CCTV <Economy in 30 Minutes> Reported On JYL Automated Shoe Sewing Machine
Today, we continue to seek new impetus for foreign trade through frontline research. In the first four months of this year, China’s total import and export value of goods reached 13.32 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%, which is 1 percentage point faster than the 4.8% in the first quarter. In April alone, the import and export value reached 3.43 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.9%. Despite the complex and severe external environment, foreign trade has achieved hard-won results. In the competitive field of foreign trade, where capability, market appeal, and courage are tested, let’s see how foreign trade enterprises are accelerating and breaking through as observed by reporters in major foreign trade cities.
Dongguan in Guangdong, one of the central cities in the Pearl River Delta, is an important transportation hub and foreign trade port in Guangdong. Known as the “World’s Factory”, one out of every five smartphones, three toys, and ten pairs of sports shoes globally are made in Dongguan.
Zhan Ming, president of the Guangdong Footwear Machinery Association, said, “Traditional equipment might account for around 40%, and newly developed equipment for 20-30%. In the past, our main sales were to Vietnam, but now it’s primarily Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, South America, especially Mexico and Brazil, as well as the Middle East and Africa. Altogether, our footwear machinery from Guangdong is sold in over 100 countries and regions.”
To make their products more competitive, shoe-making equipment companies in Dongguan are constantly upgrading their products.
“Has the 500-hour endurance test been completed?”
“It has been tested.”
At this company in Daojiao Town, Dongguan, technicians are conducting factory tests on shoe-making equipment to be shipped overseas. This crucial step ensures product quality. Previously, this company primarily produced low-added value shoes sewing equipment for overseas clients, which had a short production cycle, low cost, and low technological content, resulting in thin profit margins. A device priced at several tens of thousands of yuan could only yield a profit of several hundred yuan due to price wars among competitors. Yang Guang, the company’s head, realized that the era of competing on low-end, low-priced products was over. He shifted focus to technology upgrades and began producing high-end shoe-making equipment with higher prices and higher added value.
Yang Guang, General Manager of Guangdong Jinyuelai Automation Equipment Co., Ltd., commented, “We’ve transitioned from blatant price competition to competition based on technological and product quality. Our efforts are paying off, and our current products have a profit margin of tens of thousands of yuan.”
In early June, they had more than twenty machines ready to be shipped to Italy. Before delivery, Yang Guang communicates weekly with the Italian clients via video, updating them on product testing and introducing upcoming new products.
Yang Guang continued, “This equipment is the one I discussed with our Italian client over video earlier. This product’s feature is that it addresses three-dimensional sewing for shoe uppers. Traditional sewing machines mainly worked on flat surfaces, but this machine performs three-dimensional stitching on the heel and front. Its advantage? It resolves the current issue of manual stitching’s high defect rate.”
Thanks to Dongguan’s comprehensive industrial chain and continuous R&D investments by enterprises, shoe-making equipment companies in the city are constantly innovating and capturing overseas markets. The changing landscape of shoe material and shoe-making equipment exports is just a glimpse of Dongguan’s transformation and upgrading in foreign trade. In Dongguan, many more companies are shedding the labels of low-quality, low-priced, and OEM production through technological upgrades.
