Leather industry gets it together in Xijin City
According to statistics from the China Leather Information Centre, exports of leather from Xijin City, He Bei province, reached $38.45 million in the first quarter of 2002 - an increase of 47.57% compared with the same period in 2001. The rise comes after leather exports from the area doubled in 2001 to $117 million.
One of the key factors cited for Xinji's success is the collaboration between firms to tackle the international market. Last year five leather enterprises joined to establish a trading company, which then exhibited in Manhattan, New York. In another joint venture, 52 leather enterprises in Xinji made a mutual business agreement with an organisation in Moscow. The result is that over 110 leather firms in Xinji now sell direct to Moscow and the Siberia, gaining a 70% share of the local market in leather garments made from sheep skin.
The Xinji municipality has also played its part, acting as a go-between to combine the resources of different leather enterprises, successfully leading to the creation of co-operatives to compete against foreign rivals. An example is the Liequi Export & Import Corporation, which recently came into being, specialising in providing services for the leather export of small-sized factories including standardising the labels.
