According to statistics from the Chinese Customs department, China exported 68.1 million pairs of leather shoe uppers in June totalling $4.053 billion, up 4.8% in quantity and 11.8% in value.

Customs reports state that in recent months the total export value of travel goods, cases and bags exceeded that of leather shoe uppers; in June the export value of these three items reached $4.057 billion.

Semi-finished and finished leather is the third largest export item. In June the export value of leather increased by 16.2% over the same month last year although the quantity declined by 20.6%.

Almost 16 million leather garments were exported in June totalling $655.1 million, down 21.1% in quantity and 25% in terms of value compared with June 2005.