China´s January through September cumulative apparel output reached 14.422 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 14.2 percent. Production is at a new record, and January through September fixed asset investment in apparel manufacturing reached 48.998 billion yuan, with an additional 119.886 billion yuan currently planned. Despite this growth, domestic apparel production is growing at a much slower pace than the retail sales growth in apparel. China´s monthly retail sales of apparel are growing at a monthly rate of near 25 percent. This trend is now likely to continue throughout the next two years and then begin to accelerate, which means that China could become a net importer of some apparel products within the next ten years.
