Trump Pays Attention To The Countermeasures Of Textile And Garment Enterprises After Taking Office As President Of The United States

　　 Recently, after Trump took office as the President of the United States, the news that Trump will impose high tariffs on China has become one after another, which makes a large number of Chinese manufacturing enterprises worried, and then the topic of enterprises going to sea has become hot again. In fact, even without this factor, enterprise going to sea has become a mainstream voice in the manufacturing industry in recent years, and has gained considerable momentum.

　　 In addition to the spontaneous expansion of local enterprises overseas, this year China Garment Association and many other industry associations have organized local enterprises to go overseas for exchanges and docking for many times. Through in-depth investigation, they quickly established a three-dimensional understanding of the overseas market, expanded local network resources, and avoided possible risks of going to sea.

　　 A new development model

　　 For the textile and clothing industry, Southeast Asia is undoubtedly the first choice at this stage. In fact, with the development of local economy, for some Southeast Asian countries, the era of significantly reducing costs when going to sea has passed, but the tax burden difference and the market potential of Southeast Asia are still the main reasons to attract Chinese enterprises. On the one hand, exporting from Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States can avoid high tariffs on China; On the other hand, the young population structure and the rising middle class in Southeast Asia have also driven a large number of shopping needs, and the future market is broad.

　　 Taking Shaoxing, an important textile town, as an example, the research report on the textile industry above the designated size of Shaoxing pointed out that "enterprise relocation is an inevitable outcome of economic development to a certain stage, and also a necessary process of commodity expansion to capital expansion." At present, the market price of textile industrial land in Keqiao District of Shaoxing is basically more than 1.5 million yuan/mu, The industrial land in the printing and dyeing industry cluster is more than 2 million yuan/mu, and to some extent, there is no land available. Therefore, the relocation of some enterprises or production lines will help to free up land and energy consumption indicators, and introduce high-end projects and other high-quality projects in related fields such as high-performance fibers, new industrial textile materials, etc.

　　 Secondly, the future direction is to implement the development model of "headquarters economy+domestic and overseas factories" and optimize the allocation of resources in a larger range. From the perspective of the types of relocation of textile enterprises above the designated size of Shaoxing, the relocation of labor-intensive functional parts such as raw materials and production is the mainstream relocation mode. Shaoxing is still the headquarters of enterprises, and plays a leading role in technology and capital intensive links such as brand innovation and technology research and development.

　　 According to the overseas survey of 6 enterprises above the designated size of Keqiao, the overseas areas are concentrated in Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other places, involving the printing and dyeing, household fabrics, clothing and other sub industries. Generally speaking, enterprises going to sea are mainly middle and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain. "The more upstream, the more stable" is a typical law at present.

　　 During the sea trip, Lin Sen, general manager of Qingdao Golder Lace Co., Ltd., expressed confidence in the enterprise's sea trip: "We will take this trip as an opportunity, combine our own advantages and characteristics, fully learn from the successful experience of Indonesian enterprises, deeply analyze market demand and competitive situation, and develop a set of scientific, reasonable and practical sea trip strategy. I believe that in the near future, we will write our own commercial chapter in Indonesia, a land full of opportunities. "

　　 To "find people" rather than "recruit"

　　 Nowadays, there is a popular saying in the business world that you will be out without going to sea, but in fact, the difficulties and risks of going to sea are greater than most people think. The most likely to fail in going to sea is the enterprises that can't do well at home but want to take chances overseas with a fluke mentality. The reason is very simple. The last two of the three conditions of success are weakened once we go to sea. Therefore, going to sea is a fighting field for the strong, not a refuge for the weak. Even well-known large enterprises in China have been operating at sea for more than ten years and still failed to make profits.

　　 Although going to sea has been in the development planning of some textile and clothing enterprises, the door is not deep.

　　 The first is contacts. We have noticed that a group of professional managers with deep localization have emerged among Chinese enterprises going to sea, and their abilities and behavior have been highly integrated into the local environment.

　　 In the process of production, local employees also did half the work. It is almost equally important to find Chinese management/technical talents suitable for going to sea and make good use of local talents, which must be taken into consideration. To "find people" rather than "recruit people", we should take the initiative, especially the candidates for key positions. An entrepreneur who went to sea said that when setting up a factory in Southeast Asia, he must interview in person for two positions, one is the general manager, and the other is the security team leader.

