Knitting factories accelerate the construction of a new pattern of innovation and development
Knitting factories accelerate the construction of a new pattern of innovation and development
Faced with the impact of the epidemic, Chinese knitting factories are actively acting. From March 1 to May 31, China exported epidemic prevention materials to 200 countries and regions. Among them, there are 70.6 billion masks and 340 million sets of protective clothing, which strongly supports global epidemic prevention and control. The development of the factory has greatly promoted the implementation of the "six stability" work and the "six guarantees" task.
The factory is under pressure to recover
As my country has achieved strategic results in the prevention and control of the epidemic, factory production order has been basically restored, the domestic demand market has gradually recovered, and the main economic indicators of the industry have shown marginal improvements. Although still facing great downward pressure on the economy, the situation is gradually turning for the better.
The capacity utilization rate of the knitting factory was lower than normal, but the rate of decline in production growth continued to narrow. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the industrial added value of enterprises above designated size in knitting factories decreased by 8.2% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 3.1 percentage points from January to April. In May, the growth rate turned negative to positive.
The market demand is insufficient, but the decline continues to narrow. Affected by the epidemic, domestic consumption of knitted apparel products is still weak, and online and offline sales have fallen sharply compared with the same period last year, but the decline has narrowed. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and knitwear in units above designated size dropped by 23.5% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 5.5 percentage points from January to April.
The scale of investment has been drastically reduced. Under the influence of the epidemic, factories and enterprises generally lack investment confidence and ability, and their investment scale has shrunk significantly. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to May, the completed investment in fixed assets in knitting factories decreased by 30.5% year-on-year. In terms of sub-factories, investment in the knitting industry, chemical fiber industry and clothing industry decreased by 26.2%, 23.2% and 39.2% year-on-year respectively.
The benefit situation has deteriorated significantly. In the case of severe shortage of demand and sharp decline in production and sales, knitting enterprises' revenue has shrunk sharply and profits have shrunk. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to April, 33,000 knitting enterprises above designated size across the country achieved operating income of 1194.25 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 19.7%; realized total profits of 37.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 32.1%. The profit margin of corporate operating income was 3.2%, 0.5 percentage points lower than the same period last year. Among the 12 knitting sub-factories, except for the silk and industrial factories that achieved positive profit growth, the profitability of the remaining factories was under pressure.
Facing the pressure of the epidemic, factories and enterprises actively promote field innovation, channel innovation, and market innovation. Many companies use the epidemic as an opportunity to continuously extend the industrial chain and expand into the medical protective equipment market. Focusing on channel innovation, factories and enterprises rely on cost-effective product supply chains, actively deploy live broadcast e-commerce, and create demand through enhanced interactive experience. At present, clothing products have become the category with the largest transaction volume in live streaming. In terms of market adjustments, many foreign trade companies through their own adjustments, with the help of e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and Pinduoduo, promote the transfer of exports to domestic sales.
Intensive adjustment of the industrial environment
Under the epidemic, the characteristics of the world's century-old changes have become more obvious, and the uncertainty and instability of development have become more prominent. Faced with an unprecedentedly complex situation, knitting enterprises must identify trends from the disturbances and seek new opportunities in the changing situation.
One is to adapt to the profound adjustment of the production pattern. Building a diversified, safe and controllable supply chain is becoming an important direction of global industrial policy. The layout of the supply chain is the result of the long-term evolution of market laws. The position of China's knitting industry in the global value chain will not change in the short term, but reducing its dependence on Chinese manufacturing has become an option. This means that China's knitting industry has less and less room for development at the middle and low end of the global value chain. Accelerating industrial upgrading is the only way.
The second is to adapt to the profound adjustment of the market structure. On the one hand, the spread of the epidemic has further aggravated the shrinkage of global knitwear consumption. The sluggish global demand is becoming a long-term existence, and the importance of the domestic demand market has become more prominent. On the other hand, the global trade pattern is focusing on regionalization. The proportion of intra-regional transactions in global trade in goods continues to rise, becoming a new feature of globalization. The adjustment of the market structure will have an important impact on the development of the knitting industry.
