Message of intent from Chinese industry
25/03/2008
The China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) has pledged to continue its efforts to use two trademarks to boost the standing of the Chinese leather industry in the international arena.
In a strongly worded statement of intent issued in the build up to the APLF exhibition in Hong Kong next week, the association has said it believes it is well on course to fulfil a plan it began in 1998 to make China powerful player in the global leather industry and to have between three and five Chinese brands recognised as global leaders within 15 years.
It believes that the two trademarks it is promoting—the Genuine Leather Mark and the Eco-leather Mark—are key aspects of this recognition.
According CLIA, there are around 70 brands that are now famous in China, including makers of footwear, leathergoods and garments in fur and leather.
The government-owned body says that use of the Genuine Leather Mark has contributed to this success in at least 90% of cases. The association itself is in charge of this trademark and has said that the brands who have won the right to use it can expect to face reassessment every year, and for the criteria it applies to become ever stricter. It has announced: “Those corporations who can’t meet the standards of Genuine Leather Mark will be eliminated from the list in order to protect the overall image of the Genuine Leather Mark.”
Among the criteria that have changed are the ones concerning the environment, which is why the organisation has now also introduced the Eco-Leather Mark. It will launch “vivid and vigorous publicity material” on this subject, aimed at retailers and consumers.
It will also embark on a publicity and information campaign outside China, including in international journals and at industry exhibitions.
The CLIA has admitted that China, although now certainly a big player in the leather industry by any measure, is meeting “more and more difficulties and challenges”, including what it calls “technical barriers and trade frictions”.
At the same time, it recognises that competition from developing countries is intense. “We also have to meet the demands of macroeconomic control by the government and we have to accept the fact that the price of raw materials keeps going up while the environmental protection standards become ever stricter,” the organisation has said.
It has also said that it intends to hold a Genuine Leather Mark fashion design contest for designers of leather and fur garments, of leathergoods and of footwear.
“We are now at a historical point,” the association has concluded, “and we’ll continue to take a scientific approach to development in the leather industry. We’ll stick to the brand strategy and speed up the adjustment of our industrial structure, and translate our growth into one with low energy consumption and low emissions. Only in that way can the Chinese leather industry develop with balance, health and sustainability and improve the ability to innovate and create world-leading brands.”
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