Imports to China climb

The import and export of China's leather industry during January-March 2003 have remained positive according to figures released by the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA). The exports amounted to US$3.2 billion, up 25.2% compared with the same period in 2002 and accounting for 3.8% of China's total export value. The leather garment sector reported the largest growth rate to reach US$380 million. That is an increased of 51% compared with last year. Exports of leather shoes totalled US$1.2 billion, an increased of 24.9% over the same period. Export of semi processed and finished leather were up 52.4% to US$150 million while raw hide exports from China fell 14.6% to US$71.0 million. Total export of finished footwear during January-March amounted to 1.2 billion pairs with an export value of US$2.8 billion. This was an increase of 16.4% and 20.6% respectively. Exports of leather shoes reached 240 million pairs, accounting for 23% of total footwear exports by quantity. The largest ten importers of raw materials and leather, excluding fur, from the Chinese mainland were Hong Kong (58% in value), South Korea (9.3%), Italy (7.6%), Taiwan (7.0%), Spain (4.7%), US (2.3%), Vietnam (2.4%), Singapore (1.3%), Thailand (1.4%) and Indonesia (1.2%). The the top ten countries accounted for 95.2% of the total. China imported raw hides, leather and leather products worth US$900 million during the first quarter. This was an increase of 30.4% compared with last year and accounted for 1% of China's total import value. Imports of leather garments at US$650,000, increased by 105.5%, raw hides, excluding fur, rose by US$200 million up 31.4% and semi-processed and finished leather were up 30.5% to US$590 million against the same period last year. The top five countries with the highest value of exports to China during January and February were Taiwan (16.5% by value), United States (16.0%, South Korea (15.7%), Italy (7.8%) and Australia (7.5%).