childrenswear, casualwear, denimwear, fur and leatherwear. Two days later, the Intertextile Beijing opened its door for visitors to examine fabrics of all varieties and the day after Yarn Expo also joined in. Shuttle buses were available to transport visitors to & from the three shows. In addition to these 3 shows, Premiere Vision China also took place in a hotel nearby.

China came out relatively unscathed from the recent global economic crisis. It however had forced China's textile industry to pay attention to its own domestic market; not only that, it had also caught the attention of international textile and apparel companies to see China as a big potential market. Last year, China reduced its trade surplus by a third and aims to reduce it by half this year. Central government is encouraging domestic demand to fuel import growth hence reducing the surplus.

President of China National Textile & Apparel Council, Du Yuzhou said the exhibitions created a platform for domestic and international textile & apparel producers along the whole textile chain, upstream and downstream, to interact with buyers from the world over. It also acts as a window for the display of innovation, technology and brand development. Topics on focus in the industry are intellectual property rights, corporate social responsibility, expanding the Textile & Apparel industry to the interior and western regions of China, funds for R&D, human resource development, eco and low carbon production.

 
At CHIC, the international participation is growing stronger and stronger with large country pavilions taken up by France, Italy, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, all aimed to carve out a piece of the local consumer pie for fashion. Meanwhile, local brands, took advantage of the convenient home country location with sizeable and elaborately decorated booths. Some adopted the policy to screen the visitors before letting them in as well as organizing queues outside the booth so as not to overcrowd the area inside. Local brands now run head to head with foreign brands, creating an atmosphere of "Let a thousand flowers bloom".

Intertextile Beijing

Trend Forum at Intertextile Beijing.

Organized by Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong, Intertextile in its 16th year has become the world's largest fabrics show. The Beijing event in March, though smaller than the Shanghai event in October, is a barometer for the strength of the domestic market. The atmosphere of the recent show was clearly upbeat compared to 2009 when the world was still in economic downturn.

With 1,124 exhibitors from 16 countries, they took up 50,000 m2 of net exhibition space. In terns of exhibitors, it was an increase of 12% with domestic growth 1.5% more than international. It reflected the great confidence in the potential of the China market by both domestic and international companies. Foreign exhibitors who came with their top quality items for the domestic China market were very pleased with the results. Some 24,373 trade visitors from 73 countries came with 12 % from outside China, led b y Korea, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, Turkey, Italy, and the US.

Fashion, function, technology and innovation but not neglecting comfort, organic and eco low carbon production were the driving forces behind the fabrics shown. The three halls assigned for international exhibitors housed no less than six country pavilions, with Italy as the biggest followed by Korea, Taiwan, Germany Japan and Pakistan. The halls for the local Chinese exhibitors were arranged according to broad product categories of suiting, ladieswear, casualwear which was further broken down by fiber type of cotton, wool, manmade, linen/ramie, silk as well as fabrics type of knitted, shirting, denim, printed, embroidery and lace. A single hall was devoted to functional & sportswear fabrics and another for accessories - a new arrangement of the show.
The seminar program was in 3 directions: 10 sessions for Design & Trend, 4 for Eco Certification & Technology and 11 for Business Strategy & Market Information. The program was so rich that some of the sessions were held in parallel in order fit them all into two days.

The three Trend Forums strategically located were ‘must visit' program for the buyers. In the international hall, Nelly Rodi Agency, a member of Interstoff Asia Directions Committees, presented 4 themes - Jubilant Mosaic, Island Extravaganza, Romantic Evasion, Mythical Orient - Lyric and two trend forums in the domestic hall were designed by Fabrics China for ladieswear and menswear.

The largest foreign exhibitor group - the Italians with 41 exhibitors taking 621 m2 - enjoyed its own trend forum designed by Ms Ornella Bignami. Fabrics chosen from the Italian exhibitors' collections hung from the ceiling in seven directions: Urban, Ocean Wind, Water World, Charme, Garden of Delight, Globetrotter and Handcraft. Ms Bignami was on location to explain the idea behind themes to the visitors.

