According to Customs statistics, China's clothing exports registered US $119.79 billion in 2008, while textile exports fetched $65.37 billion, down 16.8 percent and up 1.6 percent respectively, when corresponded with the previous year; 2007.
In the context of shrinking exports, performance of textile industry has also greatly reduced. Till date, 30 listed companies from the sector have released their 2008 annual reports and they achieved a combined net profit of 3.144 billion Yuan, indicating a year-on-year decline of 27.71 percent.
Poor performance or even otherwise, directly resulted in declining wages of textile workers. Seven Wolves Co for example, though increased its net profits by a very big margin; worker's wages were reduced to a very large extent.
When comparing the 2007 report with 2008, the company paid 4.6722 million Yuan to its workers in 2008, representing a reduction of 3.3488 million Yuan from the previous year, down more than 40 percent.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - China