CLIA puts numbers on Guangdong shoe factories decline
The China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) has confirmed that 300 shoe manufacturers moved out of Dongguan city, in the Guangdong province, during 2009. Manufacturers have been leaving the province in southern China since as early as 2008, and instead moving to neighbouring provinces such as Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangxi.
The association cited the Yue Yuen Group as an example of the continuing transition the Guangdong province is facing, stating that the manufacturer has transferred its production to Hubei province with an investment of approximately $150 million.
The Fortune Group has also invested around $90 million in footwear production in Henan, according to the CLIA.
Footwear remains the largest export segment for the region, although the Guangdong Leather Association claims that leather shoe production in Guangdong fell 25.1% in 2009.