Mr Antonino Laspina of Italian Trade Commission in Beijing said, "Italian-made is about quality never quantity. Italy has no cotton, no wool, no silk, no cashmere yet they produce the best. It is because of the manufacturers are determination to be the best in what they do. They have no desire to expand; their dream is not to be a big company but the best in their niche sector. If you cannot challenge others in quantity you have to be the best in quality to survive." 

An interesting feature took place near the Italian Pavilion zone but not part of it. Nine Italian companies of various fabric types served by one agent, Vitality, took up one well guarded booth. Visitations were by invitation and appointment only. Businesses soared for these companies after they established association with Vitality.

"Vitality is a network of people who have established excellent relationships with the key top brands in China. They have helped our business expand by manifolds. Chinese customers appreciate and buy the top quality fabrics that are not available from China. Hence there is plenty of room to grow for us in China," said Dr Marco Schiavone of Lanificio Luigi Colombo which specializes in cashmere and noble fibers.

"The best of China made is still not as good as Italian made. China has the potential to produce the best, but they are not there yet, therefore, there exists some breathing room for top quality Italian fabric producers. Vitality was able to open doors for us to sell to the top China brands and labels which we have had a hard time penetrating", explained Mr Federico Veronese of E. Thomas.

"The best in China is still not as good as Italian made", said Ms Vittoria Marian of Cottonificio Albini. She brought along Egyptian cotton shirting with a satin finish. "That's what the Chinese like", she commented. "China's taste is different from other markets; they like fabrics with a silky sheen", confirmed Mr Veronese.

"We do not have a lot of clients in China but who we have are the top brands. Though China now produces very fine fabrics but we win over in innovation, creativity and service and small lots", said Danile Sanzeni of 1881 Lanificio Cerruti. "China market has become a more important to us than the Japanese and Koreans as we are selling our top of the range to China and in big quantities", he commented.
 
S.I.C. Tess' Egyptian cotton in 300 ct 2 ply, weft & warp, is fine and soft like silk. "The Chinese are looking beyond international brands. They are developing their own as can been seen at CHIC", said Nadia Schincardi. "We have been coming to China since 6-7 years ago and we are very pleased with the business result".

Laniere Piero Tonella, relatively new in the China market, showed cotton linen silk double-face with stretch for two sided jackets which are popular in China. Linen however is not a popular fibre in China. "It is considered a poor man's fibre but now they are gradually warming up to it and learning to appreciate it", said Aimone Sambuy of Solbiati of Italy. Guabello in the highest quality cashmere for the tailor made market. Since their entry into the China market 4 years ago, they are giving pressure to others in the same product range.

From Germany came 10 companies. Thread producer Guttermann found the fair busier than last year. "The domestic market for us is going strong" said Gregory Guttermann who is now stationed in Shanghai. "Many local apparel brands are starting to buy our threads because they are buying top quality fabrics and would want to sew with quality threads". With a plant in Germany and one in India they may consider opening one in China. 

Erba Far East represents many of Germany companies at the show. These companies produce items that the Chinese cannot produce yet. "Germany used to have a creative attitude but now its strength is in the finishing, touch and style", said Dr Hartmut Kunstmann. Niedeck's velvet is still unmatched by any other, he said. De Ball showed functional & casual manmade and cotton fabrics while KBC's large variety of digital, transfer and rotary print fabrics are still drawing in many domestic buyers for the European style.

Alexander Rieks of Union Knopf (Shanghai) said, "We came to here to serve the local brands but also happy to see some of our European clients. Our China market was not much affected by the economic downturn but we suffered much in European. I am happy and relieved that things are picking up".
Hudderfield's fine worsted wool offered fine micron & performance & comfort with e.g. nanofinish, Teflon and Lycra to suit the taste of the younger generation who likes fashion, functional with comfort and does not wrinkle easily. High twist Fresco, though an old style but enjoying a revival, said Bob McAuley.

