Dongguan’s days of footwear domination may be numbered
12/10/2015
A recent report from the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) says that, 10% of all the shoes made in the world used to be produced in and around the city of Dongguan, giving the area an annual output of close to 2 billion pairs.
However, CLIA says production companies have begun to move away from the area owing to higher labour costs and a downturn in orders. It has pointed out that orders from mainstream retailers have declined as more consumers have begun to buy shoes online. According to CLIA, this has led to companies producing in other parts of China and even in other Asian countries and also to large manufacturing groups fracturing in an attempt to respond better to online demand as smaller, leaner producers.
Rising labour costs have had a big impact too. CLIA’s figures suggest that an average monthly salary for shoe factory workers has risen from around $160 per month in 2008 to three or even four times that amount now.
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