　　 In the exchange forum, PT, one of Indonesia's largest outerwear and sportswear manufacturers Eddy T.P. Yo, president of Leading Garment Industries, is the third generation Chinese in Indonesia. He used fluent Mandarin to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of investing in Indonesia in detail for Chinese entrepreneurs, and then mentioned that three things should be brought to Indonesia. The first is "heart". To come to Indonesia, we should adhere to long-term principles and have the determination to live and die together with Indonesian industries; The second is "technology", which means bringing the most advanced technology and equipment to Indonesia instead of those eliminated in China; The third is "money", that is, to have real investment in Indonesia. His honesty touched every entrepreneur present.

　　 The relevant principals of PT.GOLDEN TEKSTIL INONESIA also participated in the forum and provided detailed investment suggestions based on their own experience, involving international relations, culture, salary, tax, law and other aspects, which benefited the members of the delegation greatly, while realizing the necessity of putting people first and going deep into the local area.

　　 Local survival rules of overseas enterprises

　　 Flexibility is another magic weapon for going to sea. An entrepreneur who went to sea shared his experience and pointed out that the first task of arriving in a foreign country is to adjust his mentality and humbly regard himself as a local outsider. This means respecting and integrating local cultural customs, and actively showing care and respect for local residents.

　　 Textile and garment enterprises that set up factories in Southeast Asia and other countries often display their local charity activities and the happy life scene of local employees in the enterprise in the most eye-catching position at the factory gate. In view of the diversity and uncertainty of governments, religions and folk customs in these regions, some enterprise facilities and workshops are sometimes affected by social unrest. Therefore, if Chinese enterprises focus on winning the favor and public support of local people in their daily operations, once they encounter riots, they will often significantly reduce the impact. An appropriate public relations strategy is undoubtedly one of the skills that overseas enterprises must master. In addition, the enterprise should also avoid belittling the local team because of its own position, and should put down the inherent mentality of "leader".

　　 During the exchange and discussion, it was emphasized that enterprises should not rely too much on the Chinese community due to blood or cultural affinity after going overseas, nor should they alienate local businesses, institutions and individuals due to differences in language or belief. Only by truly integrating into the local society can we win the recognition of the local market and effectively avoid conflicts caused by misunderstanding. An entrepreneur who went to sea shared that at first he asked newly recruited local employees to learn Chinese, but the effect was poor. Later, he changed his thinking and thought that instead of forcing employees to learn Chinese, he should take the initiative to improve foreign language skills. This change of thinking also led to positive changes in the overall atmosphere of the company.

　　 Flexibility is not only in local communication, but also in local investment. Oriental International Group started from the textile industry, and also started the coffee bean business in the process of overseas investment and construction of textile factories. Tong Jisheng, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Group, told a story, "In 2018, in order to promote industrial internationalization, our leading shares invested 10 million yuan in Ethiopia to build a sweater production base, and then exported to Europe, which was very successful." New business earned local currency. In addition to paying salaries, they actively explored local resources, Start to enter the coffee industry. "Ethiopia is the fifth largest coffee producer in the world, which not only exports a large amount of coffee, but also has good quality. This investment not only digested the local currency, made a profit, but also promoted the employment of local workers and farmers and trade routes, which is simply more for one move," said Tong Jisheng.

　　 Step back and further

　　 In addition, when a manufacturing enterprise first enters the overseas market, it is almost impossible to avoid the initial loss, and the length of the loss period is closely related to whether it can quickly obtain orders. At the initial stage of plant startup, if the business fails to reach the saturation state, continuous losses will easily occur, and long-term losses will inevitably weaken the enthusiasm of the team.

　　 Therefore, it is a wise move to moderately delay the construction of the production line without ensuring the acquisition of orders. Once the product is sold, the after-sales service that follows is particularly important. The failure of many Chinese enterprises in overseas markets is often attributed to excessive attention to product sales and neglect of the importance of after-sales service.

　　 At the end, it must be mentioned that the difference in values constitutes the greatest risk of going to sea. Almost every successful textile and clothing enterprise overseas attaches great importance to adhering to its core values. Although it is difficult to easily change the local living habits, it is essential to instill and remind the core values. It has become a common practice for Chinese enterprises to translate values such as honesty, dedication, law-abiding, diligence and cooperation into local languages and post them in the most prominent position of the enterprise.

　　 Source: China National Garment Association, China Europe International Business School, Wu Xiaobo Channel, Shanghai SOE Live Room