Quality Issues Of Chinese Apparel Manufacturing

People's Republic of China is nowadays one of the most important players in global textile and apparel production, and textile manufacturing represents a key pillar industry for China's economy. The majority of China's apparel exports are designed by foreign customers mainly located in E.U., U.S.A. and Japan markets, following the dynamics of the global apparel supply chain. Most of these products are intended for mass markets, with moderate or low prices.However, in keeping its costs down, the quality standard of Chinese textile and apparel products is sometimes compromised, and considering the challenges that the Chinese textile and apparel industry may face in the near future, quality emerges as a key element to take into account for production. China needs to consider its key position in global markets to enhance quality of products sold around the world. Thus, it is of great significance to identify quality as one of the factors that could maintain China's hegemony in the textile and apparel industry.The objective of this research is to analyze China's competitiveness in textile and apparel production, and its tendency towards the production of good quality garments and other apparel products that comply with international quality standards. The textile-related literature review and the analysis of product inspections in Chinese factories, together with semi-structured interviews and its findings, will contribute to understand better whether the image of China as a low-quality profile producer is true or not, and if China's hegemony in textile and apparel manufacturing is solid for years to come.