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After
our billeting at the Hao Fua Hotel, our hosts brought us to
brief tour around the city of Shishi, widely known to have
revolutionalized the Chinese ready-to-wear garments in China.
Shishi
is referred to as the Clothes City of China, It is located
to the south of the city and adjoins the Fujian-Xiamen Expressway.
It lies close to the Xiamen Airport, Jinjiang Airport, the
10,000-tonne-class Shihu Wharf and the Quanzhou Railway Station.
The area is considered the most economically vibrant region
west of the Taiwan Strait.
It
is expected to become one of the largest garment trade marts
in Asia. It has over 3,000 textile and clothing enterprises,
and the number exceeds 10,000 if firms for textile, garment
manufacturing and neighbouring supporting industries are taken
into account.
Annual
output is already valued at over 30 billion Chinese yuan (one
yuan is equal to six pesos as of the current foreign exchange
rate).
The
city produces a wide range of casual wear under some 3,000
registered trademarks, including Septwolves, Fuguiniao, Gemzboh,
Yepao, Seven, K-Boxing, Edenbo, Pin, Hadley, Joe One and Weles.Shishi
has also developed a chain of industries that encompasses
textile, dyeing, production of auxiliary materials and marketing,
with garment processing at the core.
The
nationally-renowned Yuanyangchi Fabrics Market, the up-and-coming
Yatai Textile and Fabrics Market, as well as the Nanyang Fabrics
Street have each become booming trade centres for over 1,000
fabric suppliers from Southeast Asia and various parts of
China.
The
construction boom in Shishi is also left and right.
After
taking our breakfast at the Hao Fua Hotel, we rushed back
to our hotel rooms for our formal wear as the Chinses communist
government is very particular with protocols including attire.
At
around 9 o'clock in the morning, we were already at the ground
floor of the 14-storey Shishi city hall. (To be continued
next Wednesday)
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