Lenzing, well known for their products of Botanic Principles, Tencel for cool, Modal for soft, Viscose for everyday wear, this time highlighted FR for protection in workwear and a new member of the family product, Viloft for warmth.

Offerings from the Asia exhibitors at the international hall were plenty. Korea, the second largest foreign exhibitor group is famous for manmade fibre fabrics with creative finishes. Many of them displayed apparel made from the fabric they produce for a real feel. For example, Scenic displayed fashion from ‘Michaa', a famous fashion brand in Korea as well as China. "Five years ago, China cannot afford it, but now they are very fashion conscious", said Mr Chang.
Youngdo Velvet, winner of the best velvet fabrics award in Korea, produced with weaving and knitting machines from Germany and Japan, exports over 90% to China, Russia, MiddleEast, US. Famous for their imitation animal fur, their quilting process producing fabrics that looks like baby lambskin was the highlight. Their finished garments were exhibited at Intertextile as well as CHIC.

"China's growth is impressive and the Chinese market growth is also as impressive. The government is proactive to the business and market needs. At the peak of the financial crisis, the government lent a hand to push for domestic market expansion. This has helped save the economy from sliding downward", said Huseyin Kavrak of Yunsa Yunlu Sanayi Ve Ticaret of Turkey. Offering silk/ wool with a denim look, linen/wool that is cool and does not wrinkle, they aimed to meet the needs of the Chinese taste.

Technical and functional strong Ding Zing of Taiwan offered low-high melting point bi-component for logos which is more adhesive and durable to multiple washes and stretches well with the fabric. The films in bright colours fused on T-shirt looks smashing. Foam & elastic fabric for wet/skin suits and TPU leather with foam backing for good shock absorption plus digital print in film were some of the new offerings

New Wide also from Taiwan in multi-functional fabrics with an eco-angle highlighted their Flycool which keeps the body cooler and Cooltran - a cold transfer printing process for eco and low carbon production. In cooperation with Dupont's Sorona, they offered a knit fabric that has Sorona on the outside and Flycool in the inside. Supplying to all the major international sports brands with this product, their T-shirts made with Sorona/Flycool will be on display at World Expo 2010.

Foreign buyers were attracted to a small but very creative company, Unitex Shanghai of Taiwan with foil lamination or coating on needlepunch woollen as well as hand painted floral with embroidery. "Originally we are exported oriented, lately the China domestic market is getting important for us", said Josephine Chang.

Japan's Yagi & Co Ltd showed knits of organic and recycled cotton. Kurabo Shanghai highlighted organic cotton denim, made at their plant in Zhuhai as well as their Ecowash wool.   

Shangdong Ruyi, took up two big booths - one for suiting and one for knitting - which made them the biggest exhibitor in the China halls, came up with a Ruyi Spun for its suiting material, a technology that they came up with which produces very fine yarns from short fibres. Jiangsu Suerli Wool Spinning, Jiangyin First Textile and Zhejiang Luckytex Textile are strong in shirting fabrics, Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fibre and Fulida Group from Hangzhou are well known for their manmade.

Yarn Expo 2010 Beijing

Yarns from Shangdong Ruyi at Yarn Expo.

The two-day Yarn Expo Beijing, held concurrently with Intertextile Beijing was located at a separate venue 15 minute car ride away, had a positive response. The response from the exhibitors and visitors alike were most positive, clearly demonstrating that the yarn business is on solid path of recovery.

The Show gathered over 80 exhibitors from numerous provinces of China and 12 from Pakistan and Singapore. A trend forum for knits & yarns S/S 2011at the entrance prepared by Fabrics China in 4 themes - Purity, Conflux, Trails and Fantasy, set the tone of the show. Except for the foreign exhibitors, exhibitors were arranged according the fibre types: cotton, linen, wool, fancy yarn and chemical fibres. Many hung certificates of Oekotex, IMO. Control Union, COTS, Organic Exchange and CQC (China Quality Certification).

The largest booth was taken up by Tanboocel Industry Federation which has 60 member companies from all producing fibers made from bamboo, mostly from pulp, as well as those producing bamboo charcoal fibers and viscose. "Fabrics made from bamboo have been enjoying tremendous growth especially the US and EU. Last year some 20,000t were produced and it is set to increase this year", said Lu Yang.

