Mainland garment makers are back in the market for textile machinery after scaling back investment in new capacity on fears of damaging quota restrictions, according to Jingwei Textile Machinery.
The quotas eventually imposed by the United States and the European Union in May and June proved less damaging than manufacturers had feared and their relief was reflected in a big jump in new orders placed with Jingwei, said general manager Ye Maoxin.
In the first half, turnover at Jingwei fell 9.7 per cent to 1.76 billion yuan while net profit dropped 3.86 per cent to 75.34 million yuan as fears of the quotas took hold.
But by the end of the period, Jingwei had booked 2.3 billion yuan of orders - up 40 per cent on the corresponding previous half, most of which would be captured in its second-half accounts, said Mr Ye.
Hong Kong Textile Council vice-chairman Willy Lin Sun-mo said many EU fabric producers were setting up joint ventures in China, driving orders for textile machines.
