Disappointed and dissatisfied as they are Chinese shoemakers
have remained calm as the European Union's (EU) two-year
anti-dumping duty on Chinese-made leather shoes took effect on
Saturday.
Under the EU's new policy European shoe importers will pay a
16.5 percent tariff on Chinese-made leather shoes and 10 percent on
Vietnamese footwear. Children's shoes, which were not covered by
the provisional anti-dumping duties introduced on April 7, are now
subject to the additional costs.?
According to EU figures China exported 1.25 billion pairs of
shoes to Europe in 2005. However, exports may now drop by 10
percent following the introduction of the levy, said industry
members.
"We're not surprised at the anti-dumping duty levy at all. After
all it's not the first time," said Xu Hongzhen, vice
manager-general of the Wenzhou-based Jierda Shoe-making Com. Ltd.,
after a grand party held by the company to celebrate the
traditional Moon Festival on Friday night.
In April the EU imposed six-month tariffs of 19.4 percent on
leather shoes from China and 16.8 percent on those from Vietnam.
"Ever since then I knew a long-term punitive duty would come sooner
or later though it's extremely unwise for EU to do so," said
Xu.
As an important shoe manufacturing area on the Chinese mainland
Wenzhou, in eastern Zhejiang Province, is home to nearly 4,000
shoemakers employing over 400,000 workers and producing 600 million
pairs of shoes annually.
Last year Wenzhou exported 438 million pairs of shoes with a
value of US$1.58 billion. One third of the exports were sold to the
EU. Wenzhou's leather shoe exports to the EU accounts for
approximately a quarter of China's total to Europe.?
But statistics show that in June and July shoe exports from
Wenzhou dropped by 7.17 percent from the level of a
year-earlier.
"With the highly globalized international market today the 16.5
percent anti-dumping duties will not only drag China's shoemakers
down from their superior position amidst fierce competition but
also make it hard for the medium and small sized firms to survive,"
said Xu.
What's more the anti-dumping duty sanction ran counter to the
free trade policy initiated by the European Commission and wouldn't
save the declining EU shoe-making industry in a real way, he
said.
The EU's latest move on anti-dumping duties was also widely
criticized by European businesses and consumer groups. They say
such measures will lead to job losses in the retail sector and hurt
millions of consumers
"An old Chinese saying states that moving stones can roll over
your own feet and though the anti-dumping duty is a strike against
Chinese shoe firms the EU retailers and consumers are also victims
of the decision," Zhou Yaohua, vice president of the Wenzhou-based
Dongyi Shoe-making Com. Ltd., told Xinhua on Saturday.
To counteract the impact of the EU's anti-dumping tariffs
Chinese shoe manufactures have shifted their sights to new markets
in Southeast Asia, South America and Oceania as well as speeding up
expansion of domestic sales.?
"We've made preparations to open the markets in South America
and Australia since the EU planned to carry out their anti-dumping
investigation last year," said Xu.
The orders from the EU had decreased since it imposed the
anti-dumping tariffs in April but? overseas sales volume so
far was almost equal to that of last year as sales in new markets
had increased rapidly, explained Xu.
The Aokang Group, the country's second largest shoemaker,
focuses more on mainland markets to diversify the risk of
intensifying competition overseas. Aokang propose to invest 1
billion yuan (US$126.58 million) to create a western shoe-making
capital in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.
"The low labor price and huge market in western China cannot be
resisted in the development of Aokang," said Wang Zhentao, their
president.
In addition to tackling the tariff issue Chinese shoe firms have
also begun to build overseas factories in Russia, Nigeria and even
in EU member countries.
"To cooperate with foreign shoemakers would not only help
Chinese firms to avoid the EU's anti-dumping duties but also help
Chinese shoes step into the international market," said Xie
Rongfang, secretary of the Wenzhou Shoe and Leather Making Industry
Association.
Xie cited the example of Aokang which produces shoes with its
Italian partner GEOX in Italy and more than 70 percent of their
products sell in EU markets.
The EU's anti-dumping sanctions have also prompted Chinese shoes
manufacturers to update their strategy for development. "The
development of the Chinese shoe-making industry can't always rely
on low cost. Improving the quality and grade of our product is the
only way forward," said Wu Chunyue, general manger of the Imports
and Exports Corporation under the Aokang Group.
In the long-term trade barriers like the anti-dumping could
force the Chinese shoe-making industry to shift its growth plan
from the current quantity-driven strategy to a quality-oriented way
forward, said Xie.
In the world's shoe industry the EU was superior in design,
technology and their sales network but China was good at processing
and had a low-cost labor force, according to Xie.
It was unfair to portray Chinese shoe firms as lacking the
product quality or promotional imagination to succeed on their own
in foreign markets but shoemakers should realize the importance of
branding to the future of the industry, said Xie.
"As long as it remains a maker of cheap sneakers China will have
to endure constant repetition of shoe wars so what we should do is
accept the challenge as another opportunity for development," he
said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2006)