Honorable guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning! Today we are celebrating the grand opening of the 77th IWTO Congress with the theme of “Wool—The Environmentally Friendly Fiber” here, and I would like to represent congratulations to the successful opening and acknowledgement to all the experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from all over the world on behalf of China National Textile and Apparel Council.

The congress has pinpointed the key factor for the new prosperity of the global wool textile industry with the “environmentally friendly” theme. Started from the first industrial revolution, the industrial civilization of human society with more than 240 years’ history is undertaking another new industrial revolution with the hi-technology as the time banner. Ever since the coming of the 21st century, the new scientific and technological revolution that began in the 20th century has brought the blooming of micro-electronics and information and communication technology, modern bio-technology and life science, new material technology, new energy technology, space and marine technology, and other innovative manufacturing technologies arising along with the aforesaid technologies. Important breakthrough has been made in each sector. For the moment, the new scientific and technological system with the core of hi-technology is inducing profound changes in the fields of human economy, society, civilization and the world pattern as well as the relationship between human being and the nature. There is no doubt that the traditional textile industry has entered an important era of new industrial revolution. To face with the future, our people underline the harmonious relation between human being and the nature, and abandon the technical strategy of blindly seizing from the nature for the first time in the third industrial revolution. Compared with the first industrial revolution when the textile industry began the large-scaled mechanization by the usage of steam power and the second industrial revolution when the textile industry achieved high speed and high efficiency with electrification, during the third industrial revolution, the textile industry is not only transforming towards brand-new production technology and even higher labor productivity, but also taking the sustainable developing way in the direction of balancing the people and the nature and stopping capturing from the nature without any pay back. In the context of his new trend, people cherish those reproducible natural fibers much more, exploring their secrets with newer scientific means and methods, utilizing their application potentials, and improving their unique eco and recycling values to the quality of human’s surviving so that the global wool textile industry achieved the new prosperity.

Certainly the same with the former two industrial revolutions, this transformation of traditional industry necessarily results in the vibration of production, exchange, life style, industrial structure and thinking way, and various contradictions and problems—confronting different nations and companies—between advanced and backwards, innovative and conservative, opening and closing, extensive and economized, developing and ecological, developed countries and undeveloped countries, competition and cooperation etc. Facing up to a series of challenges, it is undoubtedly an ideal choice to extensively communicate and exchange ideas with a global vision and to pursue bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation and mutual benefit, which I believe is also the significance of this IWTO Congress.

The reason why wool products can maintain their appeals to the new era is not only their status of being stylish, comfortable and quality in the apparel sector, but also they can meet people’s increasing demands on respecting nature and the balance between human and the nature. And new hi-technology has upgraded wool textile industry from the traditional manufacturing to a creative process from on-the-farm to fashion wool products. That is a system composed of life engineering, molecule-based cell theory and genetic engineering, a number of physically, chemically and biologically integrated processing techniques, and production, management and marketing stages with information and digital technology, flexible operation and network control.

Of course, any opportunities are accompanied by challenges. At present, the decline of the global economy brought about a drop in demand and the worldwide restructuring will inevitably be accompanied by the overproduction and profit compression. Other contradictions and problems will also cause different troubles for the technological progress and structure adjustment both of the companies and the industry. And we cannot ignore the influences of social life and diversified culture in different ethnic groups, nations and regions as well. However in the final analysis, the most important condition for traditional wool textile industry to grasp the new opportunities is to rely on scientific and technological progress as well as to adhere to the universal principle of peace, cooperation and development.

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of China Wool Textile Association (CWTA) on behalf of the China’s wool textile industry joining in IWTO. Over the last decade, China’s wool textile industry has made significant progress. Currently in China, there are 3654 scaleable companies (referring to those companies whose main business income overtakes 5 million yuan) engaged in wool textile, wool product manufacturing and wool knitting, with about 800,000 employees, annual sales of RMB 240 billion yuan among which 23.65% is for export. Since the year of 2004, China has achieved trade surplus in the sector of wool fabrics and the added-valued had been increased year on year. Today, the export unit price for some products produced by leading companies is close to the European level for the same categories. Since the year of 2000, the growth rate for machine-made wool carpets has been keeping at 20%. In 2007, China processed 400,000 tons of clean wool, which accounts for 35% of the world wool processing volume, and among them, 334,400 tons were imported while the yarn output was 650,000 tons and the fabric output was 545,480,000 meters. But generally speaking, there is still a gap between China and the world leading players in the aspects of quality, diversification and fashion style of the wool products, producing techniques, technological innovation, cultural creativity, enterprise management and marketing strategy. China’s wool textile industry has a long way to go.

Textile industry is China’s traditional pillar industry, and its pace of industrial upgrading is speeding up. China’s textile industry, whose development is significant for China’s industrialization process, is also the traditional pillar industry for China’s national economy. Among the 20 million workers of textile industry in China, about 80% of which are rural labors. The priority of the development of China’s textile industry is to meet the ever-growing material and cultural demands of 1.3 billion people. Recently, China's per capita consumption of fiber has exceeded 14 kilograms, as twice as that in the year of 2000. In 2007, China’s fiber processing volume for textile industry was about 35 million tons, and 35% were natural fiber. Meanwhile, China’s textile industry supplies a large number of products with favorable performance-to-price ratio for consumers all over the world. In the year of 2007, the total exports of textiles and clothing made in China were USD 175.6 billion, among which wool textiles and clothing accounted for 4.2%. China imports plenty of natural fiber, dyes and chemicals, synthetic fiber and monomers, and textile machinery from all over the world every year, stimulating the development of relevant industries in those countries.

