英语论文网

rease domestic demand and infrastructure, thus improving the situation (Mingqi, 2010). For example, branding is encouraged by the Chinese government in ordered for domestic firms to be more competitive in reaction the Chinese brand preference (Li & Fung 2009).

Yet, there are still kinks in government support for the Chinese premium clothing industry. China is known to have inadequate government controls over intellectual property rights, especially regarding clothing (Grail Research, 2008). The largest challenge in the luxury market is the risk of piracy or counterfeiting (Aroq Ltd., 2009). The counterfeit luxury goods market, including domestic and foreign brands, has reached approximately 20%, while only 37% of firms in China have received intellectual property rights violations (Grail Research, 2008). As explained by the president of the Clothing Association of Dalian, enforcement officers have trouble distinguishing fraudulent manufacturing documents for counterfeit clothing. This can translate into corrupt behavior, poor officer training, incomplete set of counterfeit laws, and/or insufficient resources to understand and control the issue of the significant black market that has evolved (Tian, 2010).

Hence, demonstrating China’s policies and control need much more hammering out. More polices could be put in place for the encouragement of innovation and acceleration of industry development, as well as the monitoring counterfeit products (Manufacturing Close-up, 2010).

7. Indicators of a Shift from Low-Quality to High-Quality Clothing

Even though there are currently no Chinese high-quality brands that are internationally well know and distinguished, China’s garment manufactures have improved their products in terms of quality, innovation, and product development (Italian Trade Commission, 2010). It has been reported that the extent of sophistication in exports is that of a country with income levels per capita three times higher (Center for Research and Studies on the World Economy, 2010). As explained in an interview with the President of the Clothing Association of Dalian, as China grows there will be less and less clothing manufacturing and more services of designing and branding. According to his figures, there more demand for skilled workers than ever before indicating a shift in the quality of clothing that is produced.

In the last 30 years China has experienced changes in their value added manufacturing structure yielding more technologically advanced exports (Duran, Mulder, & Onodera, 2008). Specifically, export prices for China’s clothing sector have been rising since 2002 (Xu, 2008). Below is Figure X, which depicts China’s export sophistication since 1980.

Figure X: Change in Value Added Manufacture Structure: 2003 vs. 1980 & 1990 vs. 1980

Source: OECD: Duran, Mulder, & Onodera, 2008

Besides the change in the value added manufacturing structure, indicators of a shift have been revealed through the changing cost of labor, worker organization, increasing costs of raw material, allocation of research and development costs, and increasing corporate social responsibility.

7.1 Rising Wages and Labor Sophistication

The labor-intensive outlook of China may have come to an end due to rising labor costs (Yuen, 2010). The Chinese wage has been increasing. In 2008, seven other countries were repo