Taking up an equally big booth was Shandong Ruyi Technology Group which showed compact cotton yarns in fibre dyed and mélange. On display were yarns of wool, mixed with silk, cotton, camel hair, down, or linen produced with this Ruyi Spun technology, a revolutionary technology that can turn rather short staple fibers into very fine quality yarns which they claimed to be the first and only company in the world to achieve this.


Melange yarn from Bros Holdings at Yarn Expo.

Receiving a top brand status in China for yarns, Bros Holding Ltd specializes in mélange yarn made from cotton, organic cotton, recycled cotton, recycled polyester, linen, space dyed yarns, cotton with neps in dots and false neps. With 1 million spindles they produce 10,000t/month, enjoying increases of 15% per year.. Supplying to mostly the domestic market of knitting manufacturers which produces for export, some 30% are direct sales to Korea and Bangladesh.

Shanghai Galaxy Metallic Yarn featured their NAP in rough surface but good handfeel in 23 colors for handbags, apparel and even costume jewelry. The 315 MX are for use in intimatewear and socks made with very soft metallic yarns 12micX 0.1mm using filament cutting technology.

Cotton & yarn prices had gone up by 30% Q1 of this year and China is the biggest importer of cotton. This has attracted Pakistan to be the biggest foreign group with 11 exhibitors, to be present, selling mostly cotton yarns. Gulistan Group has been with this fair for while a number of editions, both in Shanghai and Beijing experienced sales increase year on year. "China is our biggest single market taking 40% of the sales. It is so big that we have to engage several agents to cover the different regions", said Kashif Sahkoor. Besides cotton they also offered viscose and acrylic, Tencel, Modal, linen and bamboo fibres, as well as FR and anti-bacteria.


Shanghai galaxy Metallic Yarn for apparel, bags and even costume jewelry at Yarn Expo.

This is Hussain Mill Ltd's first participation and they found the response most positive. "China is buying a lot from Pakistan, that is why we are here", said Hussain Ahmed Fazal. "We offer both yarn and fabrics." 

Kaybee Grupo of Singapore, a regular at Yarn Expo for many years, has offices in more than 20 countries. As a one-stop shop for yarns and fibers, they do not produce any but source from China, India, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam in raw white, dyed for spun yarn as well as filament in fibers of polyester, viscose, cotton and acrylic. They found business to be brisk this year compared to last March.
 

PV China in Beijing

Laurent Rioul of Deveaux France at PV China.

The recent event of Première Vision China, which took place in a five star hotel in Beijing on March 31 and April 1, was a gathering of no more than 40 companies from France, Italy, Spain Turkey and Korea, all offering top end fancy, fashionable, creative quality textiles organized under 3 fashion universes - Seduction, Distinction and Relax. The constant flow of foot traffic throughout the two days, mostly designers from domestic fashion brands, was well appreciated by the exhibitors. 


Rosabla Ragine of Argomenti Tessile of Italy at PV China.

"Premiere Vision China, which takes place twice a year alternating between Beijing in March and Shanghai in October, is more like a club than an exhibition", described Jacques Brunel, deputy director general of Premiere Vision. "We think it meets the demands of the top class brands in China, such as Mixed Mind, which was the first Chinese fashion house invited to be on the catwalk of haute couture in Paris. Brands like these represent the new generation of fashion in China, breaking the ceiling of the run of the mill image of Chinese fashion. Those who are designing and producing for the most discerning consumers in China, not those for export, they are our customers" he added.

"We like this intimate atmosphere", said Mr Laurent Rioul of Deveaux. "For our quality of fabrics, PV China works for us. Visitors are by invitation only and pre-screened by the organizers. As China is a big country, we have 4 agents in China and 1 in Hong Kong to cover the different regions. The weaker Euros has certainly helped with the sales", he added.

