BRIEFING: China and Hong Kong’s textile and clothing industry

First impressions of China quickly reveal that the term ‘The World’s Sleeping Giant’ was coined by someone who had never been there. China is anything but sleeping. Down the Eastern sea block everywhere you see building, building, and more building to the extent construction appears to be China’s main agricultural product. New cities are appearing, green fields are being turned into massive new industrial zones, highways, tower blocks and hundreds of similar enormous blocks of flats are being built. China is now the world's fourth largest trading nation, following the United States, Japan and Germany. In the world's fastest growing economy export and import volumes totalled about US$800 billion in the first eleven months of 2003. This briefing assesses the major issues facing the textile industry in China & Hong Kong, including the possible effects of 2005.