Leading Danish manufacturer and footwear retailer ECCO, which has invested heavily in China over the past decade, condemned the European Union's anti-dumping decision on Chinese shoe manufacturers as undermining the interests of member countries.
The Denmark-based shoemaker will be forced to abort its annual production target of 5 million pairs of shoes at its Chinese factories and will freeze output at 1 million units per year.
The European Union decided to levy a 16.5 per cent punitive duty on imported leather shoes produced in China from October 7, claiming Chinese shoes were being sold to the European market below cost.
"I have already protested and will continuously protest the European Union's tariff decision. The policy is actually damaging rather than protecting; the wrong policy will not only cause our Chinese counterparts to suffer, but will also damage the European shoe-making and retailing industry," said Mikael Thinghuus, ECCO's chief operating officer.
"It will lead to job losses in the retail sector and hurt millions of consumers. It is an enormous pity," he said.
The 43-year-old Danish company has invested 20 million euros (US$25.2 million) in aggressive expansions in China over the past decade. It has one of the best-established plants in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, and a large retail network.
ECCO's Xiamen plant currently produces 1 million pairs of shoes annually and is capable of increasing output to 5 million in the coming years.
"Our original plan was to increase the production target to 5 million pairs per year, but now we have to freeze it at the current 1 million for another three or five years. Hopefully we will be able to unfreeze it soon," said Thinghuus.
