People at the Heart of PAGE work – Liu Hui

Q3. What are the challenges and opportunities for a province like Jiangsu Province and why? 

Since the reform and opening up, the clothing industry in Jiangsu has developed rapidly based on geographical, economic, and geographical advantages, forming an industrial chain development path with “downstream driving upstream” as the core feature. Not only are there many leading clothing brands in the industry, but also many nationally renowned industrial clusters such as “Nantong Home Textile”, “Changshu Clothing”, and “Wujiang Silk” have been developed. By leveraging the cluster effect, Jiangsu’s textile and clothing industry has continuously built competitive advantages. After three years of the impact of the COVID-19 on economic development, the current world economic situation is turbulent, the global market demand is sluggish, and the development of Jiangsu’s textile and clothing industry faces both challenges and opportunities.

Challenges:

• The first is the decline in the export market, resulting in a decrease in orders. Some companies are transferring to Southeast Asia, South Asia, or Africa;
• The second is that domestic factors such as labor and raw material prices continue to rise, leading to increased costs for enterprises;
• Thirdly, the age of manufacturing workers is increasing, and the number of young employed people is decreasing.
• The fourth is that the goal of carbon neutrality has led to increased investment in environmental protection, resulting in short-term cost increases. Green development poses long-term challenges to the development model of traditional manufacturing industries.

Opportunities:

• There are numerous excellent enterprises with a solid foundation in the primary industry.
• Jiangsu is one of the important birthplaces of China’s textile industry. Currently, the province’s textile industry has more than 7200 large-scale industrial enterprises and nearly 1 million employees, forming a complete industrial chain from fibers, spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing to clothing, home textiles, industrial textiles, and textile machinery and equipment. The foundation of textile industry is solid.
• Furthermore, government policy support should encourage the construction of high-quality modern industrial clusters, actively promote digital and intelligent technologies, and attach importance to innovation driven development.

Q4. How the work done in Jiangsu Province can inspire other regions in China?

The objectives of PAGE to promote an inclusive green economy with decent work through a just transition is highly in line with the promotion of the textile and clothing industry to improve the level of corporate social responsibility management, continuously promote sustainable development throughout the industry, and lead enterprises to shift towards green development models.  Specifically, the collaboration contributed toward the achievement of the CNTAC inspirations set by the President:

• Firstly, clarify development goals and improve work mechanisms.
• Secondly, establish a work path and find work methods.
• Thirdly, strengthen international cooperation and promote integrated development.

The approach established by PAGE will be taken as reference for the industry’s green development throughout the country.

Q5. How do you see your engagement in the efforts for the green economic transition?

On 18 November 2020, an online discussion was conducted on Just Transition in the Textile Sector in China through Social Dialogue, co-hosted by ILO and CNTAC under PAGE and in partnership with the ILO-SIDA regional project on Decent Work in Garment Supply Chains in Asia. The discussion analysed the impact of COVID-19 on the textile and garment sector in China (within the broader global and regional context) and put forward the development visions of the sector’s green transition toward environmental sustainability and circularity. At the webinar, I introduced the prospects and pathway to realize the sustainable development of the sector toward an innovation-driven technology industry, culture-led fashion industry and responsibility-oriented green industry, which makes effective contribution to the global green recovery of the textile and garment sector.

In 2021, CNTAC and ILO jointly held a special forum on Just Transition in the Textile and Garment Sector – International Summit on Green Development and Just Transition & Capacity building for industry actors, with the support of PAGE . This forum also received strong support from Humen Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, home to one of the major textile and garment clusters in the country. The event was a complete success, which provided a platform for the participants to share knowledge and exchange views, and proposed the pathways of green development and a just transition of the industry in China, Asia and worldwide.

The workshop was also part of the 2022 PAGE China Academy on Accelerating the Transition to Inclusive Green Economy: Synergy Between Pollution Control and Carbon Reduction, 14-18 November 2022, showcasing the pathway of a just transition toward a low carbon economy from a sectoral approach. I was the CNTAC focal point for collaboration with ILO on the preparation and organization of this forum.

CNTAC continuously promotes the construction of social responsibility and green, low-carbon, and circular development models throughout the industry, reshapes new paths of industry value chain, and takes active actions in comprehensively promoting the green transformation of the industry, achieving significant results. There are currently over 200 textile and clothing industry clusters in China, including a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises or small and micro enterprises. In addition, there are many industrial clusters in the central and western regions, and the level of social responsibility management and green sustainable development capabilities need to be improved. The Humen event set a good example of promoting a just transition toward inclusive green economy through capacity building of industrial stakeholders. We hope that similar PAGE projects can continue and deepen cooperation with different industries for long-term promotion.