Entering the 21st century, China’s textile industry has been speeding up its pace of industrial upgrading, continuing large-scale investing in new technology and equipments as well as research and development, and extensively facilitating international cooperation. The number of scaleable companies (referring to those companies whose main business income overtakes 5 million yuan) has reached 44,000, with more than 11 million employees, and added value per capita has reached 74,400 yuan/person, 1.4 times as that in the year of 2000. The high-speed growth of China’s economy has strengthened the status of domestic demand as the first momentum. For textile companies, the proportion of sales in domestic market has been keeping rising, reaching 75% by the end of 2007, 9% higher than that in the year of 2000. Along with the improving aesthetic requirements in Chinese people’s daily life, the consumption structure is keeping escalating, thus accelerating both the localization process of international brands and the internationalization process of Chinese brands.

At present stage, China’s textile industry, which is in the key period of industrial upgrading and restructuring, is confronting with severe challenges. Firstly, the continued rapid growth of national economy will naturally bring about cost-rising pressure at fast speed; Secondly, in spite of the strong domestic demand within China and the improving export competitiveness, the restraint factors are also growing powerful in resources, energy and environment; Thirdly, a series of government strategic policies for preventing economy from overheat or inflation strengthens the restrictive instruments on extensive-mode, bring more difficulties to many profit-slim companies; Fourthly, Chinese enterprises are weak in innovation, and confronted with sharp challenges regarding international brands, service trade, multinational corporations as well as impact from international trade protectionism. Under this new situation, one third of Chinese companies improved their competitiveness significantly and obtained obvious increase on quality benefits in 2007, while the other two thirds were on the brink of loss or trapped in a loss, as a result, low-price products basically retreated from the export market. Still some other companies relocated or outsourced production in those countries with even lower costs of labor force, which posed a very severe threat to the employment of several millions of textile workers in China.

In China, whose industrialization process has just come into the late middle stage, the rural population accounts for 55.1% of the entire population. Adapting to the Chinese conditions, textile industry is still the pillar manufacturing important to the national economy and the people’s livelihood. Especially for the 150 million surplus labors in the rural areas, it is a key industry to solve the job issue. However, only by accelerating the change in extensive-mode development, and adhering to taking a new roadmap of industrialization characterizing high technology, better economic returns, low consumption of resources, reduced environmental pollution, a full play of human resources, can China’s textile and clothing industry fulfill the historic mission of the new era.

A basket of important measures are taken by China’s industry at present:

Firstly, with strengthening industrial innovation ability as a core value, to increase contribution rate of science innovation and proprietary brand to the future textile economic growth in an effort to propel industrial upgrading. China National Textile and Apparel Council(CNTAC) will, in accordance with Guidelines of Science Development of Textile Industry enacted in 2004, depend largely on enterprises to facilitate cooperation among industrial, academic and research sectors, and to research and develop 38 types of key techniques and 193 key projects, emphasizing on new materials, new process, new equipment, information technology, energy-saving and emission-reducing, green textile and recycled economy. CNTAC will strengthen the public services in technology innovation to small and medium enterprises, promote the new technology that is mature and applicable for the industry and reinforce human resource training.

Secondly, to deepen the enterprise reform. Centering on enhancing innovation ability, we are going to take people-oriented management methods, strengthen scientific management, promote the production reform based on the fundamental role of the market in the allocation of resources, and enhance enterprise vitality and core competitiveness, also to promote trans-regional and transnational allotment of resources, boosting readjustment in enterprise and regional industrial structure, making good use of both domestic and international resources for both markets.

Thirdly, to expand open-door policy and boost widespread international cooperation. China economy has already merged with globalization, and China’s textile industry has ushered in the best period to participate the international cooperation. In return, development and enhancement of Chinese domestic market provides access to the international counterparts and business peer, which is also a good chance for them to grow in cooperation with Chinese partners. CNTAC is dedicated to promote the communication and collaboration between China’s textile and clothing industry and overseas colleagues. Now the international brands and transnational R&D institutes are speeding up their localization process here in China. And meanwhile, Chinese textile and apparel companies are expediting the process of getting their business internationalized as well. Therefore we are willing to keep a good relationship with our international counterparts to beef up communication, understanding and cooperation not only between the companies of the same trade, but also between companies in a vertically-integrated business line that can be sought after on an equally and mutually beneficial terms. Ever since China entered WTO, China has been, as always, active in fulfilling various commitments and has made due efforts and great progress in expanding market access, improving investment environment and enforcing intellectual property right’s protection. CNTAC has undersigned Memorandums of Understanding regarding IPR protection with many industrial organizations of different countries and has established information exchange networks with many national and international associations aiming at promoting cooperation and human resources sharing between companies.

Fourthly, to strengthen industrial self-regulation. CNTAC underlines the strengthening of industrial self-regulation as one of the most significant conditions for the industrial upgrading. It has initiated four items of self-regulation among the entire industry, that is: product quality, IPR protection, corporate social compliances (CSC9000T), market order to maintain a fair competition so as to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign enterprises.

IWTO is an influential entity to the global wool textile industry. Holding its congress here in Beijing this year, it sets up a wonderful platform for Chinese companies and the international counterparts to communicate and learn from each other. The exciting theme of “Wool-The Environmentally Friendly Fiber” links every colleague from all over the world together, and it surely will trigger consumers’ further preference to wool products globally. Let us strive for the new prosperity of global wool textile industry in the era of the new industrial revolution.

Finally, wish this IWTO Congress a complete success.

Thanks for all!