Lianjiang water flows out from Danan Mountain in Puning and flows into the sea through Chaonan and Chaoyang in Shantou. This former “most polluted river in the province” is now smooth and clear with egrets flying in the air. It was rated as one of “Top Ten Beautiful Rivers and Lakes in Guangdong Province”. Lianjiang’s “butterfly change” also witnessed the rebirth of an industry. The textile and clothing industry is Shantou’s largest pillar industry, with a scale of over 100 billion yuan. But with the ringing of the New Year’s bell in 2019, Lianjiang improvement has entered a “real” state – all 183 printing and dyeing companies in Shantou’s Lianjiang basin have suspended production. In the face of current difficulties, practitioners in Shantou’s textile and garment industry are not lying flat. “Abandon pollution and enter the park” to get rid of the pollution hat, establish industry associations to keep warm, organize clothing expos to seek transformation and upgrading… Shantou’s textile and clothing industry is ushering in transformation, playing a “variation” of industrial advancement. In May this year, the first China Chaoshan International Textile and Clothing Expo will be held in Shantou. Taking advantage of this “east wind”, practitioners in Shantou’s textile and garment industry are taking advantage of the momentum, taking up the banner of “establishing the city through industry and strengthening the city through industry”, and striding towards the spring of high-quality development.
Historical Evolution
From a family workshop to a famous underwear town in China
Lianjiang is the mother river of the Chaoshan area, nurturing countless Chaoshan heroes and giving birth to many celebrities. A famous textile and clothing town. From Chaoyang District to Chaonan District, the four “famous knitted underwear towns in China” including Gurao, Liangying, Xiashan and Chendian are gathered here, joining forces to build the well-known Chaoshan underwear industry cluster.
Walking through the streets of Xibei Village, Chendian Town, both sides of the road are lined with underwear manufacturing companies, where batch after batch of underwear is produced. Fabrics, laces, ribbons, sponges… there are a dazzling array of supporting products derived from underwear and bras, and buyers come to purchase in an endless stream.
When talking about the underwear and bra industry in Chendian Town, Cai Xinkai has to be mentioned. The 75-year-old is the founder of Shantou Jinyi Clothing Industrial Co., Ltd. and one of the first local entrepreneurs to open an underwear factory. He is regarded as a pioneer in the underwear industry in Chendian Town. Cai Xinkai told reporters that the original idea of making underwear was purely “to solve the problem of his wife’s work.” It turns out that women’s underwear at that time was just a simple wrapping cloth. “My wife has to carry dozens of kilograms of rice bags every day, which is uncomfortable and inconvenient.” In order to help his wife solve this “problem”, Cai Xinkai started step by step to develop and improve women’s underwear.
“At that time, we just caught up with the new policy of reform and opening up, and we had the opportunity to set up a factory to make underwear.” Gradually mature and comfortable underwear was favored by local women. Cai Xinkai saw the huge market for women’s underwear. He decided to open an underwear factory. “At the beginning, many people called me crazy.” The villagers in the 1980s were conservative in their thinking. Until 1984, the sales of bras made by Cai Xinkai increased significantly. Villagers brought sewing machines to the factory to learn and opened small workshops at home. Make a bra. “A bra sells for 1 yuan and 20 cents. In the early 1980s, I only earned two yuan a day working.” Cai Xinkai recalled that at that time, almost 80% of the families in Chendian Town were making bras.
Since then, Chendian bras have spread all over the country. Around 1997, there were thousands of underwear manufacturers in Xibei Village alone. With the introduction of more and more foreign capital and advanced technology, Cai Xinkai, who was not satisfied with bra production, successively opened printing factories, printing and dyeing factories, and also did computer embroidery. Today, Cai Xinkai has passed his mantle in the textile and apparel industry to his son Cai Yonggui. Cai Yonggui has expanded his business to Shishi, Fujian, using advanced international and domestic supporting equipment, and his printed products are exported to Europe, the United States, Japan and other countries and regions. Today, there are more than 2,000 underwear companies in Chendian Town, and Chendian Town has also developed into a “National Key Town”, “China’s Famous Underwear Town” and “Top 100 Towns in Guangdong Province”, with a far-reaching reputation.
