$20 million in business claimed for Chinese footwear show
The organisers of Western China’s first footwear exhibition, held last month in Bishan County, Chonqing City, say the event generated business worth a total of $20 million.
Jointly sponsored by China Leather Industry Association (CLIA), the China Light Industry Federation and Chongqing’s municipal government, the show represented a coming of age for the Bishan footwear industry, which recently became China’s tenth-largest footwear production centre, according to CLIA figures.
Last year, Bishan’s 1800-plus footwear manufacturers produced some 56 million pairs of leather shoes worth a total of $343 million, with most of the output being exported to Russia, Ukraine and Southeast Asia. Such is the level of productivity of the region, CLIA says, that some of the country’s biggest footwear manufacturers are now looking to set up production facilities there.
