Innere Sicht auf ein Tuch mit einem Werk in Stadt Huaibei, East China Provinz Anhui, 6. Juli 2012. Chinesischen Textilunternehmen weiter Chall zu Gesicht
Inner view of a cloth-making factory in Huaibei city, east Chinas Anhui province, 6 July 2012. Chinese textile companies will continue to face challenges in the second half of this year as shrinking demand and rising costs eat into their profits, the Ministry of Industry and Information said. Textile output grew 11.8 percent from a year earlier to 2.14 trillion yuan (US$336 billion) in the first five months of this year, compared with a rise of 30.1 percent recorded in the same period of last year. Profit of textile producers fell 2.4 percent to 91.7 billion yuan in the January-May period, a sharp contrast with the 38.1 percent hike a year earlier. Chinas textile industry, which was highly export-dependent, is losing global market share to countries such as India, Vietnam and Bangladesh, it said, adding that the widening price gap of cotton between the domestic market and that traded in overseas markets was the main cause for China losing its competitiveness.