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In the 1970 s, South Korea's textile and garment industry developed rapidly, which strongly promoted South Korea's economy. In recent years, the Korean textile and garment industry has been striving to achieve the second industrial revival based on unique design and cutting-edge technology, and is also strengthening cooperation with China. Recently, Zheng Dongchang, vice president of the Korea Textile Industry Federation, accepted an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online and introduced the relevant situation of the Korean textile industry.

The following is a transcript of the interview.

Reporter: First of all, please briefly introduce the Korea Textile Industry Federation.

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: The Korea Textile Industry Federation was founded in 1975 to explore the development potential of the Korean textile industry and provide support for the industry to gain international competitiveness. The Federation has three departments, including business planning, industrial support and trade marketing, with more than 60 employees. To provide support for the expansion of exports, international marketing, international cooperation, business activities, etc., while also working hard to cultivate talents and create jobs. In recent years, the Federation has also provided assistance in building big data platforms and building smart factories that have attracted much attention in the fourth industrial revolution. In addition, environmental issues have recently received much attention, and the Federation also provides support in the area of sustainable development.

Reporter: Please introduce the current situation of South Korea's textile and garment industry and its future development direction.

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: South Korea's textile and garment industry began to export in 1955. In the early 1970 s, exports reached 40% of the country's total exports, once leading South Korea's economic growth. However, since the 1990 s, South Korea's wage level has risen sharply, and the government has shifted the focus of the industrial structure to the heavy chemical industry. In order to find low labor costs, South Korean textile companies have moved overseas, leading to a slowdown in domestic economic growth. In 2005, the original textile export quota system has been completely abolished. Although it has experienced difficulties, the Korean textile and garment industry still has a balanced manufacturing foundation of raw silk, fabric, dyeing, processing, design and clothing. At present, the textile and garment industry accounts for 11% of the total manufacturing industry in South Korea. In the wave of the fourth industrial revolution, the two concepts of "speed distribution factory" and "speed distribution store" have derived the new vocabulary of "speed distribution factory store". We are actively helping related industries to develop in this direction and help them improve their competitiveness through big data. After an industry develops for a long time, the processing and manufacturing environment will gradually deteriorate. Improving the processing and manufacturing environment, replacing production equipment with cutting-edge equipment, and all aspects that can improve production efficiency are topics we are studying. In addition, we are helping enterprises to develop various high value-added products led by industrial textiles. At the same time, we are also focusing on encouraging entrepreneurship and allowing young people to devote more to the textile and garment industry.

Reporter: What are the results of Korean garment enterprises entering China? What is the effective market strategy?

Vice President Zheng Dongchang: South Korean garment enterprises began to enter China in 1994. In 1994, the women's clothing brand "DECO" entered the Chinese market for the first time. In 1996, many enterprises such as "Yilian" began to enter China. However, although many companies have opened up the Chinese market, they know little about the Chinese market, so they have little effect. In recent years, Korean companies have begun to strengthen their localization by signing long-term patent license agreements with Chinese companies or strategic cooperation with outstanding Chinese garment companies. And recently, the circulation channel has also shifted from offline to online. At the same time, exchanges between young people are also increasing, and their understanding of the markets of China and South Korea will be significantly improved in the future. The Textile Industry Federation has also actively promoted cooperation with China's textile and garment industry, China Textile Association and other enterprises. We also use relevant display platforms to help Korean companies more easily access the Chinese market. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Korea International Textile Exhibition. Every year, more than 150 Chinese companies come to the exhibition to cooperate with Korean companies. In addition, in 2003, we also held the "Preview in China" exhibition together with famous Korean designers. Now, we are also cooperating with China International Fashion Fair, the largest fashion exhibition in Asia.

(Source: China Cotton Textile Industry Association)