The start and development of Chendian underwear is the epitome of the vigorous growth of Shantou’s textile and garment industry. After decades of development and growth, the textile and garment industry has become the first industry in Shantou with an output value exceeding 100 billion yuan, and has formed a comprehensive range of production and sales from raw materials, twisting yarn, weaving, dyeing and finishing, warp knitting, embroidery, accessories to finished products. complete industrial chain.
Data provided by the Shantou Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology show that there are currently more than 7,000 textile and garment companies in Shantou. It is China’s largest underwear and home wear production base. The output of underwear and home wear accounts for about 45% of the country’s total, and its famous brand products account for More than 75%. In 2021, there were 688 textile and garment enterprises in Shantou that were regulated by regulations, with a total industrial output value of 114.419 billion yuan, accounting for 34.3% of the city’s regulated enterprises.
“Abandon pollution and enter the park” to take off the “black hat” of pollution
However, while Shantou’s textile and garment industry continues to develop and grow, environmental problems caused by printing and dyeing and other links are also increasingly appear. In 2018, Shantou City seized the opportunity of the comprehensive improvement of the Lianjiang River Basin and promoted the printing and dyeing enterprises to “abandon pollution and enter the park” with the courage and determination of “a strong man cuts off his wrists”.
The time is set back to 12:00 pm on December 31, 2018. When the New Year’s bell rang in 2019, all 183 printing and dyeing companies in Shantou’s Lianjiang Basin suspended production, and the textile printing and dyeing industry in Chaoyang and Chaonan districts pressed the “pause button.” “At that time, the printing and dyeing industry in the Lianjiang Basin was seriously polluting and had a particularly large impact on the environment. It was time for changes.” Zheng Linglong, administrative manager of Shantou Longfeng Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd., recalled in an interview with this reporter that in 2018, the local government When companies were called on to suspend production and enter the park, they responded quickly. “We stopped production…��The reporter said during the interview, “Entrepreneurs all lamented that now they feel cared for, the entire textile and clothing industry has started to move, and everyone is full of confidence in future development.”
Confidence rises, then How can Shantou’s textile and garment industry achieve upgrading and transformation? The relevant person in charge of the Shantou Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau said that Shantou City is currently guiding the textile and garment industry to develop in the direction of intelligence, high-end and clustering, and accelerating the “four major” global textile procurement centers, headquarters buildings, exhibition exhibition centers, and textile industry industrial parks. Project” planning and construction.
At the same time, we will also accelerate digital transformation, optimize and build a number of regional industrial clusters integrating R&D, design, production and other functions, and build a number of intelligent spinning, intelligent printing and dyeing production, intelligent nonwovens Pilot demonstrations of digital and intelligent factories (workshops) such as cloth production, intelligent weaving workshops, intelligent clothing, and home textile workshops.
In addition, Shantou will also create a highland for the opening up of textiles and clothing in eastern Guangdong, making full use of Shantou’s advantages as a provincial sub-central city and the foundation of a century-old commercial port in the textile and clothing industry, and Shantou’s underwear, home clothes, etc. , sweaters, wedding dresses from Chaozhou, T-shirts and underwear from Jieyang Puning, etc. to strengthen the integration and docking of the textile and apparel industries in Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang.
In May this year, Shantou’s textile and garment industry will usher in another major event. The first “China·Chaoshan International Textile and Garment Expo” will be held at the Chaoshan Expo Center in Shantou. The expo will create an international textile and apparel industry platform integrating brand promotion, cultural dissemination, display and exchange, high-end forums, and trend release. Currently, there are more than 300 All booths have been sold out, and preparations are in progress in an orderly manner…
“We will start from holding the China Chaoshan Garment Expo, extend to the construction of a global textile procurement center, and continue to implement textile and clothing’ “Four Major Projects'” will promote mutual benefit and win-win results in Shantou Chaojie and accelerate the construction of China’s textile and garment industry base city.” said the relevant person in charge of Shantou Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau.
