By Wang Zhe, People’s Daily
In a production workshop of Qingdao Fit Garment Co., Ltd., located in the Xiajin Economic Development Zone in east China’s Shandong province, workers move swiftly and with purpose.
A skilled cutter guides a machine with practiced ease, as fabric pieces drop precisely into place. Nearby, sewing machine operators turn cloth into polished garments, their stitches nimble andexact.
After clearing quality inspections, these garments were folded, packed, and labeled-bound for countries including Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
“Since the release of the Joint Statement on China-U.S. Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva, we were reached by American clients,” said Tian Chunli, head of the company.
“Right now, we’re exporting to more than 10 countries, and our order book is full through September. With firm orders in hand, we’re calm and confident. We’ll keep moving forward at our own pace, focusing on doing our work well,” she added.
Compared with several years ago, Fit Garment is better equipped to navigate the uncertainty of U.S. tariff policies. Tian attributed this confidence to two key factors.
Expanding beyond the U.S. market
Specializing in knitted apparel, primarily baby and children’s clothing, Fit Garment once relied heavily on the U.S. market. “For a long time, more than 95 percent of our exports went to the U.S.,” Tian said. “We partnered with a number of American brands, many of which maintained offices here in China.”
That changed in 2018 as China-U.S. trade tensions escalated. American clients began scaling back orders from China, with some shutting down their China-based offices altogether. Export volumes dropped abruptly. Faced with this disruption, Fit Garment took action rather than wait for conditions to improve.
“We couldn’t afford to put all our eggs in one basket,” Tian explained. “We shifted resources to other markets, aiming to diversify and stabilize our trade channels.”
Starting in 2019, the company participated in textile expos in Germany, France, Japan, and other countries. “Sometimes language was a hurdle. We had to use translation apps. But good products and sinceritystill helped us land new orders,” Tian recalled.
Their efforts paid off. By 2023, more than half of Fit Garment’s exports were heading to markets outside the United States. In the first two months of this year, U.S.-bound shipments accounted for less than 10 percent of the company’s total export value– just 340,000 yuan ($47,350).
Driving innovation and efficiency
A second pillar of the company’s success is innovation and operational efficiency.
Only high quality can ensure a product’s success in a new market. In recent years, the company has ramped up itsresearch and development efforts and developed new manufacturing techniques. On notable achievement is the creation of a babywear fabric made from traditional polyester, which offers antibacterial, odor-resistant, and stain-repellent properties. These improvements significantly increased the product’s added value and market competitiveness.
The company also underwent a smart manufacturing upgrade. Through digital transformation, it established an agile, flexible production system. Orders are now automatically divided and scheduled across different stages, with real-time monitoring of equipment status, capacity loads, and process parameters, resulting in a production efficiency gain of over 20 percent.
Looking ahead, Tian has set her sights on two major goals.
“First, I hope to expand further into the domestic market,” she said. Not long ago, local authorities in the Xiajin Economic Development Zone organized a group of textile companies to attend the Yarn Expo Spring in Shanghai, where Tian met prospective domestic partners and began planning follow-up cooperation.
“Second, I want to explore Belt and Road markets,” she added. “We’re targeting a breakthrough in countries like Pakistan and Malaysia. In the second half of this year, I plan to travel more, visit more markets, and close more deals.”
As one of China’s key provinces for textile and apparel exports, Shandong is home to many companies like Fit Garment that are retooling to meet a changing global trade landscape.
Zhang Linchen, associate professor at the School of Economics, Shandong University of Technology, noted that companies must deepen their presence in global markets, diversify their export portfolios, embrace new business models like cross-border e-commerce, and build robust international marketing systems.
“They also need to foster new quality productive forces and move up the global value chain,” Zhang said.