The third is to adapt to the profound adjustment of the pattern of factors. At present, technological innovation is triggering major adjustments in social productivity and production relations. Technology has become a core variable in reshaping the industrial structure, and the development methods and industrial boundaries of industries are undergoing profound adjustments. From the perspective of supply, the cross-integration of technologies has led to the emergence of smart knitwear and multifunctional knitwear, and the application scenarios continue to expand. All links of the industrial chain are accelerating the transition to digitalization, networking, and intelligence, and the lean, flexible, and service-oriented level of industrial supply has been continuously improved; the rapid development of green fiber preparation technology, cleaner production technology, green printing and dyeing technology, and fiber recycling technology And industrial applications are also deepening. From the perspective of demand, driven by technology, the factory's resource organization method and the connection with the market have undergone profound adjustments, and new models, new formats, and new attempts such as scene economy, Internet celebrity economy, and sharing economy have developed rapidly. Especially during the epidemic, model innovations such as live streaming, social marketing, and online exhibitions have effectively made up for the gaps in the suspension of offline channels. Factories must accelerate to adapt to the adjustment of the industrial structure brought about by technological innovation, and strive to gain a competitive advantage in a rapidly changing world.
Innovation to promote industrial development
Overall, China's knitted garment factories are still in an important period of strategic opportunities. To adapt to changes and win the future, we need to focus on the industrial positioning of "technology, fashion, and green", take innovation as the fundamental driving force, put innovation at the core of the industry, and earnestly promote factory heights with new perspectives, new patterns, and new minds. Quality development.
Focus on systematic innovation, and create new industrial supply with basic capabilities as the core. It is necessary to strengthen industrial manufacturing advantages and continue to promote capacity upgrades and lean development. Optimize product supply, pay attention to the innovative application of technology and design in products, continuously enrich varieties, improve quality, and increase value. Strengthen original innovation and basic innovation, reduce stuck neck projects, and focus on the development of fiber materials, smart equipment and other strategic industries related fields. Establish cultural self-confidence, vigorously develop a knitting industry culture with Chinese characteristics, and promote trend research, design capabilities and brand building with "masters, big names, and big things" as the starting point. Consolidate system advantages, promote intensive development, and increase industrial concentration. Continuously improve the efficiency of the supply chain of the industrial chain, realize the orderly flow of people, property and material, organically connect production, supply and marketing, and integrate and develop large and small enterprises. Develop a cluster economy, actively promote the construction of a world-class advanced knitwear industry cluster, and accelerate the formation of an industrial supply system with distinctive characteristics, complementary advantages, regional linkage and coordinated development.
Focus on market-oriented innovation and form a new industrial cycle based on domestic demand. Under the new situation, the development of factories should be based on the open economy of the domestic market, and gradually form a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promote each other. Make full use of the relationship between the domestic demand market and the global market, promote the docking of domestic and foreign trade resources with the market, and reduce conversion costs. Intensify the opening up of industries, and realize the flow of products, technologies, production capacity, brands, and capital in a larger range, broader fields, and higher levels. On the one hand, better play the positive role of the domestic super-large-scale market on the improvement of industrial total factor productivity, and promote industrial and trade upgrades with domestic consumption upgrades. On the other hand, we should make better use of the differentiated and multi-level characteristics of international and domestic market demands, and drive diversified technological innovation and product innovation with demand as the guidance.
Focus on digital innovation, and cultivate new industry momentum with the digital economy as the background. Digitization, networking, and intelligence are the major trends in economic and technological change. The integration of the digital economy has given the industry an opportunity to restructure its comparative advantages and achieve “asymmetric” catch-up. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of factory information infrastructure, integration infrastructure, and innovation infrastructure, and accelerate the development of factory-level and enterprise-level industrial Internet platforms and big data centers. On the other hand, focus on intelligent equipment, intelligent operations, intelligent products, and intelligent services to strengthen application innovation, and promote the digital transformation of industrial organization and market connection. Vigorously develop new manufacturing models such as interconnected manufacturing and large-scale personalized customization to create an intelligent and flexible supply chain. Further enhance the breadth and depth of the application of e-commerce in factories, and cultivate new formats and scenarios such as live broadcast economy, platform economy, sharing economy, and community economy.
Focus on sustainable innovation and create new industrial value with social responsibility as the focus. From a global perspective, corporate social responsibility is being fully integrated into the production system, value system and innovation system of factories. We must continue to enrich the tools and methods of factory social responsibility, and further promote the integration of social responsibility into the development strategy of factories and enterprises, into the production and promotion of products and services, and into all links in the value chain and industrial chain. (Sun Ruizhe, President of China Knitting Industry Federation)