China's shoe exports down 3.6% in Jan.-May

According to statistics from China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), China’s shoe exports decreased by 3.6% year-on-year to 3.39 billion pairs in the first five month of 2008, compared with a year-on-year increase of 11.1% in the same period last year.

The GAC ascribed the slide to reduced export tax rebates, weaker demand from the U. S. amid lingering subprime crisis, continuous RMB appreciation and trade barriers like anti-dumping lawsuits.

In the Jan.-May period, however, the value of exported shoes jumped 11.5% from a year earlier to US$10.22 billion, with the average price up 15.8% to US$3 per pair.

In May alone, China exported 690 million pairs of shoes, down 4.9% from the previous year. But the average price hit US$3.2 per pair, representing a record increase of 22.8% since last January.

China exported 880 million pairs of shoes to the U.S. during the period, accounting for 26% of the total and a 4.5% decrease from the same period of 2007. While shoes exported to the EU continued to enjoy a stable growth of 6.8% to 640 million pairs, accounting for 18.9% of the total.

The statistics also unveiled that the number of shoe exporters in China reduced 17.4% to 8,137, from 9,856 over the same period last year.