Export oriented Malfroy Million, famous for their scarves, run by the 4th generation of the family has been coming to China for a long time. "Our products were too expensive for China in the past, now it is a different story. The market is changing; we now have our own shop in Beijing", said Henri Malfroy. Well received in China, their young and fashionable style distinguishes them from others.


Rosabla Ragine of Argomenti Tessile of Italy at PV China. 

Argomenti Tessile of Bologna Italy offered digital prints and Jacquards. "The ‘by-invitation-only' is a good concept for us, we need not deal with people that are not serious about the business", said international sales director Rosalba Ragine. 

Gratacós of Spain in Jacquards and digital prints is a regular participant of PV China in Beijing and Shanghai. "China is a strong market and we received customers from the high end big brands who invest in novelty designs. China business is very good for us", said Mar Bian, area manager. 
As the very top end market in China has yet to be fulfilled; that is the reason why Premiere Vision decided to be in China, to service this niche with the best quality and unique fabrics from Europe. The brand name of Premiere Vision is spreading around the world. Besides the Premiere Vision in Paris and PV China - Beijing and Shanghai - others are located in New York, Moscow, Tokyo, and more recently Brazil was added on the PV map.

Intertextile Guangzhou Hometextile China 2010


Messe Frankfurt is well known for their Heimtextil fair in Frankfurt each January, the largest hometextile fair in the world. In Asia they are also well known for the Intertextile Shanghai Hometextile in August. Little is known about their Intertextile Guangzhou Hometextile in March; this is because it is a relatively young & small show, about 20,000m2, within the big China International Furniture Fair (CIFF).

Besides China, exhibitors came from Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Switzerland and he UK. The fringe program included a symposium on Chinese Textile Product High-end Design and the display of winning designs from the China International Home Textiles Design Competition and the Fashion Design Gallery.

Though the exhibition area small, the product range is quite comprehensive - bedding products, toweling, table ware, window ware, upholstery fabrics, textile wall coverings, color coverings, accessories, interior decorations & handicrafts, printing and CAD/CAM/CIM system as well as design and styling. As the Chinese saying goes, "Though the sparrow is small, it possesses all five key organs." 

The symposium drew some intense discussion about China's hometextile direction. It was suggested that total home-décor, high-tech low carbon and diversified design concepts are needed in China's home textile product. Brand building inspired by Chinese culture is also called for. The Pearl River and the Yangtze River Deltas are two major home product manufacturing centres with its own distinction; hence, the products and brands developed should reflect that.
 
 Though foreign exhibitors were few, about eleven, their mere presence was significant. Of the eleven participants, five were from the design industry. This reflects the potential of this show. Tetsuchi Mineeda of Atelier Mineeda Co Ltd of Japan commented," China is a huge market, even when the global economy is not so good, China performed quite O.K." Though he sold only a few designs this time, he saw the need to be in the Guangzhou show in addition to their participation in Intertextile Shanghai, where he did very well.

"The potential of the China market is tremendous", said Shimpei Noda of Noda Fine Arts Inc., a regular at Intertextile Shanghai with very good results. Armed with many floral designs, he managed to sell about 30% of what he sold in Shanghai; not bad for a first time participation. "The Guangzhou region is a new market for me; I would like to penetrate this market", he said with determination.

Tom Lewis of Manchester, UK offers a larger variety of designs from floral to modern patterns to antiques representing five studios from the UK and Europe as well as their own creations. At this show they received buyers from Russia, Libya, Canada, but mostly from China. Design director Andrew Dean said, "It is important to be here to meet new potential clients and build relationship with existing clients. As time goes by, sales should increase", he said with confidence. Tom Lewis is determined to have a significant presence in China. In April they will open an office in Shanghai offering design service. They will train local designers to design in their style. They want to develop a strong foothold in this market before local design talents catch up.

Decorama Inc. from Seoul, S. Korea is in mostly contract business with 60% of its sales in this sector and 40% in residential. All their products are FR treated from the fiber stage passing the most stringent of FR tests for France, Germany, UK, USA, Japan, S. Korea. They are also IMO for the cruise-ship hospitality industry. For the eco conscious customers, they also offer an organic cotton and linen range. Mr Thomas Jeong found the show to be better than he expected. He made some very good contacts as few exhibitors offered FR products.

