strains of medical supplies in Italy and contacted Chonglee Machinery Engineering at the first-things-first time for placing purchase order to import the fully-automatic machines for flat-type face masks to be shipped to Italy ahead of those local manufacturers as in-time “am- munition” for local government to combat the spreading disease.

Ever since its first automatic flat face mask machine was off the streamline， there have been 37 machines sold within half a month， including 13 ones for domestic market to ease the shortage of mask production. The contract for the mask machines to go to Italy is a milestone for Chonglee Machinery Engineering on its road of business to European countries， and also a breakthrough for medical protective gear and technology to the advanced country in consideration of the fact that Italy itself is a highly advanced country in terms of textile machinery technology and manufacturing.

The contract was signed at the time when the COVID-19 situation continues to improve in Chinas endeavors for the infection control and prevention， and China General Technology Group makes its advantage of synergetic resources for engineering， trading and manufacturing to render assistance to overseas combat against the rampant virus. Beijing Chonglee Machinery Engineering will continue to speed up its R&D for medical protective gear and technology for further production increase and expansion in quick response to the market needs by virtue of its technological and manufacturing strengths. Besides this new line of business born to the market cry， Chonglee is best known for its man-made fiber equipment and technology in China， its high speed POY spinning line， FDY combination series， industrial yarn spinning machine， differentiated fiber spinning line， and the highly applaudable automatic winders and texturizers etc.， all make it a reliable business partner both at home and abroad.

Its mother organization， China Textile Academy， which was a science and technology institute of the exMinistry of Textile Industry in China， and is now also part of China General Technology Group as a result of the state-owned assets reformation and restructuring in more market-oriented direction， adds up more value to its scientific origin of birth， and to its technical strength in the present big family under the new umbrella.

Indias textile industry may have to lay off 10 million people！

The CMAI said that without government support， the Indian textile industry may lay off 10 million people. The association said that intervention measures such as wage subsidies must be taken， otherwise huge employment losses will occur.

It is reported that more than 80% of the Indian apparel industry are small and micro enterprises. Among them， CMAI has about 3，700 members and employs more than 700，000 people. Most members cannot bear the pandemic for 3 - 6 months. Without government assistance， both in terms of wage subsidies and resumption of work plans， it may lead to a reduction in the number of jobs in the entire textile chain， reaching a total of 10 million people.

CMAI said that the Indian government must take interventions such as wage subsidies， otherwise it will cause huge employment losses. If the apparel industry fails， it will affect the entire value chain from the fabric supply industry to the brand to the zipper and label industry. The Indian Ministry of Textiles requires all major global companies not to cancel orders from Indian exporters， which is expected to have a positive impact on manufacturers， especially smaller ones.

It is reported that CMAI has conducted a survey among its members and analyzed about 1，500 replies， of which nearly 20% are considering closing the business after the blockade， at least 60% of people expect income to drop to 40%， judging from the number of employees， this is huge.

Egypts long-staple cotton exports break new lows

According to data from the Alcotexa， as of the week of March 28， Egyptian cotton signed exports of only 13.5 tons， a year-on-year decrease. In this year， 62，000 tons of cotton were contracted for export， a year-on-year decrease of 20%. The shipment volume is 31，000 tons and the shipment rate is 50%.

Vietnams textile and footwear orders to fall by about 70% year-on-year

According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam， orders for textiles and footwear in Vietnam will fall about 70% year-on-year in April and May. Even if the global pandemic has eased at the end of May， Vinatex will still lose 1 trillion Vietnamese Dong（USD 42.4 million）， which is twice the net profit of 510 billion Vietnamese Dong in 2019.

It is worth mentioning that the Vietnamese textile industry has also been greatly affected by raw material supply problems. Many Chinese factories have shifted production to Vietnam in response to Vietnams low tariffs and low costs. However， in the past two years， Vietnams low costs are gradually disappearing， and rents and labor wages are rising. In particular， the outbreak of this pandemic has caused many investors to re-examine Vietnams textile industry.

Vietnam still has a long way to go to surpass China and become a “world factory”. Chinas industrial chain is relatively complete and it was the first country to control the pandemic. The domestic market is recovering in an orderly manner. It is believed that after this pandemic， the pressure on Chinas capital outflow will be eased.

Vietnam will surpass China as the largest source of U.S. clothing imports

After the COVID-19 pandemic crisis， Vietnam may quickly become the leading exporter of the global apparel industry.

The current pandemic will accelerate the transfer of apparel exports from China to other countries， which has already occurred in 2019， due to rising labor costs in the past decade and the additional U.S. tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

In the first two months of 2020， Vietnam accounted for 18.8% of total U.S. apparel imports， and China 21.3%.

On the other hand， the labor cost of the Vietnamese apparel industry has risen sharply in the past few years， and Vietnam is threatened by Bangladesh in the U.S. market. In the first two months of this year， U.S. imports from Bangladesh increased by 8.9%， while imports from Vietnam fell by 1.1%. At the same time， U.S. imports from Cambodia increased by 15.5%.