The Lianjiang River flows endlessly, singing the moving melody of ecological priority and green development. The advanced “variations” of Shantou textile and clothing have also quietly begun.
Expert Interview
Chen Hongyu: Shantou textile and clothing must do two articles: “fineness” and “openness”.
In the “14th Five-Year Plan” for the high-quality development of manufacturing industry in Guangdong Province issued by the provincial government this year, the modern light textile industry is listed as one of the 20 strategic industrial clusters in Guangdong Province, clearly Shantou is listed as the core city for the development of “modern light textile industry” in the east wing of the coastal economic belt. How should Shantou seize the opportunity, ride on the momentum, and achieve the goal of building a textile and apparel industry cluster exceeding 200 billion yuan? A reporter from Guangzhou Daily conducted an exclusive interview with Chen Hongyu, former vice president and professor of the Guangdong Provincial Party School.
Guangzhou Daily: Guangdong is an important garment province in my country and has formed multiple distinctive garment industry clusters. In comparison, what are the advantages of Shantou Textile and Garment?
Chen Hongyu: The first advantage of Shantou’s textile and garment industry is that it has a long historical tradition, which is reflected in the two characteristics of “fineness” and “openness” in Chaoshan culture. Shantou has a complete industrial chain advantage, from twisting, weaving, dyeing and finishing, printing, jacquard, napping, warp knitting, embroidery to underwear such as elephant cups, ribbons, woven labels, steel rings, bone glue, cloth hooks, sequins and other underwear From the accessories used to the manufacturing of finished underwear, the industrial chain has been developed and perfected. Second, the target market segmentation is relatively accurate. Shantou Textile mainly focuses on underwear, home clothes and woolen clothes. It has the advantages of concentrated characteristic industrial clusters, such as Gurao, Liangying, Xiashan and Chendian in Chaoyang and Chaonan Districts. The Chaoshan underwear industry cluster based on the four “famous knitted underwear towns in China” is the largest origin of knitted underwear, home clothes, underwear accessories, and underwear accessories in my country. Its production capacity accounts for about 50% of the same industry in the country. Third, Shantou’s textile and clothing production and sales costs are relatively low and its toughness is relatively strong. Therefore, it is less affected by the impact of objective factors and has strong toughness.
Guangzhou Daily: What positive impacts will the establishment of the Textile and Apparel Association and the holding of the Clothing Expo and other measures have on the development of Shantou’s textile and apparel industry?
Chen Hongyu: The establishment of an industry association is a targeted and forward-looking measure. The association can form a large network, unite a large number of textile and garment enterprises, and establish a platform for resource sharing and information exchange. Holding the Shantou Clothing Expo is even more important, and it is of great significance to the development of textile and clothing in eastern Guangdong. It is necessary to create a more open clothing expo, involving relevant enterprises in the textile and garment industry in Eastern Guangdong, the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong and Macao, so that a variety of products can be displayed, which will help attract more resources to Shantou. , extend the supply chain and expand the industrial scale.
Guangzhou Daily: How can Shantou’s textile and apparel industry better connect with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area?
Chen Hongyu: Shantou Textile and Garments must continue to do a good job in “fineness” and “openness”. “Fineness” means doing a good job in internal management and product innovation, while “openness” means keeping up with the Bay Area and even the international community. The market can be linked to the chain and integrated into the circle. It is necessary to actively integrate into the construction of the advanced manufacturing system of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, take the initiative to undertake the transfer of industries in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, strengthen scientific and technological innovation cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and realize the design, technology and other industries of Shantou City and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Dislocation, matching and coordinated development.
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