First time at this Guangzhou fair, Ali Textile of Pakistan offered mostly bedding fabrics from the cotton and poly-cotton medium quality to the very fine 400 thread count 100% Egyptian cotton. With a 100,000 meters capacity a day they weave, dye and finish as well as the sewing up. "Since we offer very fine counts that few Chinese manufacturers have to offer, I am looking to catch the foreign visitors who are coming to seek out quality products", said Muhammad Shafique.

Nantong Sidenfu Textile Decoration is uniquely different from other exhibitors. It is a one stop shop for textile items for the hospitality industry. They are a supplier of all textile items to the 4-5star hotels operating in China. This includes bed linens, quilts, towels, napkins, table cloth, bath robes and rugs and etc. Though most of the visitors are not from the hospitality business Sophia Jiang managed to receive 4-5 overseas visitors from the hospitality industry, which made her feel very good of the company's first participation at this Hometextile Fair.

Unlike the fair in Shanghai, this fair in Guangzhou also featured carpets and area rugs. The biggest stand, 500 m2, was taken up by Hufua Carpet Co Ltd that featured numerous modern design area rugs. Beijing Home Value Co Ltd, known for the innovative designs showed a variety of styles such as carpets that looked like digitally printed, pebble-like rugged rugs, machine made Persian, very soft mircofibre carpets, furskin and leather carpets, cotton rugs for children and etc. Mr Frank Zhao, deputy general manager said their core designs are rooted in traditional Chinese designs but never traditional looking.
China Jinggong Carpets & Decorations specializes in handmade area carpets with a small amount of machine made viscose Persian styled rugs. Their name in Chinese means very fine handwork. They operate a joint venture with a Belgium company in the sales for more than 10 years. This private company exports half of its carpets with a tendency to be a little bit stronger on foreign sales. In the foreign markets, they are focused on the Middle East, Africa and S.E. Asia.
As participants of carpet and flooring shows in China and Overseas, manager Roy Li found this fair is the best for them because there is not so much competition. The domestic markets are interested in the machine made Persian style carpets. Market situation has turned around since 2009 and this year should be better. Their future plan includes strengthening the domestic market by having more sales points all over China.

Hong Chia Carpet also known as H.C. Carpet is a Taiwan owned company manufacturing in China from day one - first in Xiamen then later also in Tientsin. Always mainly export oriented with their own design staff from Europe, they specializes in handmade traditional style carpets and rugs. Washable bath rugs and children's room carpets are also well received.

Special beds were also displayed at the fair. Ningbo Comfort Furniture & Bedding Co Ltd displayed electric adjustable beds. This product is becoming more and more popular as the population ages. The adjustable beds are not longer institutional-looking; they are very much a well designed furniture piece offering luxurious comfort. "So far we have not participated in shows outside of China because the business generated with China is very good, drawing clients from all corners of the world," said Elaine Zhang. Some 90% of their products are exported.

Window treatments were not neglected. Taizhou Luqiao Xinhuaxin Windows Decoration Co Ltd displayed a large variety of blinds for the windows, from vertical to horizontal, from plastic, metal to fabric. The vertical fabric blinds with see through curtain gives a softer touch to a crisp look. This 18 year old company enjoys good domestic sales only exporting a small percentage to Korea and India, but not yet to the US & EU, areas they wish to expand to. First time at this Show they are hoping to meet more foreign buyers.

Jinbu Yuan of Guangdong focuses on furniture fabrics and bed linens. This 15 year old company represents the bed linens of Nanfung, a joint venture of this company with Microfibers of the US with manufacturing in Foshan. Made of Tencel and cotton they are sold under the brand of MPRESS with an environmental focus and strong in design. Microfiber's sales in the US are good now they are looking to penetrate the China market. Deng Yan Liang found this year's business activity at the Fair to be much better than last year and he was happy to meet many foreign visitors.