China inland county produces world renowned clothing brands

ZHENGZHOU -- One could never imagine that exquisite sweaters by well-known luxury labels such as Armani could be produced in China's inland areas. But they are.

Xiayi county in Central China's Henan province is astonishing the world with its emerging textile and clothing industry.

In the plants of Jierui Clothing Company in Xiayi in the city of Shangqiu, workers produce cardigans for Spanish clothes company Zara.

Jierui Clothing Company is authorized to produce clothes for many world-renowned brands, and its products are exported to more than 20 countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, Italy and Spain.

"With 300 workers, the company produces an average of 5 million pieces of clothing annually for brands such as H&M and Zara. For Armani, we produce about 20,000 products each year. Though it is not a big order, the profit is three times that for ordinary orders," said Dai Liangwei, the company production manager.

Chen Bin, deputy director with the county's industrial cluster district administrative committee, said that seven or eight years ago there were only two or three small spinning factories in Xiayi.

Thanks to the transfer of industry from developed coastal regions to central inland regions, the county has started to see textiles and clothing emerge as its leading industry.

A total of 93 textile and garment enterprises were based in the county, and income from the industry surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in 2015, according to the county government.

Jierui Clothing Company is a production base for Armani, which has strict standards for product quality, and shows the improvement of workers' quality and skills, said Liang Wantao, chief of the county's Communist Party Committee.

The clothing industry has created jobs for more than 30,000 locals. Han Cuihua of Beiling township is one of these workers, and works for Henan Dayang Yarn. She was rewarded with a 100-square-meter flat for her excellent performance this year.

"The new flat is only a 10 minute walk from the plant. I have a home in the county now," Han said.

The county built residential communities for these workers. So far, more than 500 such flats have been sold to workers, at a cheaper than average price as part of a rewards system.

The county has also issued preferential policies to ensure employees in the textile and clothing industry can enjoy pensions, education for their children and medical treatment.

Xiayi's clothing industry has a competitive edge in the international market. It has not only created jobs for local farmers but also helped transform them into industrial workers, boosting urbanization in the county, said sources with the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

China's State Council passed a plan in early December to boost development in the country's central regions for the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020).

The speedy rise of central regions is of great importance in supporting China's medium-high economic growth. China will guide and support industries in southeastern coastal areas that meet environment standards, as well as production bases for well-known brands, both foreign and Chinese, to move to central regions.