Recently, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi held talks with Antonio Tajani, the Italian vice-president of the council of ministers and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, in Beijing. 

China's apparel imports from Italy nearly doubled, increasing by 84.55 per cent over the last three years to reach $2.521 billion in 2022. Despite disruptions caused by COVID-19, trade rose from $1.366 billion in 2019 to $1.665 billion in 2020 and then soared to $2.709 billion in 2021. However, it tapered to $2.521 billion in 2022 and stood at $983.125 million for the first five months of 2023, according to data from Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro. 

Remarkably, inbound trade showed resilience even in the COVID-stricken year of 2020. Despite a global recession in 2022 affecting discretionary spending, Italy remained the largest contributor, accounting for a 27.51 per cent share in China's total apparel imports of $3.574 billion from January to May 2023. Imports from Italy during this period increased by 12.49 per cent year-on-year, although they declined by 12.93 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. 

Contrary to import trends, China's apparel exports to Italy have seen modest gains. From $2.481 billion in 2019, exports rose to $2.903 billion in 2022. Despite a dip in 2020 due to the pandemic, exports resumed growth in 2022, undeterred by the global recession, as per TexPro.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)