On the other hand， compared with Bangladesh， Vietnams focus is on the production of man-made fiber garments with sufficient supply. Over the past few years， Vietnams apparel exports to China have surged， reflecting the shift in Chinas production capacity. China has become the fourth largest market for Vietnamese clothing， after the United States， Japan and South Korea.

Vietnams textile industry hit hard after the U.S. and Europe stopped importing

Due to the recent rampant of COVID-19 in Europe and the United States， countries including Vietnam， which are highly dependent on the U.S. economy， are facing very serious difficulties.

Nearly half of Vietnams textiles are exported to the United States each year， and about 18% are exported to Europe. The abandonment of major markets has caused Vietnam to lose nearly two-thirds of textile sales recently. Even if the virus situation in Europe is alleviated， peoples first choices for large-scale purchases will be necessities and medical supplies， not textiles represented by clothing. Therefore， many Vietnamese are very pessimistic about the prospects for development in 2020， because demand has decreased， and many Vietnamese companies even consider temporarily dismissing some workers.

It should be pointed out that， like Vietnam， the highgrowth economic data that has performed well in recent years are actually the result of a large amount of U.S. dollar debt accumulation. In order to protect itself， the United States decided to allow the Fed to print more banknotes， and Vietnam， which has a foreign exchange reserve of 83 billion U.S. dollars， was badly injured. In a sense， the United States has sacrificed the interests of Vietnam and other countries. Therefore， Vietnam， which lacks independent development， is temporarily unable to maintain its own development. The economy may face a recession， and it is impossible to realize the dream of becoming a world factory in the short term.

China assists Cambodia in tackling shortage of textile raw materials

On the evening of March 9， local time， a Chinese liner carrying more than 60 containers arrived in Sihanoukville Port， Cambodia. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic， the Cambodian garment processing industry has recently faced a shortage of raw materials. China quickly mobilized a large number of raw materials for shipment to Cambodia， helping the Cambodian-related industries to solve their difficulties. Another six Chinese liners will arrive in Cambodia in the coming days.

The textile and garment processing industry is one of the main pillar industries of Cambodia and provides a large number of jobs. More than 60% of the fabrics accessories in this industry are imported from China. According to statistics from the Cambodian Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training， as of March 3， a total of 33 Cambodian factories have applied for suspension of work due to shortage of raw materials， and nearly 20，000 workers are facing unemployment risks. Cambodian officials say that if conditions do not improve in March， the number of unemployed workers is expected to reach 30，000.

At a critical moment， many Chinese enterprises formed a joint support force for the transportation of textile raw materials. A spokesman for the General Office of the Cambodian Council of Ministers said： “Chinas help once again demonstrates the deep friendship between the two countries， and the non-governmental foundation of the friendly relations between the two countries will be further consolidated as a result.

Russia to produce 4 million medical masks per day by mid-April

According to the Russian sputniknews.cn： The Russian Minister stated that Russia produces 500，000 medical masks per day and will reach 4 million per day by mid-April， but it still faces shortages during the pandemic.

U.S. urgently authorizes Chinese enterprises KN95 masks

As of April 11， masks produced by 46 factories located in China have been granted Emergency Use Authorization （EUA）. These include both wholly foreignowned enterprises such as 3M China， and more are local Chinese manufacturers.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs， P. R. China， from March 1 to April 4， the countrys total exports of major pandemic prevention and control materials were worth 10.2 billion yuanmainly including about 3.86 billion masks， worth 7.72 billion yuan， 37.52 million pieces of protective clothing， worth 910 million yuan， 2.41 million pieces of infrared thermometers， worth 331 million yuan， 16，000 sets of ventilator， worth 310 million yuan， 2.84 million boxes of novel coronavirus detection reagents， 8.41 million pairs of goggles.

Iran reduces import tariffs on medical protective clothing from 55% to 5%

According to a report by IRNA on March 30， Deputy Minister of Industry， Mines and Trade stated in a letter to the Director General of the Iranian Customs Administration that， in accordance with a cabinet decision， in order to ensure an adequate supply of domestic medical protective clothing， the import tax on medical protective clothing was changed from 55% adjusted to 5%.

European Union temporarily exempts tariffs and VAT on medical supplies and personal protective equipment

In order to combat the COVID-19， the European Commission decided on the 3rd to temporarily exempt tariffs and VAT on medical materials and personal protective equipment imported from outside the EU. This will help reduce the price of masks， ventilators and other urgently needed materials entering the EU market. The European Commission said that the effective date of this decision dates back to January 30， initially for a period of 6 months， and may be extended in the future.

2.2 million masks donated to France

At present， France is still in the pandemic period of the COVID-19， and the French business leaders in China have launched a donation to help France respond to the pandemic. Based on Chinas experience in combating the COVID-19， with the assistance of CCE， CCI France Chine and the French Embassy in China， 2.2 million masks were donated to France.The donors come from all walks of life， French people with rich working experience in China， as well as Chinese companies. While they are still in China， they still care about France and provide help to their fellow Frenchmen.